AGSIST DAILY · ARCHIVE
Saturday, September 19, 2026
▼ Bearish WEEKEND EDITION

CRUDE RETREATS; TRUMP-XI SUMMIT HANGS OVER BEANS

THE ACTION

Unpriced new-crop beans: a Sept 24 Trump-Xi outcome below expectations is the sell signal; hold until then, not past it.

Soybeans closed Friday at $13.03, down 7½ cents, and the fund liquidation was straightforward: nobody wanted to hold a long position into a weekend with the Trump-Xi summit on September 24 still unresolved. Wheat led the grain complex lower at $7.13, off 11½ cents.

Quotes as of 7:16 PM CT Fri · change vs Thu close · Yahoo Finance, delayed, not CME settlements
THE NUMBER
5.6%
WTI crude single-session decline, Friday
Saudi Aramco cutting European crude deliveries for October eased supply fears the market had over-priced. Brent fell below $105; diesel crack spreads are the real input-cost story going forward.
DAILY QUOTE

“An economist is an expert who will know tomorrow why the things he predicted yesterday didn't happen today.”

Laurence J. Peter
GRAINS SELL INTO THE WEEKEND
  • Soybeans closed at $13.03, down 7½ cents, with ASA publicly urging Trump and Xi to address the 10% retaliatory levy still sitting on US beans at the Chinese border ahead of the September 24 summit.
Beans are the summit trade. Everything else is noise until September 24.
CRUDE RETREATS; DIESEL STILL TIGHT
  • WTI closed at $95.47, off 5.6% Friday, after Saudi Aramco confirmed it is rerouting roughly 60 million barrels through the Persian Gulf following damage to its East-West pipeline, killing the European supply scare that had crude bid all week.
Fear premium gone; diesel crack spreads still hurt harvest budgets.
CATTLE HOLD; FEEDERS UNDER PRESSURE
  • Live cattle closed at $216.57, up fractionally; the Cargill multi-plant lockout, ongoing since May 19 and still removing roughly 6,000 head of daily processing capacity, keeps packer margins as the binding constraint, not cattle numbers.
Record-low placements plus a locked-out packer equals a cattle market that is not done tightening.
THIS WEEK'S WATCH LIST
  • Wednesday, Sept 23Farm Bill floor scheduling: Senate Ag advanced 12-11; any procedural block before Sept 30 extension deadline matters.
  • Thursday, Sept 24Trump-Xi summit: beans above $13.15 on a confirmed purchase commitment, below $12.80 on a breakdown.
  • Friday, Sept 25, 7:30 AM CTWeekly export sales: soybean sales under 700K MT keep the fund liquidation story in charge.
OUTSIDE THE PITNot moving prices today, but worth knowing.
POLICY
USDA Opens ARC/PLC Enrollment, Adds 30 Million Base Acres
USDA's first base-acre update in two decades adds more than 30 million acres to ARC and PLC eligibility.
Written by Sigurd Lindquist, Certified Crop Adviser (CCA). Reply at sig@farmers1st.com. I read everything.
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CME Group Friday closes; USDA AMS; OilPrice.com; Feedstuffs; Drovers; Agri-Pulse; ASA · Compiled 8:58 AM CT Sat
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