Global Ag News For Aug 8.2025

TOP HEADLINES

Global Food Index Rises as Veg Oils, Meat Get Pricier: UN’s FAO

Global food prices rose in July as meat and vegetable oil costs gained, according to an index of food-commodity prices from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization.

• The FAO food index rose 1.6% from a month earlier
• Grain prices fell 0.8% as wheat harvests progressed across the Northern Hemisphere
• Vegetable oil prices jumped 7.1% to a three-year high
  • Palm oil is getting more expensive due to robust global demand and sunflower oil has climbed as export supplies tighten from the Black Sea region
• Meat prices rose 1.2%, reaching an all-time high
  • That’s due to higher prices of cattle and sheep meat
• Dairy and sugar prices both eased slightly

FUTURES & WEATHER

Wheat prices overnight are down 3/4 in SRW, down 1 3/4 in HRW, up 1 1/2 in HRS; Corn is down 1 1/4; Soybeans down 1 1/4; Soymeal down $0.70; Soyoil down 0.23.

For the week so far wheat prices are up 3 in SRW, up 3 1/2 in HRW, up 3 3/4 in HRS; Corn is down 3; Soybeans up 5 1/2; Soymeal up $4.70; Soyoil down 0.65.

For the month to date wheat prices are down 5 3/4 in SRW, down 6 1/2 in HRW, down 2 1/4 in HRS; Corn is down 8; Soybeans up 3 1/4; Soymeal up $8.50; Soyoil down 1.55.

Year-To-Date nearby futures are down 5.8% in SRW, down 6.6% in HRW, down 3.3% in HRS; Corn is down 16.0%; Soybeans down 2.7%; Soymeal down 11.3%; Soyoil up 34.6%.

Chinese Ag futures (SEP 25) Soybeans down 13 yuan; Soymeal up 20; Soyoil down 8; Palm oil up 24; Corn down 9 — Malaysian Palm is up 18.

Malaysian palm oil prices overnight were up 18 ringgit (+0.42%) at 4258.

There were changes in registrations (-30 Soyoil). Registration total: 34 SRW Wheat contracts; 4 Oats; 0 Corn; 761 Soybeans; 667 Soyoil; 1,719 Soymeal; 419 HRW Wheat.

Preliminary changes in futures Open Interest as of August 7 were: SRW Wheat down 4,054 contracts, HRW Wheat down 5,377, Corn down 12,249, Soybeans up 20,965, Soymeal down 5,438, Soyoil down 3,156.

 

DAILY WEATHER HEADLINES: 08 AUGUST 2025

• NORTH AMERICA: The latest EC Sub-seasonal forecast indicates warm and dry conditions across the U.S Corn Belt thorough early September
• SOUTH AMERICA: Temperatures across the Pampas dropped to near 0 °C in recent days, but there should be no impact on dormant wheat at this stage of the season
• EUROPE: A heatwave has expanded over Spain early this week and is expected to progress over France into Central Europe through the next 7-10 days
• TELECONNECTIONS: Our latest ENSO update confirms a high probability of a weak La Niña state in September-November, with prevailing warmth in the Northern Hemisphere
• TROPICS: Tropical Storm Podul emerged over the Western Pacific and is expected to develop further, reaching Taiwan by mid-next week

 

Northern Plains: Soil moisture continues to build across the region with multiple rounds of rain moving through earlier this week. Corn and soybeans are benefiting from the consistent rainfall, but it is slowing down winter wheat harvest and potentially degrading maturing spring wheat. Late this week into early next week will remain active with scattered showers and storms moving through. Some storms could be severe. Temperatures will drop below average late this week behind a cold front and remain on the cooler side going into next week.

Central/Southern Plains: High pressure is keeping conditions on the drier side across the Southern Plains while the Central Plains saw spotty showers earlier this week. As fronts continue to move through the Northern Plains, some precipitation may drift into the Central Plains, but it will be spotty. Recent rainfall has kept conditions mostly favorable for corn and soybeans, but western areas could use more rain.

Midwest: Through the first half of this week, the western Midwest has remained active. Temperatures are also trending warmer with high temperatures reaching into the 90s for some spots. By this weekend, a stronger front will push into the region providing scattered showers and a slight cool down with temperatures closer to average in the west. The east will remain relatively dry until early next week when the cold front pushes through. Soil moisture remains in good shape for most areas as corn and soybeans advance through their reproductive stages.

Delta/Lower Mississippi: Conditions have been relatively dry in the Northern Delta while a stalled front has led to showers along the Gulf Coast. Drier conditions in the north have helped maturing crops. Through this weekend, rainfall will remain confined to Gulf Coast before a cold front could provide showers farther north next week.

Canadian Prairies: Scattered rain showers have been impacting the Southern Prairies earlier this week but it’s coming too late for the maturing crops in the area. By this weekend, scattered showers are forecast to spread into the Northern Prairies and the rain will again be too late for damaged crops. As the rain spreads north, it could help suppress some wildfires in forested regions. The pattern could remain active next week with multiple systems moving through.

Europe: Late this week into the upcoming weekend, spotty showers will favor northern areas with the south remaining dry and warm. Through mid-August, showers will be limited outside of northern and eastern areas. Summer crops may need more soil moisture but the drier conditions are favorable for harvest.

Black Sea: Hotter and drier conditions across the east especially have been stressful for filling corn. Fronts have largely been weakening as they get into southwest Russia while Ukraine has been seeing the bulk of the rain earlier this week. Dryness and drought continue to be issues for much of the region and showers will be limited going into next week in southwest Russia with rain favoring Ukraine.

Australia: Late this week, a front will come crashing into Western Australia with scattered showers in the east as well. Scattered showers will continue to build soil moisture and reduce the risk of drought. Strong fronts will continue to move through Western Australia into mid-August with isolated showers favoring the East Coast. Vegetative winter wheat and canola are benefiting from the consistent rainfall.

China: Central China, and the North China Plain in particular, has had more issues with heat and dryness than other areas of the country this season. A couple of stronger fronts could produce moderate to heavy rain through the weekend in the North China Plain, favorable for corn and soybeans before rainfall looks more isolated during the first half of next week. 

 

The odds of weak La Niña conditions later this year remain relatively high

LSEG Research & Insights – Commodities

What to Watch:

• Our latest ENSO forecast for September-November maintains an increased likelihood of entering weak La Niña phase
• Major crop risks include adverse conditions for winter wheat development in Argentina, and excessive rainfall across Western Europe and Australia during respective harvests
• A warm forecast across all Northern Hemisphere latitudes reduces the risk of early frost events

 

HEAT TO EXPAND ACROSS CONTINENTAL EUROPE IN MID-AUGUST

What to Watch:

• Recent rains have eased drought concerns in many regions of Central Europe, but Western France and Southeast E.U. still suffer from deficits
• A gradual expansion of heat and dryness is expected over the next 10 days
• In the Black Sea region, southern Ukraine and the Southern District of Russia will continue to observe adverse weather for spring crop development

  

The player sheet for 8/7 had funds: net buyers of 3,500 contracts of SRW wheat, buyers of 8,000 corn, buyers of 2,000 soybeans, and buyers of 2,500 soymeal.

TENDERS

• CORN SALES: Exporters sold 106,680 metric tons of U.S. corn to Mexico and 105,000 metric tons of U.S. corn to Guatemala, all for 2025/2026 delivery, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
• WHEAT PURCHASE: Tunisia’s state grains agency purchased about 75,000 metric tons of soft wheat to be sourced from optional origins in an international tender
• WHEAT PURCHASE: Leading South Korean animal feed maker Nonghyup Feed Inc (NOFI) purchased about 65,000 metric tons of animal feed wheat expected to be sourced from the United States in an international tender.
• BARLEY TENDER: Jordan’s state grains buyer issued an international tender to purchase up to 120,000 metric tons of animal feed barley.

PENDING TENDERS

• RICE TENDER: South Korea’s state-backed Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp issued international tenders to purchase an estimated 45,200 metric tons of rice to be sourced from Vietnam and Thailand.
• WHEAT TENDER: Jordan’s state grain buyer issued an international tender to buy up to 120,000 metric tons of milling wheat that can be sourced from optional origins.

 

 

TODAY

US Export Sales of Soybeans, Corn and Wheat by Country

The following shows US export sales of soybeans, corn and wheat by biggest net buyers for week ending July 31, according to data on the USDA’s website.

• Top buyer of soybeans: Taiwan with 172k tons
• Top buyer of corn: Unknown Buyers with 787k tons
• Top buyer of wheat: Nigeria with 186k tons

 

US Export Sales of Pork and Beef by Country

The following table shows US export sales of pork and beef product by biggest net buyers for week ending July 31, according to data on the USDA’s website.

• China bought 12.5k tons of the 31k tons of pork sold in the week
• Japan led in beef purchases

 

Argentine Corn, Wheat Crop Estimates Aug. 7: Exchange

The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange releases weekly report on website.

• 2024-25 corn production estimate maintained at 49m tons
• 2025-26 wheat planting reached completion in the week, area est. held at 6.7m ha

 

Argentina wraps up wheat planting with increased area, rosy conditions

Farmers in Argentina have completed planting for the 2025/26 wheat season, expanding the total area to 6.7 million hectares (25,868 square miles), the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange reported on Thursday.

The planted area is 400,000 hectares larger than the previous cycle. Argentina is a leading global wheat exporter.

According to the exchange’s weekly report, early crop conditions are highly favorable, with 99% of the wheat rated as “normal to excellent” while in its vegetative stages. Last season’s wheat harvest in the country yielded 18.6 million metric tons.

The exchange also noted that the 2024/25 corn harvest is 89.3% complete, with the production estimate for Argentina, the world’s third-largest corn exporter, pegged at 49 million tons.

 

Brazil Soy Exports Seen Reaching 8.15 Million Tns In Aug – Anec

• BRAZIL SOY EXPORTS SEEN REACHING 8.15 MILLION METRIC TNS IN AUGUST VERSUS 7.98 MILLION TNS IN THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR – ANEC
• BRAZIL SOYMEAL EXPORTS SEEN REACHING 1.74 MILLION TNS IN AUGUST VERSUS 2.10 MILLION TNS IN THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR – ANEC
• BRAZIL CORN EXPORTS SEEN REACHING 7.58 MILLION TNS IN AUGUST VERSUS 6.42 MILLION TNS IN THE SAME PERIOD LAST YEAR – ANEC

 

Brazil soy area to grow at slowest pace in nearly two decades, consultancy says

Brazil’s soybean area is set to expand in 2025/26 at its slowest pace in almost two decades, agribusiness consultancy Patria AgroNegocios said on Thursday, estimating the planted area in the season at 48.13 million hectares (118.9 million acres).

The 1.43% increase when compared to the previous season would be the smallest since 2006/07, Patria said in a statement.

The consultancy estimated soybean output in the world’s largest producer and exporter to reach 166.56 million metric tons in 2025/26, down from 168.74 million tons a year earlier.

 

Russia’s IKAR consultancy raises 2025 wheat crop, exports forecasts

Russia’s IKAR consultancy said on Friday it had raised its 2025 wheat crop forecast to 84.5 million metric tons from 84.0 million previously, and its wheat export forecast by 0.5 million tons to 41.5 million in the new marketing season.

“We increased mainly due to very decent yields in the central and the Volga region, which fully correspond to our estimates made on the ground,” IKAR’s head Dmitry Rylko told Reuters.

Some key grain producing Russian regions in the south were hit by drought this year, but a fall in their output was offset by better yields elsewhere.

“In addition, we are seeing higher yields of spring wheat than expected. We see average-to-good prospects for the harvest in Western Siberia and good ones in the Urals,” Rylko added.

Russia’s official wheat crop forecast stands at 89-90 million tons. This estimate includes wheat from Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine. IKAR does not include crops from these areas in its estimates.

Russia harvested about 64 million tons of grain, or about one half of this year’s official grain harvest estimate, as of August 7, Deputy Agriculture Minister Andrei Razin was quoted by Russian agencies as saying on Thursday.

 

French Soft-Wheat Harvest Almost Done; Corn Conditions Worsen

Some 94% of France’s soft-wheat crop had been harvested as of Aug. 4, up from 89% in the prior week and well ahead of the same time last year, FranceAgriMer data showed on Friday.

• Durum wheat harvest completed the previous week
• Some 67% of the corn crop was rated in good or very good condition, down from 69% in the previous week and well below the 77% in the same period last season
  • NOTE: Firefighters are fighting wildfires aggravated by dry soils in the south of the country. Meteo France declared amber alerts for 11 departments in the center of the country and the southwestern Occitanie region as temperatures may reach 40C

 

France Raises Wheat Output Outlook, Sees Lower 2025 Corn Harvest

France’s soft-wheat harvest is seen at 33.07 million tons this year, up from an estimate of 32.6 million tons last month, according to an agriculture ministry report on Friday.

• The 2025 estimated harvest is up 29% from a historically low 2024 production, and is due to better yields. It’s 4% above the five-year average
• Winter-barley harvest is seen at 8.4m tons, up from last month’s estimate of 8.36m tons
  • That’s up 21% from 2024 and 5.9% above the five-year average
• Durum-wheat production is estimated to rise 3.2% to 1.26m tons, though still 7.1% below the five-year average
• Winter-rapeseed harvest is seen rising 15% to 4.47m tons
• Corn harvest estimated to drop 5.5% to 13.7 million tons on lower yields due to “peaks of intense heat at the beginning of summer and increasing water stress”
  • Harvest is still 2.4% above the five-year average
• Beetroot planted area at 398k hectares, down from 412k hectares in 2024

 

Saskatchewan crop report

(Content is published from Saskatchewan government website)

Crops have rapidly developed due to warm temperatures and dry conditions in many areas across the province over the past week. Early seeded crops are nearing maturity in many areas, and rain would likely not benefit these crops at this stage. Producers are still hoping for rain to help with grain fill in later-seeded crops.

Isolated thunderstorms brought significant rainfall to some areas last week, while many areas had negligible precipitation. The Old Wives area received the most rainfall in the province with 132 millimetres (mm), followed closely by the Vanguard area with 119 mm and the Cadillac area with 95 mm. The Dollard and Neidpath areas also received significant rainfall with 74 mm and 72 mm, respectively.

Despite significant rainfall in a few areas of the province, dry conditions were widespread this week which caused overall topsoil moisture levels to fall from last week. Provincial topsoil moisture levels for cropland areas are five per cent surplus, 54 per cent adequate, 33 per cent short and eight per cent very short. Hayland topsoil moisture is four per cent surplus, 48 per cent adequate, 37 per cent short and 11 per cent very short. Pasture topsoil moisture is four per cent surplus, 52 per cent adequate, 32 per cent short and 12 per cent very short.

Crop development varies across the province. Rapid crop development due to limited moisture has resulted in a higher percentage of crops being ahead of normal stages than two weeks ago. Crops in areas that have received sufficient rain so far this year are generally at normal stages while moisture-stressed crops are typically ahead of normal growth stages.

 

US Miss. River Grain Shipments Fall, Barge Rates Decline: USDA

Barge shipments down the Mississippi river declined to 777k tons in the week ending Aug. 2 from 843k tons the previous week, according to the USDA’s weekly grain transportation report.

• Barge shipments of corn fell 8% from the previous week
• Soybean shipments down 10.1% w/w
• St. Louis barge rates were $18.31 per short ton, a decline of $0.56 from the previous week

 

US Crops in Drought Area for Week Ending Aug. 5: USDA

The following shows the percent of US agricultural production within an area that experienced drought for the week ending Aug. 5, according to the USDA’s weekly drought report.

• Drought conditions in corn-growing areas drop to 3% from 7%
• Drought in soybean areas 3% vs 5%

 

 

 

 

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