Wheat Futures Fall as Grains Limp Into Weekend — Daily Grain Highlights

By Kirk Maltais

-Wheat for December delivery fell 1.5% to $6.59 3/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Friday, with the overall grains complex finishing off the week under pressure amid tough macro conditions and friendlier-than-expected weather in the Corn Belt.

-Corn for December delivery fell 0.8% to $4.74 1/4 a bushel.

-Soybeans for November delivery fell 0.2% to 12.60 1/2 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

On the Home Front: Grain futures have been trending lower this fall in part because of a change in how traders are viewing the weather in crop-growing regions around the world. "The weather story that helped fuel grain-market optimism is beginning to unravel," said Scott Mathews of BestWeather in a note. "Improving rainfall across the U.S. Plains, favorable early-season conditions in South America, and substantial speculative exposure could leave corn, soybeans, and wheat vulnerable to additional selling." For corn and soybeans, this ties to weather allowing farmers in their fields to harvest their crops, while for wheat it means being able to get into the fields to plant.

Cut and Run: There's speculation fund traders are pulling out of long positions in corn, said Charlie Sernatinger of Marex in a note. "[Corn is] down anticipating a weekend harvest prehedge tonight, more chart selling, and talk that macro funds are exiting commodities anticipating a U.S. recession," says Sernatinger. Last week's Commitments of Traders report from the CFTC showed a sizable decrease in long corn positions, with nearly 55,000 long contracts shown being closed. The CFTC will be updating its report this afternoon, although the data is a few days behind.

Feeling Flat: The USDA this week announced multiple export sales of U.S. soybeans to China, including a new flash sale of 558,000 tons announced today. An additional 236,000 tons of soybeans sold to "unknown destinations" were also reported. "Unknown destinations" is an alternative moniker that's often used for Chinese buyers, although not necessarily the case. But CBOT soybeans didn't respond by going higher, as China's return to buying U.S. soybeans was at least partially expected, said Joe Davis of Futures International in a note.

INSIGHT

Slack Showing: Grain futures closed out the week with a weak showing, continuing a skid that began last month. Corn settled lower for the fourth session in a row, according to FactSet data. Soybeans finished the week in the negative for the fifth session in a row, making it 7 out of the past 8 sessions it's closed down. Wheat finished lower for the 6th session out of the past 8. A stronger U.S. dollar and friendlier-than-expected weather in the Corn Belt has applied the pressure to the grains complex.

Farming for the Future: U.S. farmers are increasingly utilizing drones to spray their farmland, said the American Farm Bureau Federation in a note. The AFBF says that 16.4 million acres of farmland were sprayed by drones in 2025, up roughly five times from 3.7 million acres in 2023. The usage of drones is increasing as farmers see them as ways to handle problems with accessing certain portions of their fields. "The biggest advantages for drones come in wet fields, rough terrain, irregularly shaped fields and situations where timely product applications are critical," said Bernt Nelson of the AFBF.

AHEAD

-The USDA will release its weekly Grain Export Inspections report at 11 a.m. ET Monday.

-The USDA will release its weekly Crop Progress report at 4 p.m. ET Monday.

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

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 16, 2026 15:22 ET (19:22 GMT)