04/09/25 Afternoon CommStock Report – China Seeks To Develop 200 Million Acres of Farmland

The middle two weeks of April remain dry for the majority of the US Corn Belt. Longer term forecasts, while less accurate, don’t provide much in the way of moisture relief either. Those areas of Ohio and the Delta region should dry out quickly. Temperatures appear to remain near their averages through Central Iowa but run a bit cooler in the Eastern Corn belt versus the Western regions. We can begin planting corn this Thursday and temperatures will be in the low 60’s. I don’t know why you would not see the planters rolling hard this weekend. With the drier forecast, you could have most of the state planted by the end of the month.   Pete Hegseth should be happy. All anybody can talk about this week is tariffs. While I don’t think we should judge the market reaction to the tariffs on just the last few days, clearly the market is not happy about them. Export-exposed industries will take the biggest hit. That means agriculture in general but within the ag production industry, some are still more vulnerable than others. The US cotton industry is likely finished. While it had been limping with a cane the last several…