Mark's Market Talk for September 2, 2025

Last week we saw a lot of give and take in the markets. Sometimes we must take a step back and look at things in a whole world perspective. Looking across the road or down the highway only gives us a very small glimpse of how we fit into the whole scheme of things. Russia continues to bomb Ukraine which fouls up their grain shipments and sometimes that opens doors for our grain to replace what they can’t ship. However, we cannot expect this to continue long term. Sooner or later this war will stop and either Ukraine is able to get back in the grain business, or Russia takes the primary crop growing region for themselves which could really change some things in the world grain trade. December corn closed 7 cents higher last week thanks to an 8-cent jump on Friday. Some in the trade think the August USDA corn yield of 188 will be the high mark for this crop. The combines are not running in the Midwest and already we have people lowering the yield due to disease issues. The catch 22 here is higher prices will lower our price advantage in the world market, which has prompted lots of export business.  Beans closed the week 4 cents lower, but they were 65 cents higher for the month. Those that grow soybeans know how hard it is to predict yield. Most producers in this area currently feel they have an excellent bean crop, and I think they are right. But beans are similar to eggs, you can’t count them until they are harvested. We only trade 4 days this week and sometimes a short trade week is more volatile, keep your eyes open.