Articles By Mark Shenk

Investors in the US corn and soybean markets amassed short positions while trimming longs in the week to Tuesday March 18, helping trim the corn net-long to its lowest level in more than three months; meanwhile the soybean net-short rose, data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) showed late on Friday March 21.

US weekly wheat net sales for the 2024/25 crop year totaled reductions of 248,800 tonnes during the week to March 13 — a marketing-year low — and were down “noticeably” from the previous week and the prior four-week average, according to USDA data released on Thursday March 20.

The US agriculture sector has strongly felt the impact of President Donald Trump’s policies during the last two months, and market participants do not expect calm to return anytime soon, as he has shown no sign of retreating from his tariff policies or his intention to cut both federal government headcounts and programs.

Investors in the US corn markets slashed long positions while amassing shorts in the week to Tuesday March 11, helping trim the net-long to its lowest since early December; meanwhile the soybean net-short declined, data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) showed late on Friday March 14.

US weekly wheat net sales for the 2024/25 crop year totaled 783,400 tonnes during the week to March 6, up ‘noticeably’ from the previous week and 83% from the prior four-week average, according to data released by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Thursday March 13.

Canadian farmers are expected to plant more wheat, corn for grain and oats in 2025 while reducing the acreage planted with canola, soybeans and barley, Statistics Canada (Stat Can) said in a report on Wednesday March 12.

The USDA boosted its estimates of US and global wheat ending stocks for the 2024/25 marketing year while leaving domestic production unchanged, according to the monthly update to its World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report published on Tuesday March 11.

The USDA’s influential World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report for March is projected to marginally reduce estimates for both US and global 2024/25 wheat crop ending stocks, according to analysts polled by Fastmarkets.

Investors in the US corn and soybean markets slashed long positions while amassing shorts in the week to Tuesday March 4, reducing the corn net long to its lowest since December and moving soybeans from a net long to a net short, data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) showed late on Friday March 7.

The imposition of 25% tariffs on Tuesday March 4 on a wide array of Canadian products, including canola seed, oil and meal, will have a devastating and widespread impact on the Canadian canola industry, according to the Canola Council of Canada (CCC) and the Canadian Canola Growers Association (CCGA).

Investors in the US corn and soybean markets boosted short positions in the week to Tuesday February 25, helping trim the net long in both commodities, according to data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) late on Friday February 28.

Newly appointment US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said that reducing the country’s $45.5 billion agriculture trade deficit would be a major focus during her tenure, in remarks to the US Department of Agriculture’s Annual Agricultural Outlook Forum on Friday February 28.

US weekly wheat net sales for the 2024/25 crop year totaled 269,000 tonnes during the week to February 20, down by 50% from the previous week and 46% from the prior four-week average, according to data released by the USDA on Thursday February 27.

Initial projections for 2025/26 US planted area indicated increases in corn and wheat acreage compared with the prior crop year, while farmers are expected to decrease the sowing of soybeans, according to the USDA's Grains and Oilseeds Outlook for 2025, released on Thursday February 27.

Export inspections of US wheat increased by 50% to 375,546 tonnes during the week to Thursday February 20 from 250,130 tonnes the previous week, according to data from the USDA released on Monday February 24.

Investors in the US corn market cut short positions to the lowest level since February 2023 in the week to Tuesday February 18, helping bolster the net long, while open interest in corn surged to its highest since February 2021, according to data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) late on Friday February 21.

US weekly wheat net sales for the 2024/25 crop year totaled 532,700 tonnes during the week to February 13, down by 7% from the previous week, but up by 31% from the prior four-week average, according to data released by the USDA on Friday February 21.

Export inspections of US wheat decreased by 56% to 249,812 tonnes during the week to Thursday February 13 from 570,298 tonnes the previous week, according to data from the USDA released on Tuesday February 18.

Export inspections of US corn rose by 19% to 1.61 million tonnes in the week ended Thursday February 13, compared with 1.36 million tonnes the previous week, according to USDA data published on Tuesday February 18.

Speculators in the United States corn market bolstered short positions while reducing longs in the week to Tuesday February 11, trimming the net long for the first time in eight weeks, according to data released by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) late on Friday February 14.