Mark's Market Talk for February 2, 2026

We saw slightly lower grain prices last week, with March corn down 2 cents and March soybeans finishing 3 cents lower. Both markets tested their resistance levels during the week but failed to break through. Support levels did hold, at least for now.

What will it take to move these markets higher? Right now, that is hard to answer.

There appears to be more corn tucked away in on-farm storage than previously expected. When a local processor comes up short on bushels, a quick-ship bid is often offered, and many of those bids are filled within an hour. That tells us there is still a large amount of unsold corn out there.

Traders expect cash grain movement to increase as producers clean up 2025 operating notes and prepare to finance this year’s crop. It also seems there are more farmers than usual sitting on their hands and delaying planting decisions until we get closer to spring.

Soybeans have made a respectable recovery over the past couple of weeks, regaining much of what was lost following the USDA reports. However, the market now appears at risk of giving back some of those gains.

Gold and silver have attracted significant attention lately, as both have surged in price. Some believe that optimism could spill over into the grain markets, but the factors driving metals are very different. Gold is being bought as a hedge against inflation and global instability. Governments, including the United States, are adding to their gold reserves, as they historically do during uncertain times. Gold has outlasted every currency and remains an established store of value.

Many in the public view a strong dollar as a positive, but it can be a disadvantage for agriculture. A strong dollar makes U.S. commodities more expensive on the world market, limiting exports, while giving foreign producers an advantage by increasing the value of their products in our market. This is one of the underlying reasons Brazilian corn and soybeans can be priced more competitively while still allowing their producers to remain profitable.

The real challenge today is not $4.00 corn or $10.00 soybeans. It is the high cost of inputs and interest rates that have not adjusted to current commodity prices.