Mark's Market Talk for October 20, 2025

We had higher closes on the grain markets last week. December corn ended the week 10 cents higher, while November beans were 13 cents higher. With the government not working the trade is missing the commitment of traders report that shows the longs and shorts in the trade. It appeared last week some funds were starting to offset part of their short positions which gave the markets some strength. There has been wide talk of disappointing corn yields throughout the Midwest and perhaps some of that talk is reaching Chicago. However, it is doubtful the market will fully honor this until the government gets back to work and lowers their September yield number. The bean market has been on a child’s roller coaster ride for the past few weeks. The moves have been shallow as we have traded a range bound market. Trump’s comments seem to move the market both ways. His plan to give Argentia 20 billion dollars has really set farmers off, and rightly so. Why not give them 20 billion dollars worth of soybeans. That would take about 1.8 billion bushels off our inventory and at least we would fix 2 problems. They in turn would sell our beans and everyone is happy for a little while. Long term we need something different to help correct the problems we have. We have tried to control the world for years, and we have done that by spending a lot of money. Not sure we can continue to do this.