North Gower Grains

Friday, February 6, 2026, 7:05 am

Thursday was a nice positive day for our markets.  Spot corn closed up 5 1/2, spot soybeans closed up 20, spot winter wheat closed up 8 1/2 and spot spring wheat closed up 5 1/2.  In the overnight trade corn and the wheat sector are negative with soybeans mixed.  Oil closed down $1.85 yesterday at $63.29 per barrel.  It is weaker in trading again this morning with it now valued at $63.21 per barrel.  Our dollar had high yesterday morning of $0.732 US and a low late in the trading day of $0.729 US.  It has rallied a bit since then with it currently valued this morning at $0.731 US.

The soybean market continued its rally yesterday after President Trump sent out his tweet on Tuesday morning stating that he asked President Xi from China to purchase an additional 8 million tonnes of soybeans for this current marketing year.  With the new record crop being harvested in Brazil and their soybeans being very much less expensive then soybeans from the US if they do purchase any extra soybeans it will be a political decision not an economic decision.  We should also point out that weather forecast in Brazil and Argentina is looking at a continued strong supply of moisture that will be most beneficial for their growing crops.

Expanding on the political thought from above it was reported that before President Trump talked to President Xi he talked to the leader of Russia.  Is there more to this such as a deal with oil between Russia and China?  We will probably never know.  When China agreed to the purchase of the 12 million tonnes of soybeans the US decreased a bunch of tariffs.  It is estimated that they paid over $100 million above purchases made from Brazil for those soybeans.  Based on current prices to purchase another 8 million tonnes the extra costs could be as high as another $400 million dollars.  Time will have to tell this story for sure.

Weekly ethanol production in the US fell a whopping 14% last week from the previous week.  The main reason being was the cold weather storm that hit the majority of the US over the week.  Production went from 1.114 million barrels per day down to 956 thousand barrels per day.  The only positive for the week was that stock levels decreased as should be expected with lower production as blender demand was only down just over 1% for the week.

Friday’s thought: The happiest people forgive, forget, love, help, care and smile.  The happiest people are the givers, not the takers.  Be a happy person!