NEWS

Hansen-Mueller Co. is getting closer to filing a Chapter 11 reorganization or liquidation plan, but told a federal bankruptcy court it needs more time beyond a key deadline next week. The Omaha-based company asked a federal bankruptcy judge to extend its exclusive right to file a Chapter 11 plan by two months to prevent creditors and other parties from filing competing bankruptcy plans, in a motion filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of Nebraska. Instead of filing a plan by Sept. 15, 2026, the company asked the court to extend the period to Nov. 16, 2026. Hansen-Mueller also asked for an extension of the solicitation exclusivity period from Nov. 14, 2026, to Jan. 14, 2027. In Chapter 11 bankruptcy, solicitation means asking creditors to vote for or against a proposed reorganization or liquidation plan.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins is seeking buyers for beef plants facing closure, favoring American-owned operators and rancher cooperatives backed by USDA financing support. Preserving these plants could protect jobs, maintain competition for cattle and limit producers’ hauling costs, but Tyson disputes any agreement to sell only to American buyers. New ownership also cannot resolve tight cattle supplies or weak processing margins. A lasting recovery depends on healthy pastures and profitable conditions that encourage ranchers to retain heifers and rebuild the herd–a process that takes years.

CORN

ANALYSIS

Corn closed the week $.04 3/4 lower. Last week, private exporters did not announce any sales.

In the weekly export inspections report, U.S. corn export inspections, for the week ended Sept. 10, were 60.1 million bushels (mb) but slipped from the previous week’s 65.9 mb. Over the last four weeks, corn inspections averaged 59.3 mb/week vs. last year’s 56.4 mb/week during the same period. With the 2026-27 U.S. corn marketing year just getting underway, cumulative corn export inspections of 86 million bushels are essentially identical to last year. In order to reach the USDA’s 3.275 billion bushel 2026-27 export projection, corn inspections will need to average roughly 61.1 mb/week through the end of next August vs. last year’s 64.2 mb/week average from this point forward.

In the weekly crop progress and conditions report, corn conditions were 57% good/excellent vs. 55% expected (55-56% range of ideas), 56% g/e last week, 67% g/e last year. Corn harvest is 8% complete vs. 9% expected (7-12% range), 5% last week, 7% last year, 6% average.

In the weekly EIA report, U.S. ethanol daily production for the week ending Sept. 11 averaged 1.099 million barrels. This is a new high daily production for this week of the year. The previous high was 1.055 million barrels per day in 2025. This was unchanged from last week and up 4.2% from last year. Ethanol stocks were 25.220 million barrels. This was a new high stocks level for this week of the year. The previous high was 23.785 million barrels in 2024 and was the highest since May 1.This was up 0.1% from last week and up 11.6% from last year. The amount of corn used for the week is estimated at 108.79 million bushels. Cumulative corn use for the crop year has reached 170.956 million bushels. Corn use needs to average 107.35 million bushels per week to meet the USDA’s marketing year forecast of 5.60 bb.

STRATEGY & OUTLOOK

Longer term fundamentals are bullish and the August rainfall has failed to improve yield potential in the form of crop conditions. Producers should be doing some light hedging on what product they do not have enough storage space for.

SOYBEANS

ANALYSIS

Soybeans closed the week $.04 higher. Last week, private exporters announced sales of 4.1 mb of soybeans to China.

In the weekly export inspections report, U.S. soybean export inspections last week of 24.7 mb were up from the previous week’s 17.1 mb, while averaging 17.0 mb/week over the last four weeks vs. last year’s 20.0 mb/week average during the same period. Just 10 days into the 2026-27 marketing year, cumulative inspections of 34 mb compare to last year’s 40 mb at the same time. In order to reach the USDA’s 1.685 billion bushel export projection, soybean inspections will need to average roughly 32.3 mb/week through the end of next August vs. last year’s 29.1 mb/week average from this point forward.

In the weekly crop progress report, soybean conditions came in at 58% g/e vs. 58% expected (56-58% range), 58% g/e last week, 63% g/e last year. Soybean harvest is 6% complete vs. 4% expected (2-6% range), 5% last year, 3% average.

The NOPA crush report showed August crush at 205.456 mb, below estimates of 211.6 mb and last month’s 216.6 mb but above last year’s 189.8 mb. Soybean oil stocks came in at 1.201 bp, below estimates of 1.257 bp and down from last year’s 1.360 bp and last year’s 1.245 bp.

STRATEGY & OUTLOOK

Longer term fundamentals are bullish and the August rainfall has failed to improve yield potential in the form of crop conditions. Producers should be doing some light hedging on what product they do not have enough storage space for.

WHEAT

ANALYSIS

For the week, Chicago wheat closed $.12 3/4 lower and Kansas City wheat closed $.15 1/2 lower. Last week, private exporters did not announce any export sales.

In the weekly export inspections report, U.S. wheat inspections last week of 16.8 mb ticked up from the previous week’s 15.8 mb while averaging 16.1 mb/week over the last four weeks vs. last year’s 27.9 mb/week average during the same period. Through the first 15 weeks of 2026-27, cumulative wheat inspections of 209 mb are down 28% from last year’s 289 mb vs. the USDA’s 775 million bushel export projection, which they left unchanged in last Friday’s WASDE report, reflecting an expected 15% decline from 2025-26. Moreover, cumulative wheat inspections are the second lowest through the first 15 weeks of the marketing year in available data going back 53 years. In order to reach the USDA’s export target, inspections will need to average roughly 14.5 mb/week through the end of next May vs. last year’s 15.8 mb/week average from this point forward.

In the weekly crop progress and conditions report, winter wheat planting is 8% complete vs. 8% expected (6-11% range), 2% last week, 10% last year, 12% average. Spring wheat harvest is 93% complete vs. 92% expected (91-94% range), 86% last week, 93% last year, 92% average.

Statistics Canada issued their first official production estimates of the 2026-27 season this morning, estimating the Canadian all-wheat crop at 36.1 MMT vs. the average trade estimate of 36.7 MMT and last year’s crop of 40.6 MMT. USDA put the Canadian wheat crop at 36.0 MMT in this month’s WASDE report. StatsCan estimated the canola crop at 22.1 MMT, solidly above the average trade estimate of 21.65 MMT and essentially unchanged from last year’s 22.2 MMT, while estimating the barley crop at 9.7 MMT, in line with the average trade estimate of 9.69 MMT and unchanged from last year’s crop of 9.7 MMT, as well. This year’s oat crop was estimated at 3.0 MMT vs. last year’s 3.9 MMT.

STRATEGY & OUTLOOK

Wheat has posted multi-year highs on the market, providing an incentive for winter wheat producers to seed more acres this fall. Producers should begin to shed some market risk as the market is unlikely to meet the carry that is built into prices and look to begin to hedge the 2027 crop.

LIVE & FEEDER CATTLE

ANALYSIS

Last week, live cattle closed $5.52 lower while feeder cattle closed $10.20 lower.

There was no significant cash fed cattle trade last week in the South with limited trade $223-$224. The North traded light volumes at $222 to $223 live and $350 to $355 dressed, which is mostly steady when compared to the prior week’s trade.

The USDA’s Cattle on Feed report showed 11.2 million cattle in large feedlots on Sept. 1, up 1% from last year, while August placements fell 9% to 1.62 million head and marketings declined 3% to 1.52 million. Both placements and marketings were the lowest August totals since the series began in 1996. Fewer cattle entering feedlots points toward tighter slaughter supplies in coming months, potentially supporting deferred live cattle prices into early 2027.

The FCE online auction session yielded no sales out of the 1,514 head offered, as asking prices and bids ($222-$223) failed to bridge the gap.

The Joplin, Missouri auction shows total receipts of 9,519 head for the Sept. 14 auction; compared to the 3,763 head traded the week prior and 7,339 head last year. Feeder steers under 700 pounds were $20 to $40 higher heavier weights were steady to $15 higher and heifers were $5 to $20 higher.

The Oklahoma City auction on Sept. 14 saw 5,500 head traded hands vs. the 3,589 head the prior week and 6,044 head a year ago. Feeder steers and steer calves were $15 to $25 higher while feeder heifers were $10 to $15 higher and heifer calves were $15-$20 higher.

Last week was the third consecutive week that boxed beef sold for export exceeded the same week last year and exceeded last year in six of the last eight weeks. At 758 loads, sales increase 73 loads from the prior week and 69 loads from the same week last year. The year-to-date total is 235 loads above last year at 28,514 loads for a 1% increase from last year.

The latest USDA steer carcass weights were higher than last week by 4 pounds at 973 pounds, which is 15 pounds above year-ago levels.

Net beef sales of 14,200 MT for 2026 were up 65 percent from the previous week and 42 percent from the prior four-week average. Shipments were 9,900 mts.

STRATEGY & OUTLOOK

After a $25 drop in futures, demand is improving for U.S. beef, which will help offset the increased amount of cattle coming across the U.S. border. The market overshot to the downside and is recognizing the amount of cattle coming across the border will be less than anticipated.