October 16, 2026

Mid-Co Morning Comments:

• Ag markets are lower to round out the week as a bearish tone marches on, and the funds continue to shed length with no bullish news in sight to entice the market.
• Topics to watch that could change this downward trend are El Niño, the South American crop, geopolitical tensions, and additional Chinese buying.
• NOPA crush data released yesterday showed U.S. soybean crush for September came in at 196.3 million bushels, below expectations and a 13-month low. That's down 5% from August and rouhgly in line with last year at this time. The decline can be related to plant maintenance downtime along with harvest delays that caused crush to slow down.
• Crush in the top processor state, Iowa, showed the biggest drop with crush down 13% from September of last year. 
• Barge shipments on the Mississippi River for the week ending October 10, according to the USDA, were up 20% from the previous week overall. Soybean shipments are up 16% and corn barge movement is up 27% compared to last week.
• The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange in Argentina showed corn planting progress at 35% complete, up around 5% from the same time last year.
• Weather into the weekend for the Midwest looks cold but sunny. Temperatures should warm back up next week, with little to no precipitation in the forecast over the next 7 days.
• Outside markets are trading mixed: nearby crude oil futures are down $.50/bbl, the Dow Jones index is up 40-50 points, and the U.S. dollar index is down 30-40 points.
• Today's reports include Weekly Export Sales and CFTC Commitment of Traders