For the Week:
December corn finished 6 1/4 cents higher at $4.11 1/2. March corn also finished 6 1/4 cents higher at $4.28 3/4. November beans rose 16 cents for the week at $10.58 1/2 and January beans finished up 15 1/2 cents at $10.77. Kansas City September closed down 9 at $4.98, Chicago September finished down 1 3/4, and MIAX Minneapolis December finished up .0075 at $5.90.
WHEAT:
The wheat markets finished little changed in boring trade Friday. Pressure continued to come from advancing harvests and weak global wheat values. Russia and the European Union continue to be aggressive in offering wheat. The good news is that U.S. wheat has become much more competitive in world markets following the recent break. U.S. hard red winter is reported to be at parity with both Russian and Argentine hard wheat offers. U.S. export sales are also a pleasant surprise; wheat sales to date of 433 mb are more than 23% higher than last year’s 343 mb sold at this stage. In tenders, both Bangladesh and Jordan are seeking optional milling wheat while Syria will soon be in for 200,000 mt of soft milling wheat. On a slightly negative note, the International Grains Council raised global wheat production by 3 million metric tons (mmt) to 811 mmt. Funds remain net short both Chicago and KC wheat. DTN’s National HRW Index is $4.54 and 50 cents under the September futures.
Corn
Corn futures were moderately lower in very quiet trade to end the week. Traders are trying to assess whether USDA may have been too optimistic on their survey-based yield on the August WASDE after in-field observations from the ongoing Midwest crop tour suggested widespread disease and strong but lower yield estimates. Illinois was the most noticeable where prevalent disease and yield suggested USDA was too high. Corn demand remains stellar with yet another two new sales announced Friday to Spain and Costa Rica amounting to over 10 million bushels (mb). New-crop corn sales last week were an impressive 113 mb and sales so far in the 2025-26 crop year are sitting at a 4-year high. While the crop tour found Iowa and Minnesota yields to be the highest in tour history, the yields were still down from USDA’s numbers with Illinois yields even more of a difference. Southern rust and other disease was widespread. However, the speculation is that the southern rust showed up late in the dent stage so yield impacts would likely be minor. One way or the other, although some eastern Midwest areas could use a drink, we will still have a monster corn crop on the way. DTN’s National Corn Index is $3.69 and 18 cents under the September futures.
