Friday, May 1, 2026
Closing Markets: Corn: +5.50 old & +4.50 new.
Beans: +7.75 old & +9.75 new. Wheat: +1 old & new.

Topflight Grain is offering Free DP on soybeans to all full-time locations except Maroa based on space availability good through August 31, 2026.

We are also offering Free DP on corn delivered to Pierson and Milmine based on space availability good through August 31, 2026.

Good evening!

Market Recap-
Happy Friday. CBOT ag markets closed higher pretty much across the board to end the week, with bean oil scoring another round of new contract highs, new crop soybeans scoring a new high for the move, and new crop corn trading above the elusive $5 mark for the first time since December of 2023. Though there again weren't a lot of major headlines to point to, newswires cited concern over cold weather leading to germination issues as part of the reason for the buying, with it also being our assumption that traders have become accustomed to simply getting long going into the weekend with Iran war still ongoing.




Corn Summary-
The corn market closed higher to end the week on Friday, making it a four for five week to the upside as traders added premium based on both the war in Iran and budding weather concerns in both North and South America. New crop futures cleared the psychological $5 mark for the first time since late 2023 but were presumably then hit with resting sell orders, which led to a close back below here by the end of the day. Otherwise, it was simply the same themes that we talked about all week largely behind today's buying, with focus remaining on the trifecta of war in Iran, planting pace in the US, and the safrinha crop in Brazil. The USDA's May crop report, which will have initial estimates for the 2026/27 balance sheet, is now just six trading sessions away, and looks to mark the next new fundamental market mover.

Soybean Summary-
The soy complex finished mostly higher to end the week on Friday, paced again by another round of new contract highs in bean oil. The beans also saw steady gains throughout the session, while the meal market finished closer to unchanged, likely at least in part due to spread trading with the oil. We talked about the May 12th crop report above, which will also be a factor here, but shortly following that report - and arguably of more importance to the market - is the Trump - Xi summit, scheduled for May 13-14. There has been a peculiar amount of silence surrounding the meeting, which has led some to doubt the likelihood that it actually occurs as scheduled, with there seemingly being no agenda laid out by either side. We have no insight as to whether the meeting will or won't go on as scheduled, but should it see another delay, we would see it as likely that the market would react negatively.

Wheat Summary-
Chicago wheat futures finished Friday unchanged to slightly higher, as much of the European world was off for the day for the May Day holiday, which limited trading interest and volume. It would appear from a chart standpoint that Wednesday's high is going to be some sort of a sticking point moving forward, but we see weather premium as staying mostly in place for the time being until more moisture shows up in the southwest and west-central wheat belt. Otherwise from a cash standpoint, we would expect chatter surrounding imports into the US southeast to continue at least until more is known regarding the US crop size.

Outside News Headlines-
Crude oil futures down $3.00/bbl.

Weather Updates-
Weekend weather across the Midwest will be on the quieter side, with the cooler/drier weather seen the last couple days expected to generally linger into the first part of next week. Models are still in good agreement this afternoon on additional moisture for the southeastern US, but these rains will likely be confined largely to areas along the Gulf Coast.
Better moisture chances are seen then returning to the Midwest by the middle of next week though, with the models calling for another 1-2" of rainfall generally speaking for a region from MO to MI and most everywhere south of that line. Notable will be the northwestern part of the Corn Belt, where moisture is expected to miss and leave the area mostly dry over the next 10 days.
New monthly outlooks for the CPC issued yesterday show generally the same pattern seen to end April lingering through much of May, with temperature outlooks showing the western half of the country staying warmer than average, while the east stays average to the south and maybe a shade cooler to the north and around the Great Lakes.
The precip outlook shows equal chances of above average and below average rain chances throughout most of the country, with better than normal chances seen along the southern border through parts of NM/TX/LA, while much of the north-central and northwestern part of the country see a slightly drier than normal bias.
The South American forecast has trended wetter again for Argentina the middle/back half of next week, which is raising our confidence in it. Brazil has seen little change all week though, with dryness expected to remain in place across most all the country's central growing regions at least through next week.

Enjoy it!


Bailey Runyen
Grain Originator | Topflight Grain Coop.
101 N. Main St. | Cisco, IL 61830
Phone :: 217-669-2141
Email :: brunyen@tfgrain.com
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