Grain Rally Stalls, Putting US Farm Margins Back Under Pressure
A recent rally in US grain markets has stalled, causing concerns for farmers' margins. On September 2, 2026, corn and soybean futures reversed lower as late-session technical selling and profit-taking took hold. Despite strong fundamentals, including ethanol demand and soybean sales to China, the reversal has left producers with a market where high input costs are squeezing profitability.
Corn futures tested positive territory before sellers regained control, leading to declines of 2.75 cents for September corn to $5.1875 per bushel and 2.5 cents for December corn to settle at $5.4350. Soybeans followed a similar pattern, with prices strengthening in the morning after private exporters reported another sale to China, but fading as technical selling intensified.
Winter wheat also faced profit-taking, with September Chicago soft red winter wheat falling 9.25 cents to $7.5475 per bushel and September Kansas City hard red winter wheat declining 11 cents to $8.1475. Despite these losses, both markets remain at relatively elevated levels.