Business

My sister in Australia occasionally and very kindly sends me copies of professionally written articles in national publications that she reads to (1) help educate me (I’d never heard of the cardboard billionaire dual US/Australian citizen Anthony Pratt before), (2) inform me (motoring writer Stephen Corby recently test drove the the Chinese-made Leapmotor C10 EV and described it as “beyond awful”), and (3) help my fledgling writing career in the Kiowa County Independent so that one of my two regular readers doesn’t jump ship.

Corn futures have spent much of the past week under pressure as forecasts continue to point toward generally favorable conditions across much of the Corn Belt. Timely rainfall and moderate temperatures have allowed crop development to move along at an impressive pace across many key producing states.

During the first half of the 1990s, I taught many adult-ed classes to Lawrence Chamber of Commerce members. When helping teach small business owners understand how best to make use of the internet, the prevailing wisdom even back in those days was that only around half of what was on the world wide web (does anyone call it that any more?) was accurate / true.

As we move deeper into June, grain traders are finding themselves in a familiar seasonal tug-of-war. On one side is generally favorable growing weather across much of the Corn Belt.

As we turn the calendar to June (how is it already June?!), we see favorable early-season weather and lingering uncertainty about demand. While the growing season is still young, the market is already beginning to shift its focus away from planting progress and toward yield potential.

The markets did their normal thing last week and reacted to every headline tied to China, tariffs, Iran, and export demand. Futures were whipped back and forth between optimism and frustration, but by the start of this week, the bulls appeared to regain a little momentum.

Corn and wheat traders got a reminder this week that markets can turn on a dime when politics and weather collide. What started as a cautious, defensive trade late last week quickly shifted back into a more optimistic tone after fresh details emerged from the latest U.S.-China trade discussions.

The markets are heading into mid-May still trying to sort out geopolitics, planting pace, and just how tight supplies could become later this summer. We spent much of the past week reacting to headlines coming out of the Middle East and renewed chatter about trade discussions with China, while farmers continued making planting progress whenever conditions allowed.

A recent article in the once reputable New York Times (NYT) had the headline “A Year After USAID’s Death, Fired Workers Find Few Jobs and Much Loss”.

After spending much of March and April stuck in a relatively tight range, the market finally found enough momentum to break higher, and soybeans were the leader of the pack. July beans pushed to their best levels in about a month and a half, while new crop November contracts climbed to levels not seen since late 2023.

The tone in corn has quietly firmed over the last couple of weeks. Prices didn’t explode higher, but the trend has been constructive, with the market stringing together a series of higher daily lows.

The grain markets have been trading weather forecasts, early planting progress, and a steady stream of global uncertainty. As we move deeper into April, volatility is starting to pick up, but overall the markets continue to feel stuck in a tug-of-war between bearish supply fundamentals and pockets of supportive news.

In a town where community matters and every home tells a story, a new kind of opportunity has quietly opened its doors in Eads.

Grain markets wrapped up the final full week of March with a mix of emotions ahead of one of the biggest reports of the year. As we move into April, traders are balancing planting season uncertainty, South American production, and fund money flow, all while farmers are starting to focus more on field conditions.

The forecast this morning referenced the possibility of sprinkles with a thirty percent chance of fifty mile per hour wind gusts, which sounded more like a prediction of what might happen at a children’s birthday party than a weather report, but kudos to the National Weather Service for coming up with a different way of saying it is, yet again, going to be dry and windy out here today.

Weather, geopolitics, energy markets, and speculative fund activity have all taken turns driving prices, leaving traders and producers with plenty to keep an eye on as we inch closer to planting season. Grains finished the week of March 9th strong, but started this week off getting hammered, largely due to the disruption in shipments at the Strait of Hormuz.