Market Talk

Corn posted new contract highs this week on its continued rally and Bryan Doherty, Senior Market Advisor at Total Farm Marketing, joins Market Talk to break down what's driving it. Bryan walks through tightening carryout numbers following a disappointing Pro Farmer Crop Tour showing in Illinois, why end users haven't fully chased the market yet, and how Black Sea shipping uncertainty is putting a floor under the wheat complex. He also continues our series on futures and options strategies discussing a fence strategy, then wraps with an update on the cattle and dairy markets ahead of Friday's Cattle on Feed report.

Also on today's show, are we not killing enough cattle—and are producers starting to lose their leverage? On this week's Cattle Chatter, Brad Kooima with Kooima Kooima Varilek breaks down a cattle market full of moving pieces. Tyson plants are going offline, Ft. Morgan is coming back online, and boxed beef is showing some movement. Meanwhile, the charts have been a wreck, the cash market is trying to firm, and Kansas has now joined Colorado and Texas in going "confidential" on USDA cash cattle reporting, citing thin trading volume.

Markets are mixed at midday Thursday as we continue to try and rally in the grain complex this week. Arlan Suderman with StoneX joins us to discuss the rally, the. tightening balance sheets, Treasury buybacks and more.

Mike Zuzolo of Global Commodity Analytics joins Market Talk to break down a grain market that's starting to echo 2022. He and host Jesse Allen dig into the Midwest crop tour's surprising soybean pod count data out of Indiana and Nebraska, a near-total collapse in Black Sea grain shipping capacity, why Paris corn futures are the chart to watch, and what a razor-thin global stocks-to-use ratio means for corn's next move. They also cover the cattle market's reaction to the Tyson plant closures and a feeder-to-corn ratio flashing a tightening supply signal. Learn more at https://www.globalcommresearch.com.

Also on today's show, Gabby Bourret-Sicotte, Chief Evangelist and Head of Customer Solutions for satellite ag-intelligence firm Treefera, joins Market Talk to break down why her company is holding its U.S. corn yield estimate steady even after USDA's August WASDE report cut its own number. We also cover how Treefera's dashboard helps traders and farmers manage risk across multiple global storylines at once, what a forecasted "Super El Nino" could mean for cocoa and coffee in 2026-27, and why a widening wheat supply squeeze in the U.S. and Europe has Treefera advising some growers to switch varieties. Learn more about Treefera: https://treefera.com

Grains are rallying again on Wednesday while livestock are showing pressure, particularly in cattle. Arlan Suderman with StoneX joined us to discuss in our Market Talk Midday Commentary for Wednesday, August 19th, 2026.

On today's show, Matt Bennett of AgMarket.net joins Market Talk to break down a mixed Tuesday session in the grains, why the corn market seems to want proof before it rallies despite a tightening balance sheet, and what's ahead for acreage, fertilizer decisions, and the cattle market following recent beef plant news. Find more online at https://www.agmarket.net.

We also begin with news headlines including more perspective on the Tyson news and thoughts on the grain market volatility and impacts on cash basis in Segment One. Then in Segment Two, we hear from Mike Castle, Senior Commodities Economist at StoneX, who joined us for Tuesday's Midday Commentary to discuss grain market action, fertilizer prices and the outside markets he is watching this week.

On Monday's episode of Market Talk, Mike Minor of Professional Ag Marketing kicks things off to unpack Monday's soybean-led rally, driven by strong export inspections and continued Chinese buying for the new crop. Plus: cattle and hogs continue to digest the Tyson plant closure news, and Mike shares what he's watching on basis heading into harvest.

In Segment Two, we get a look at the weather forecast for the week ahead including a recap of flooding, severe weather and drought with Eric Snodgrass from Nutrien Ag Solutions. Find more at https://www.agweather.com.

And then, John Heinberg of Total Farm Marketing joins Market Talk to break down Monday's action across the grain and livestock complex. Soybeans led the way, closing above the May high and opening the door to a possible run at July highs, while corn stayed caught between beans and wheat just under the key $4.92 resistance level. John also digs into last week's Commitment of Traders data, where funds were net sellers of the core ags but massive buyers of sugar, coffee, and cotton — a pattern he ties to possible El Niño weather premium building for Brazil's next growing season. Plus: cattle and hogs react to the fallout from Tyson's plant closures, and John shares his marketing advice for producers heading into harvest.

Soybeans were the star at midday on Monday while the rest of the markets were mixed. Arlan Suderman with StoneX joined us for our Midday Commentary on Monday, August 17th, 2026.

Joe Kooima of Kooima Kooima Varilek in Sioux Center, Iowa joins Market Talk on Friday to break down a rough end of the week in the cattle complex after Tyson Foods announced it is closing two beef facilities, including the Joslin, Illinois plant, and looking to sell a third. Joe explains why this round of consolidation does not feel like the last two, what the loss of open interest is telling him about who is left in the cattle market, and why packer margins recovered almost overnight. He also looks at a stagnant hog market, the surprise corn yield cut in Wednesday's WASDE report, and the weather risk building west of the I-29 corridor.

Brady Huck of Empower Ag Trading in Kansas also joins Market Talk to unpack a Friday that pulled the cattle and grain markets in opposite directions. On the cattle side, Tyson Foods announced it is closing the Joslin, Illinois plant and a case-ready facility in Utah while looking to sell Pasco, Washington. Brady walks through why the market still lacks conviction, why the boxed beef cutout is the number that has to move first, and what the chuck and the round have to do with any rally. On the grain side the tone flips. A supportive WASDE report, a national corn yield cut, Black Sea headlines and a wheat market making a run at eight dollars have given the bulls multiple stories to work with. Brady lays out what tight world stocks-to-use means going forward, and how producers should think about rewarding this rally without over-committing bushels they may not raise.

Wheat is rallying on more Black Sea tensions while the cattle complex is under pressure Friday from the news of Tyson Foods closing facilities in Illinois and Utah. Arlan Suderman, Chief Commodities Economist at StoneX, joins us to discuss in our Midday Commentary for Friday, August 14th, 2026.

Corn carryout is narrowing on both old crop and new crop and the resulting stocks-to-use figure is the tightest in four years. Bryan Doherty, Senior Market Advisor at Total Farm Marketing, joins Market Talk the day after the August WASDE to break down a 180.7 bushel national corn yield, the wide gap between the I-states and a drought-stressed western Corn Belt, and why he thinks 2027 sets up as a must-have crop year. Bryan also continues our lesson series built on Total Farm Marketing's special report, 12 Option Strategies for an Uncertain World, walking through the bull call spread and the bear put spread and when each one fits a producer's marketing plan.

On this week's Cattle Chatter, brought to you by Zoetis, Brad Kooima with Kooima Kooima Varilek breaks down the latest slaughter numbers while looking at the impact of extreme heat, dry pastures and an uptick in video cattle sales. Was last week's cash cattle trade actually cattle purchased for deferred delivery? As Labor Day approaches, the focus turns to beef demand and boxed beef movement. How does the market get the boxes turned, and what will it take to keep product moving as we look beyond the holiday and into the fall?

We also begin the program today with market analysis and perspective from Sue Martin with Ag & Investments in Clarion, IA during Segment One of Thursday's show.