Market Talk

Tuesday was a much quieter day in the markets as the grain trade was mixed to slightly lower on the session. After all of the US/China meeting volatility, will weather take center stage? Tyler Schau with AgMarket.net joins us to share perspective on how the markets seem to have ADHD when it comes to trading headlines and volatility. We also get perspective on the cattle complex, expanded limits coming soon and more. Find more online by visiting https://www.agmarket.net. As the farm economy continues in a down cycle, there is quietly a growing concern about leverage and over-leveraging your operation for capital needs. Trent Klarenbach with the Klarenbach Grain Report has been doing some analysis of farmland values in the US and Canada. He explores the math and what over-leverage might mean for someone when it comes to loans, margin calls in the markets and more. Learn more at https://www.grainreport.klarenbach.ca.

The grain markets shot higher to start the week as the White House released news on Sunday of reported agricultural purchase commitments made by China during last week's summit between Trump and Xi. Does this news give the grain markets enough juice to work back through key levels of resistance in the trade? How does the weather conversation play into things? John Heinberg with Total Farm Marketing joins us to discuss the grains and livestock markets on today's show. Find more online at https://www.totalfarmmarketing.com. As the grain markets reacted higher on Monday to reported news of China agricultural purchase commitments after the Trump/Xi summit, the livestock markets trade mixed to lower to start the week. Mike Minor and Luke Wells from Professional Ag Marketing join us to discuss the trade action in cattle, hogs and the grain markets. More at https://www.professionalagmarketing.com. We saw a large outbreak of severe weather over the weekend in parts of the Plains and Western Corn Belt with numerous reports of large hail, damaging winds, heavy rains and tornadoes across parts of Nebraska, South Dakota, Kansas, Iowa and Missouri with more on the way to start the week. Eric Snodgrass with Nutrien Ag Solutions joins us to discuss in our Weekly Weather Update for the week of May 18th, 2026. More at https://www.ag-wx.com.

As we head into the weekend, we sit down to talk commodity and livestock markets with Chad Hart, Professor and Economist at Iowa State University. We discuss the markets chasing headlines, the weather impacts, the law of supply and demand, ethanol/E15 legislation, US/China talks and much more. Plus it was a busy week in the cattle markets with plenty of news and record cash trade. Joe Kooima with Kooima Kooima Varilek joins us for livestock and grain market analysis to close out the week. Find more at https://www.kkvtrading.com.

Soybeans fell into some hard profit taking on Thursday as traders apparently caught wind of some small nuggets of information from the Trump/Xi meeting ongoing in China. That pulled corn and wheat lower while cattle futures closed lower as news came out regarding new higher limits starting on June 1st. Bryan Doherty with Total Farm Marketing joins us for analysis and perspective on today's show. More at https://www.totalfarmmarketing.com. The cattle market is entering uncharted territory, with cash trade surging $7 higher in the North and $3 to $5 higher in the South, with some northern sales reported as high as $265. On this week's Cattle Chatter, Brad Kooima with Kooima Kooima Varilek breaks down the latest price movement and discusses the newly announced expanded trading limits. Effective June 1, Live Cattle limits will move to $8.50, while Feeder Cattle limits increase to $10.75. Markets are also keeping a close eye on trade developments with China, including questions surrounding why nearly 400 packing licenses were approved and then later pulled back. At the same time, worsening drought conditions are prompting more cattle to move to market, though producers appear committed to holding onto their cow herds—signaling continued confidence in long-term fundamentals.

We saw a quieter grain trade on Wednesday while cattle surged and we got new energy and inflation data released as well. Mike Zuzolo with Global Commodity Analytics joins us to share technical analysis of things he is watching in the grain, livestock and outside markets at midweek. Find more online at https://www.globalcommresearch.com. And as farmers continue to work through spring planting 2026, the rising cost of fuel, fertilizer and inputs continues to further squeeze farm budgets. Dr. Michael Deliberto, Economist, Associate Professor and Louisiana Farm Bureau Endowed Professor in Agricultural Policy at LSU joins us to highlight recent work he has done looking at crop budgets for producers in Louisiana and how it can broadly reflect issues across the country.

Winter wheat futures soared on Tuesday after USDA seemingly indicated the well reported issues with this year's crop in the U.S. Plains. We saw 35-45 cent moves higher across the wheat complex while soybeans, bean oil, bean meal and corn also had a positive day. Matt Bennett with AgMarket.net joins us for analysis and reaction to the May WASDE report and some thoughts on the situation with beef imports and the Trump administration. Find more online at https://www.agmarket.net.

The Trump administration is preparing to temporarily lower tariffs on imported beef in an effort to ease record-high beef prices for American consumers. That news on Monday sent cattle futures on a wild ride that ended well off of session lows, as some early week cash cattle trade surfaced on the day as well. John Heinberg with Total Farm Marketing joins us to discuss the livestock and grain trade to start the week, including a look ahead to the May WASDE Report, US/China meeting and more on tap this week. Find more online at https://www.totalfarmmarketing.com. Could we see a warmup in the weather pattern to help propel more spring planting this week? What about the early week frost concerns in the Upper Midwest? Eric Snodgrass with Nutrien Ag Solutions joins us to discuss on our Weekly Weather Update as we look at U.S. weather, updates for South America and Europe and more. Find more at https://www.ag-wx.com. In Segment One, we also get some market perspective from Tyler Schau with AgMarket.net and Arlan Suderman with StoneX at the top of the show.

On today's show, we hear from StoneX Senior Commodities Economist Mike Castle to kickoff the show followed by this week's new episode of Cattle Chatter with Susan Littlefield and Brad Kooima. Susan sticks with us in Segment Three as she shares a dairy market conversation with Shawn Hackett from Hackett Financial Advisors while Jesse closes the show with market analysis and recap from Thursday's trade.

On today's Market Talk, Susan Littlefield sits in for Jesse Allen as she has market analysis with Mike Zuzolo from Global Commodity Analytics and Mike Castle from StoneX. She also shares a conversation with former Senator Heidi Heitkamp, who is now Director of Agriculture at alliant.

It appears to be a turnaround Tuesday to the downside in the grain complex as we see moderate pressure across soybeans, corn and wheat. Mike Castle, Senior Commodities Economist at StoneX, joins us to discuss the grain trade and new economic data released on Tuesday morning.

A strong day higher for soybeans on Monday with corn and wheat following behind while cattle are under pressure. Arlan Suderman, Chief Commodities Economist at StoneX joins us to discuss.

Today's guests include Bryan Doherty with Total Farm Marketing, Sue Martin with Ag & Investments and a new episode of Cattle Chatter with Susan Littlefield and Brad Kooima from KKV Trading.