Corn Futures Higher After USDA Reports Degraded Crop Condition — Daily Grain Highlights

By Kirk Maltais

-Corn for December delivery rose 2.3% to $5.08 1/2 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Tuesday in response to a large drop in the amount of U.S. corn crops in good or excellent condition.

-Soybeans for November delivery rose 1.9% to $13.04 3/4 a bushel.

-Wheat for December delivery rose 1.8% to $7.04 1/2 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

Waterlogged: The USDA's Crop Progress report showed a 3-point decline in the condition of the U.S. corn crop, falling to 54% good-or-excellent this week. The size of the move is unusual for this time of year, analysts said. "The current crop is only a point ahead of 2023, which finished as the worst-rated crop since 2012," said Matt Zeller of StoneX in a note. Wet weather in the Corn Belt last week prevented farmers from getting into fields to harvest and created moisture-saturated soils.

Retracing Steps: The U.S. dollar index fell 0.3%, making grains and commodities in general more attractive for investors. "The correction in the U.S. dollar is bringing managed money buyers back to commodities," said Karl Setzer of Consus Ag Consulting. Setzer adds that traders appear to be covering some shorts today ahead of Friday's WASDE report from the USDA.

INSIGHT

Limited Benefits: President Trump's executive order temporarily allowing the use of red-dyed, tax-free diesel by truckers is expected to have a limited benefit for U.S. farmers struggling with rising input costs. Red-dyed diesel is already being used by farmers to power farm machinery such as tractors and combines, so the savings really goes to farmers transporting their harvests via trucks. But there's a way for this to backfire on farmers, said Jim Wiesemeyer of Ag Bull in a note. "Opening those inventories to additional highway customers could also increase competition for supplies at rural distributors during harvest," he said.

Behind the 8-ball: The pace of the U.S. corn and soybean harvest is behind the 5-year average, the USDA said in its Crop Progress report. As of Oct. 4, the soybean crop is 25% harvested, versus the 5-year average of 33%. Dry weather this week will allow farmers to return to harvesting, said Michael Cordonnier of Soybean and Corn Advisor. "Last week was very wet across the Midwest, especially in the state of Iowa where rainfall records were broken for the month of September," he said. "The weather this week looks much dryer, but it is going to take a few days of dryer weather for the seed moisture to decline and the combines to be able to get in the fields."

Darker Sentiment: U.S. farmers turned more pessimistic in September, thanks to higher input costs pressuring farmer's bottom lines. In the latest Ag Economy Barometer produced by Purdue University and the CME Group, farmer sentiment in September fell to 123 from 135. More farmers surveyed in September expect their finances to be "worse off" a year from now than "better."

AHEAD

-The EIA will release its Weekly Petroleum Status Update report at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.

-The USDA will release its weekly export sales report at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday.

-The USDA will release its monthly WASDE report at noon ET Friday.

-The CFTC will release its weekly Commitment of Traders report at 3:30 p.m. ET Friday.

Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 06, 2026 15:18 ET (19:18 GMT)