Overview
- Soybean futures led front‑month gains into the July 4 holiday even though USDA weekly export sales for the week ending June 25 showed a marketing‑year low of 41,786 metric tons for old‑crop soybeans.
- Corn prices were supported by sizable old‑crop corn export commitments of 732,070 metric tons for the week ending June 25 and rising ethanol use, with EIA reporting production of 1.117 million barrels per day for the week of June 26.
- NASS June acreage and June 1 grain‑stocks reports narrowed supply uncertainty by showing U.S. soybean plantings at 85.36 million acres, corn at 95.343 million acres, and June 1 soybean stocks at 1.061 billion bushels.
- Live cattle futures and wholesale boxed beef weakened into the holiday weekend, with cash and futures markets moving lower as slaughter throughput and boxed beef values softened.
- Thin holiday market liquidity and the start of the July–August yield window mean localized NOAA rain forecasts and processor flows could quickly amplify price swings for crops and protein markets.