April 18, 2025

The Markets were closed today in observance of Good Friday and will resume next week as normal. Not tons of news this week other than the regular planting progress, crop conditions, and export numbers. Decent shots of snow/rain for most of the region overnight!

Week over Week Cash Change

Changes in cash prices this week:

• Corn DOWN 10¢
• Milo DOWN 8¢
• HRW DOWN 8¢
• HRS DOWN 9¢
• Sunflowers UNCHANGED
• Soybeans up 3¢

Corn and International Trade

Most of the major shocks of Tariffs have seemingly faded into yesterdays news for the commodities, at least for now. The financials are still figuring it all out as deals come in. Corn has just continued to show strength in fundamentals. As Bart pointed out last week with the Stocks/Use ratio and this update on the export shipments remaining strong. Although this week saw -10 on the May contract, we are still at levels comparable to the end of February. The new crop, Dec25, had a strong week up 4 cents

The new crop futures on corn are getting well above the 50/100/200 day moving averages now and will be curious to see if it can continue to narrow the spread with the nearby.

Crop Conditions and Planting Progress

Below we will look at the winter wheat conditions. Although a downgrade, the weather system that came through here to end the week was on the mind of the market. Holding us in the same range knowing some much needed moisture would come around just in time. Things to watch for in the news would be continued rain in Midwest/Northeast that would delay planting. The Russia and Ukraine drought situations with their wheat. Along with this weekly Good/Excellent rating. Later on, we will look at the “Seasonal Outlook” and it looks hot and dry for majority of wheat country.

Planting progress is just a point behind the average at 4 vs 5%. Looks like the Southeast is the major cause of delay which has been getting hounded with rains and some flooding along the Ohio River and south. As I mentioned above this could be something to monitor as we go along if they do not pick up the pace. I do not think we have much to worry about moisture getting in the way of planting out here…

Weather



Below have the nearby temperature and precipitation outlook, along with the seasonal outlook. From these it’s very apparent they are calling for a warmer than normal spring. Yes, I realize I say this on the backend of a winter mix storm and 19 degrees tonight on April 18^th. Wheat conditions could become an interesting story if that seasonal outlook is correct. Corn looks like it would do alright with warmer temperatures and IA/IL/IN falling in equal chances on precipitation. .

Hold off on contracting wheat till conditions are realized and we see what our own backyard gets?

Be early and on top of contracting corn with what seems to be mediocre conditions with lots of acres?

Questions to ponder for the few weeks ahead as planting gets underway

Have a great weekend!

Franklin Shue

Legacy Coop’s Grain Team is available for helping develop marketing plans for producers. Call the Hemingford Grain line at 308-487-3325 to discuss current markets and strategies.

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