Thursday April 17th, 2025

• Grains are mixed this morning: corn is holding steady, wheat is up and beans are down.
• Corn futures climbed yesterday on weather concerns and planting delays from excessive rainfall.  Additional rainfall is in the forecast for the weekend for parts of the corn belt.
  • The CZ25 contract (new crop corn) has made a very healthy move in the last 15 days, taking back more than 62% of what it lost from mid-February to the end of March.  The CZ contract is now at its highest level since late February.
• The US Dollar fell to a six-month low yesterday, making US exports look more affordable to buyers.
• DOE total weekly fuel ethanol production declined for the third time in the last four weeks.
  • Ethanol stocks remain near historically high levels, see image below.