Chicago Close: Corn, Soys Fall on Improving South America Forecasts

Jan 24, 2025

Corn and soybean futures declined on Wednesday, after rallying a day earlier on US President Donald Trump’s decision to delay trade tariffs. Wheat ended mixed.

Soybeans were pressured by improving forecasts for South America. Brazil is expected to see drier weather for soybean harvest progress, which has been lagging, in the coming week. Meanwhile, Argentina forecasts are a bit wetter over the next week, desperately needed for drought-stricken crops. China has reportedly halted soybean shipments from five Brazilian exporters over phytosanitary concerns – which could send more business to the US – but reports suggest the ban may be short-lived. Further strength in the US dollar added to the pressure. March beans fell 11 ¼ cents to $10.56, and November was down 3 cents at $10.46 ¾.

The better weather in South America and the higher greenback weighed on corn during the day. Due to soybean harvest delays, Conab says Brazil safrinha sowing is 0.5% complete, well behind the 5% pace set last year at this time. March lost 5 ¾ cents to $4.84 ¼, and December eased a ¼ cent to $4.59 ½.

Winter wheat futures were pushed a bit lower as frigid temperatures on the US Plains begin to moderate. Some damage to crops from the cold snap is possible, but the extent won’t be known until spring at least. The higher US dollar was a bearish factor. March Chicago fell 4 ¾ cents to $5.54, March Kansas City dropped ¾ of a cent to $5.74 ¾, and March Minneapolis was up 2 cents to $6.06 ½.

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Video: How American Farmers Harvest 1.15 Billion Pounds of Sunflowers

Across the open plains of North Dakota and South Dakota, sunflower fields turn the American landscape into a sea of gold. In this farming documentary, we go inside modern sunflower farming to see how farmers plant, grow, harvest, clean, dry, process, and transform sunflower seeds into valuable products used every day.

In 2024, American farmers harvested about 1.15 billion pounds of sunflowers. This video follows the full journey from warm spring planting to combine harvesting, seed cleaning, storage, oil extraction, refining, roasting, packaging, and animal feed production.

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Watch until the end to discover how sunflower farming connects farmers, machines, factories, food production, and sustainable agriculture.