Grain > Commentary > 12-18-2023

12/18/2023

Dec 18, 2023

Soybeans continue to improve, keeping intact a short-term trend of day-to-day higher lows on the chart. The corn market continued on in uneventful trade. We are still waiting for something spark and create some excitement. After a short rally to begin December, it looks like we may once again test out the fresh lows set in November. Weekly export inspections were encouraging with corn and soybeans both reported at the top-end of expectations with 947k tonnes and 1.412 mln tonnes respectively. That was a 3-week high for soybeans and a nice recovery towards average pace after some poor showings. Corn inspections were above average for the week. Shipment pace for corn has improved to 14 million bushels behind the USDA forecast versus 23 million bushels behind last week. Soybeans inspection pace slipped this week, from 7 million bushels short last week to 11 million bushels short this week.

Watching the forecasts and what precipitation materializes in South America as the crop nears the finishing phase.

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10/9/2026
Oct 09, 2026
USDA Report Update:
Well, the USDA gave us an absolute shocker this morning and raised the corn yield up to 181.2 bpa vs 178.5 in September.  The average trade guess was lower at 177.7 bpa.  The carryout is now up to 1.849 billion bushels vs 1.567 in September.  They raised Exports up 25 million, Feed and residual up 50 million and Ethanol up 50 million.  Corn is currently down 28 cents on this news.  This is an absolute shocker to the corn market. 
9/11/2026
Sep 11, 2026
It is USDA report day and it seemed like one of the most important reports we have had in a while.  The USDA placed corn yield at 178.5 bpa vs an average guess of 178.2.  They were in line with expectations and admitting we have an issue brewing.  This likely won’t be our lowest yield we see, but it at least drew a line in the sand for a starting point. 
7/10/2026
Jul 10, 2026
USDA report day was slightly friendly to the grain markets.
Corn:
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