Friday, October 16, 2026
Closing Markets: Corn: -3.75.
Beans: -1.75. Wheat: -9.50.
United Prairie will be serving lunch Monday, 10/19 from 11am-1pm in Pierson
State Bank of Bement will be passing out Harvest Bags Wednesday, 10/21 from 1:30-3:30pm in Bement

Good evening!

Trivia: 1997 Disney movie about a runaway golden retriever that can play basketball? (answer below)

Market Recap-
Happy Friday. Futures markets ended the week Friday much the same way as how they started it on Monday, with long liquidation a feature all week amid the USDA's loosening of balance sheets a week ago and there being little offsetting bullish input that ensued. Charts have become oversold in recent days as the selling pressed on, but we maintain that the bull camp is going to need some sort of new input to push prices back higher with the funds now coming out of their long position a bit and with US crop sizes generally known in another few weeks. The transition from US crop focus to South American crop focus will remain ongoing.

Corn Summary-
Corn futures fell to new lows for the week on Friday, taking out the bottom end of the range seen the rest of the week this week but still holding above the report day low from last Friday. Inversely, cash markets showed some strength the back half of the week, with farmers still opting to push for bean harvest where able and as rains slowed those who had finished bean harvest already the last couple days. That said though, as dryness shows back up next week, it’s expected that a sizeable chunk of the crop is going to come across the scales in the next ten days, which could lead to increased farmer hedge selling. Aside from that, it will be South American weather and the prospects for Chinese buying that remain the loudest and will have the biggest impact on price direction longer term.

Soybean Summary-
Soybean futures made it a perfect five for five to the downside this week, scoring new lows for the move for the second straight day and closing lower on what continues to be long liquidation by the funds and hedge selling by the farmer. Chinese buying has remained steady, but traders are aware that there's a cap on this current run of purchases and are curious as to what happens with business beyond the first of the new year. Industry sources also estimate upwards of a quarter of the crop could've been harvested over the last week to 10 days, and if just half of this was sold across the scales it would more than offset the couple million tons of purchases done by the Chinese. Usage remains good and is up from a year ago, but a record crop in Brazil followed by a record crop in the US will go a long way towards satisfying that demand.

Wheat Summary-
Wheat futures led the push to the downside on Friday, scoring new lows both for the week and the larger down move on a continued lack of buying interest and as global fund traders seem to continue to be interested in using US wheat futures as the short side of hedges both against futures in Europe and also against broader length in the rest of the ag space. We talked about it earlier this week, but cash markets in the EU are just barely starting to show signs of tightening due to the ongoing situation in the Black Sea. However, tighter markets across the pond are still notably cheaper than export offers from the US, and until this changes, it’s probably difficult for the US market to see a ton of upside price movement. Charts are becoming oversold like the rest of the space, but we don't see a lot of reason for a bounce in prices otherwise short term.

Outside News Headlines-
Crude oil futures up $2.50+/bbl.

Weather Updates-
Weekend weather, while cold across the Midwest, looks to be conducive for good harvest activity as there is little in the way of precip forecast into and through the week next week. Frost risks will dip well into the southern Plains tonight and into tomorrow, but the cold doesn't look to be long-lived with daytime highs expected to return to warmer than normal next week.
The dryness stays in the forecast then into and through the week next week, with high pressure expected to linger over the east-central US while low pressure systems impact both the East and West Coasts. Week two forecasts have monsoonal rains then opening back up through the southwest and into the mid-section of the country which likely impact the western Corn Belt again, but the central and east parts still have little precip seen in the period.
Precip maps for South America trended wetter the last 24 hours across the southern eastern and regions of Brazil, but were little changed across central regions as near-normal rainfall is expected to continue into next week. Rains will be spottier in west-central Brazil, but there continues to be little if any concern in the forecast today with planting pace at or ahead of average pace.

Answer: Air Bud. The real dog “Buddy” was adopted as a stray. Kevin Dicicco trained him in sports. Basketball was Buddy’s favorite. Tricks gained national attention and inspired the movie.


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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