Corn Faces Weakness to Start 2026

Corn futures closed out the first session of 2026 with losses of 2 to 3 cents. March was back down 12 ½ cents on the holiday week. The CmdtyView national average Cash Corn price was up 2 ½ cents at $3.98 1/4. 

USDA reported a private export sale of 132,000 MT of corn to South Korea this morning. Export Sales data will be officially caught up on Monday, as traders are looking for between 0.7-1.5 MMT in corn bookings during the week of 12/25.

A monthly Grains Crushing report from USDA was released this afternoon, showing a total of 471.87 mbu of corn used in ethanol during November. That was slightly above last year and 0.7% below last month. Corn grind in the first quarter was down just 0.2 mbu from 2024/25.

On Wednesday afternoon, USDA released the payment details for the Farm Bridge Assistance program, with the corn payment listed at $44.36/acre. Sorghum was tallied at $48.11.

Mar 26 Corn  closed at $4.37 1/2, down 2 3/4 cents,

Nearby Cash  was $3.98 1/4, up 2 1/2 cents,

May 26 Corn  closed at $4.45 1/2, down 2 3/4 cents,

Jul 26 Corn  closed at $4.52, down 2 1/2 cents,

On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.