Corn Pulls Off Highs, Still Closes Monday with Strength as Ratings Fall

Corn prices edged lower from early market peaks, but still managed a gain of 3 to 7 ¾ cents on Monday. The CmdtyView national average Cash Corn price reached $4.63. Crop Progress data revealed 86% of the US corn crop was in the dough stage by August 23, with 45% denting and 6% maturing. Condition ratings slipped by 3% to 57% in good to excellent shape, with the Brugler500 index falling 5 points to 348.

Monday's Export Inspections report indicated 1.296 million metric tons (MMT) of corn shipments in the week of August 20, a 33.32% decrease from the previous week and 3.16% below the same week last year. Mexico took the bulk of the corn, importing 387,748 MT, followed by Japan with 306,842 MT and Colombia with 101,360 MT. The cumulative corn exports for the marketing year now stand at 82.28 MMT (3.239 billion bushels), 25.51% higher than the same period last year, with only a week remaining in the marketing year.

Pro Farmer's projections for the US national yield are 173.2 bushels per acre (bpa), with production estimated at 15.344 billion bushels. Agriculture estimates that the 2025/26 second corn crop is at 92% harvested as of Thursday, behind the 98% average. The first corn crop for 2026/27 is estimated at 2% planted, falling short of the 3.2% pace from the previous year.

On the day of publication, Austin Schroeder did not hold any positions in the securities mentioned. All information and data in this article are provided for informational purposes only.