AGSIST DAILY · ISSUE #212 · ARCHIVE
Sunday, October 11, 2026
↔ Mixed WEEKEND EDITION

Corn's near-4% WASDE drop closes out a mixed week

Corn settled Friday at $4.80, down nearly 4% after WASDE came in heavier than the trade wanted. Cattle shrugged it off, closing the week at $224.60, up 1.2%, with feeders up 1.7% to $343.90. Every bushel of old-crop corn sitting in the bin is worth about 19 cents less than it was Thursday.

Harvest price clock

Corn harvest price so far: $5.01 vs $4.62 projected (+8.4%), 6 of 22 trading days in.

Soybeans harvest price so far: $12.89 vs $11.09 projected (+16.2%), 6 of 22 trading days in.

Average of the daily CBOT settles through Oct 8, figured the way USDA RMA does. RMA posts corn at $4.98. Window and projected price: USDA RMA, as of Oct 10. Oct 1-31 window, most states. Harvest price tracker →

Quotes as of 1:46 PM CT Fri · change vs Thu close · CME futures, delayed
THE NUMBER
$1.8 billion
USDA CRP and Grassland CRP payments issued
USDA cut checks to producers idling land for conservation, real cash into farm country even as corn took its worst day in weeks.
Corn takes the brunt of wasdeMEDIUM CONVICTION
  • Corn settled Friday at $4.80, down 3.9% on the day after Friday's WASDE report.
  • Winter wheat took a hit too, with Chicago wheat easing to $6.71, down 1.8% on the week's close.
  • World Grain reports US grain storage is more available this year, which should ease the bin-space squeeze farmers faced at harvest.
Heavier supply numbers plus easier storage both point the same direction: less urgency to move.
Cattle and feeders close the week firmMEDIUM CONVICTION
  • Live cattle closed at $224.60, up 1.2% Friday, with feeders up 1.7% to $343.90.
  • Both held their gains even as corn, the main feed cost, dropped nearly 4% the same session.
  • Hogs went the other way, down 0.9% to $75.15, still sitting near the bottom of its 52-week range.
Cheaper corn into a strong cattle market is good margin math for anyone feeding out.
Diesel politics move to the frontLOW CONVICTION
  • Crude held near flat Friday at $91.69, up only 0.2%, even with tanker rates at record highs tied to the Iran-Hormuz cycle, a re-escalation since July that has mostly cooled since.
  • Trump said he discussed buying Russian diesel with Putin, with the stated goal of bringing diesel prices down.
Diesel, not crude, has been the real input-cost story heading into fall fieldwork and now.
THIS WEEK'S WATCH LIST
  • Monday 3:00 PM CTCrop Progress report. Watch for harvest pace after corn's hard drop Friday.
  • OngoingCorn below $4.80 again next week would say the WASDE number is still being digested.
  • OngoingDiesel price moves tied to any US-Russia purchase deal could shift fall fieldwork costs.
WEEK AHEAD IN AGComing up next week.
POLICY
USDA issues $1.8 billion in CRP payments
The payments went out late Thursday to producers idling land under CRP and Grassland CRP, real dollars into farm country this week.
Written by Sigurd Lindquist, founder. Reply at sig@farmers1st.com. I read everything.
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CME settlement data, USDA WASDE, USDA CRP announcement, oilprice.com, feedstuffs.com, world-grain.com, thefencepost.com · Compiled 5:54 AM CT Sun
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