Strong Corn Exports Offset Softer Global Grain Output

Record pace corn exports are helping stabilize prices despite softer global grain production and ongoing supply competition.

corn crop aerial_adobe stock.png

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (RFD-TV) — Global coarse grain production for the 2025–26 marketing year is projected slightly lower, but strong U.S. corn exports are providing a key source of support for domestic markets. USDA estimates global coarse grain output at 1.576 billion metric tons, trimmed on weaker corn production in Ukraine, Nigeria, and Canada, partially offset by higher global barley production.

For U.S. corn producers, the most significant adjustment is on the demand side. USDA raised its 2025–26 corn export forecast by 125 million bushels to 3.2 billion, citing robust foreign demand and a historically fast shipping pace early in the marketing year. First-quarter corn exports are now expected to approach 800 million bushels — nearly double the typical seasonal average and the strongest Q1 pace on record.

Reduced Black Sea supplies, logistical challenges, and slower-than-expected shipments from Argentina have constrained export competitiveness. Together, those factors have shifted global buyers toward U.S. corn.

Domestic corn supply projections remain unchanged ahead of final harvest updates, and the season-average farm price is held at $4.00 per bushel.

Farm-Level Takeaway: Record pace corn exports are helping stabilize prices despite softer global grain production and ongoing supply competition.
Tony St. James, RFD-TV Markets Specialist
Related Stories
Margin Protection and the new MCO add county-level margin tools — with earlier price discovery, input cost triggers, and high subsidy rates — to complement on-farm risk plans for 2026.
Set targets and use forwards, futures, or options to manage downside while preserving room for rallies.
Bangladesh’s buying surge offers temporary relief for U.S. farmers facing weaker Chinese demand, highlighting how global politics can reshape export outlets overnight.
Rising demand for Comfort Colors t-shirts reinforces the pull for U.S.-grown cotton, linking rural fiber production to a fast-growing mainstream apparel brand.
American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) economist Bernt Nelson provides an updated outlook on the current U.S. cattle market.
Sen. Roger Marshall explains which types of beef are imported into the United States, how there’s room for new imports, and logical reasons for current high prices.
Record Australian exports and rising U.S. imports reflect continued tight domestic cattle supplies — a reminder that herd recovery remains key to balancing future beef prices.
Australia’s expanding harvest and global oversupply are keeping wheat and barley prices capped, though canola markets may hold firmer on shifting oilseed demand.

Tony St. James joined the RFD-TV talent team in August 2024, bringing a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective to RFD-TV and Rural Radio Channel 147 Sirius XM. In addition to his role as Market Specialist (collaborating with Scott “The Cow Guy” Shellady to provide radio and TV audiences with the latest updates on ag commodity markets), he hosts “Rural America Live” and serves as talent for trade shows.

LATEST STORIES BY THIS AUTHOR:

Pasture, Rangeland and Forage (PRF) interval selection—not just participation—drives protection levels as rainfall patterns become less predictable across the South.
If the House concurs and the President signs, USDA services and farm-bill programs resume at full speed with authorities extended for another year.
A smaller U.S. turkey flock and resurgent avian flu have tightened supplies, driving prices higher even as other key holiday foods show mixed trends.
ARC/PLC, marketing loans, and crop insurance each matter at different points in the price cycle — and the new Farm Bill strengthens the balance among them.
Here is a regional snapshot of harvest pace, crop conditions, logistics, and livestock economics across U.S. agriculture for the week of Monday, Nov. 10, 2025.
The DOJ’s new antitrust probe could reshape beef-packer behavior, with potential impacts on fed-cattle prices, processor margins, and long-term competition across the supply chain.