Ludlow Coop Elevator Company

06/12/2026

6/12/26 MIDCO AFTERNOON COMMENTS

🌽 Corn Market Update
Outside of this afternoon's weekly CFTC update, there was little if anything new in the corn market on Friday with futures closing varying degrees of higher after scoring another round of new contract lows for the third time this week earlier in the session. The only headlines of note throughout the day were focused on the Middle East, where despite verbal progress towards an agreement the last 48 hours, there still seems to be a considerable amount of confusion in terms of whether or not a peace deal has actually been reached. War premium exists in the corn market due to it's effect on fertilizer prices, which by some metrics, have already started to come down from their peaks seen in the last couple months. However, it remains our opinion that activity in the Strait of Hormuz must return to normal or near-normal levels before Middle East influence entirely exits the corn market.

🌱 Soybean Market Update
This afternoon's soybean comments are largely rinse and repeat from the corn section, as values closed mixed/mostly lower Friday on what was another day of trading rhetoric out of the Middle East. From a big picture standpoint and outside of what goes on with Iran, we see trade largely staying sideways the next couple weeks unless China finally comes in due to question marks surrounding US planted acreage that are hopefully going to be answered at the end of the month. The media thinks cool/wet spring weather through parts of the Midwest will lead to a boost in planted acres for beans, but history has shown it's nearly impossible to outguess the June report. A bump in acres, plus record or near-record yields, plus no buying from China likely equals a not-so-friendly ending stocks number on the new crop balance sheet, and this likely caps the upside somewhat for the foreseeable future.

🌾 Wheat Market Update
Wheat futures were lower to end the week on Friday, as technical selling and negative seasonals continued to be the main theme throughout the market despite the USDA once again cutting production figures in this week's update. Export prices are still largely non-competitive, which as we've discussed for weeks now, is the primary offsetting factor to lower production figures. Should Russian wheat continue to work into Mexico on a regular basis, we assume a broad-based rally in US futures will be somewhat difficult to come by.

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06/12/2026

OVERNIGHT RAINFALL

Alonzo .41
Bryce No Report
Buckley .7
Danforth .65
Goodwine .39
LaHogue .58
Ludlow .59
Paxton .43
Piper City .58

Ludlow Co-Op Rain Map Locations and Rainfall Data

06/11/2026

6/11/26 MIDCO AFTERNOON COMMENTS

🌽 Corn Market Update
Corn futures finished report day lower on Thursday and scored a new round of fresh contract lows in the process as downward momentum seems to still be in place after taking a quick breather the middle of the week this week. The report wasn't necessarily overly bearish, but it wasn't bullish either and this is what led to another rounding of selling through the noon hour and into the close. From here, it's the end-of-month quarterly stocks and acreage update that offers the next crop-specific spark to traders, with happenings in Iran and lingering Chinese purchases potential the more active drivers of price on a day-to-day basis.

🌱 Soybean Market Update
Bean oil futures led the soy complex lower on Thursday, though it didn't take a lot of effort to drag the others along as selling was fairly active throughout the space following the WASDE update release. Another round of headlines that the US was calling off military strikes in Iran due to progress in peace negotiations obviously didn't help bean oil futures, but we assume a steady biofuel figure on the new crop side of the balance sheet was enough for some stale spec longs in the space to bank profits and take more of a wait-and-see approach into the middle of the summer. Otherwise, there wasn't much in the report data-wise that changed anything fundamentally in the space and it was another day with little sign of buying interest on the part of the Chinese.

🌾 Wheat Market Update
The wheat market saw the friendliest data of the three row crops in this morning's WASDE update, but was still unable to break from the selling throughout the rest of the space with futures still finishing lower on the day. The production cuts will obviously get the bulk of the headlines, but we don't know that this is particularly new news amid the media frenzy the market has received since the last crop report in May. It's pretty well known at this point that US wheat production is going to be down, but the problem remains that a market rally based on this fact does nothing but further diminish what has already been a rather uncompetitive export program.

06/11/2026

6/11/26 MIDCO MORNING COMMENTS

Good morning. Report day. Grain prices are slightly lower as the trade awaits the numbers. Not many changes are expected as you can see from the average estimates below. Conab was out this morning and raised Brazil corn and bean production slightly. Beans were 180.253 MMT (+0.1 MMT) and corn was 140.46 MMT (+.25 MMT). Rain moved through the Midwest again last night. Had about 3 inches here in Bloomington. There were even higher totals seen in northern Missouri. See precip map below. There is another strong cell moving through Iowa this morning. Another system moves through on Saturday night, which will bring in cooler air for next week. It’s not perfect, but there is enough water around to get through the next couple of weeks, especially without any extreme heat. The Goldman roll ends today. Crude is slightly higher as the U.S. continued its attacks on Iran overnight. President Trump is still hoping for a peace deal to be signed soon. Corn sales this morning were solid at nearly 40 mbu. Beans sales were 7.8 mbu. Wheat sales were decent at 24.5 mbu. The European Central Bank raised interest rates for the first time in nearly 3 years this morning as a fight against inflation. This is the first of the major banks to raise rates in response to higher energy prices. The FED meets next week. There is currently a 37% chance of a rate increase in September and a 41% chance of a rate increase in October. The crop numbers today may create a temporary increase in the interest level, but it is not expected to show any lasting impact. Need that China buying to start. Have a safe day.

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06/11/2026

6/11/26 OVERNIGHT RAINFALL

Alonzo 1.57
Bryce 2.2
Buckley 2.4
Danforth 1.3
Goodwine 1.63
LaHogue 1.55
Ludlow 2.08
Paxton 1.94
Piper City 1.84

Ludlow Co-Op Rain Map Locations and Rainfall Data

06/10/2026

6/10/26 MIDCO AFTERNOON COMMENTS

🌽 Corn Market Update
It was another quiet/choppy day in the corn market, with most contracts closing within spitting distance of unchanged as news remains slow and as similar trading ranges were had to yesterday. While tomorrow's report isn't expected to have a ton of market impact, traders will be watching both the export and ethanol categories on the demand side for potential adjustments. If a surprise is to occur, we would imagine it could come from one of those categories seeing an unexpected adjustment that offsets the other more or less than is anticipated. However, in any case, trader focus likely again quickly returns to other market happenings, namely weather and Iran.

🌱 Soybean Market Update
Both the beans and the products closed higher on Wednesday, though were off the highs from the day in all three markets as buy-side momentum faded into the afternoon hours. Similar to corn, there aren't expected to be a ton of updates in tomorrow's WASDE report amid not a lot of reason to adjust exports, crush or production. There's also not expected to be a ton of updates to the product balance sheets following rather notable boosts in bean oil use for biofuel the last couple months.

🌾 Wheat Market Update
Wheat futures rounded out the buying in the ag space, but saw the worst closes relative to the highs made earlier in the day as chart selling came about pretty quickly when July futures hit moving average resistance late in the overnight session this morning. Winter harvest is getting rolling throughout the US this week and over the next several days, which along with oversold chart conditions could produce some sort of dead-cat bounce once negative June seasonals run their course.

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06/10/2026

6/12/26 REPORT ESTIMATES

06/10/2026

6/10/26 MIDCO MORNING COMMENTS

Good morning. Grain prices are higher this morning as a bit of war premium is added back in this morning. Technical buying related to oversold conditions are also helpful. Crude is up nearly $2.00 and equity futures are down. President Trump stated on social media that Iran will “have to pay the price” for not agreeing to a peace deal. Attacks against Iran continued overnight as the U.S. retaliated against a downed helicopter. Some light buying is also noted ahead of tomorrow’s USDA report. Overall changes are not expected to be much but there could be a couple of tweaks higher in demand categories for corn and beans. The wheat crop is expected to be adjusted a bit lower again. Estimates are listed below. Conab is out with Brazil production numbers in the morning as well. The weekly ethanol figures are out today. It is day 4 of the Goldman roll. The weather forecasts show a couple of very warm days before cooling down for the weekend. This change in the weather is expected to bring the potential for strong storms and wind over the next 24 hours or so. The heaviest rains in the Midwest will favor northern Illinois and eastern Iowa. El Nino talk continues to grow with more and more discussion around a Super El Nino. It is expected to be at its strongest later this year. It becomes Super when the sea-surface temps across the Pacific rise by 2 degrees Celsius (+3.6F) or more. The fast arrival has so far meant better rain chances in the Midwest that what would be typical of a gradual change to El Nino. Being that it will likely hang around into early 2027, it historically means a dry/warm winter for the Midwest. El Nino typically means drier profiles in southeast Asia, Australia, India, and South Africa. The FED meets next week (16/17) and this will be the first one with a new Chairman. May CPI came out this morning at +0.5% versus a month ago, which was as expected. The reading was +4.2% over a year ago (as expected), but was up from +3.8% in April. Grains will need a much bigger recovery than this to reengage the producer. Have a safe day.

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06/10/2026

Stout dust devil spotted in the Farmer City area today. Almost looks landspout-ish in nature.