Monday, September 21, 2026.
Grains rallied across the board as rain-soaked Midwest fields slow the harvest and traders lean into Thursday's Trump-Xi summit, while crude got hammered on hopes that Washington and Tehran are ready to talk down the Hormuz standoff, pulling gold and silver lower with it.
Prices below are Monday settlements from Barchart's EOD recap.
The Board
Grains & Oilseeds
🌽 Corn · Dec — 543.00 · +15½ · +2.94% 🟢⬆️
🫘 Beans · Nov — 1328.00 · +24½ · +1.88% 🟢⬆️
🥩 Meal · Dec — 368.40 · +9.80 · +2.73% 🟢⬆️
🧈 Oil · Dec — 68.85 · +0.63 · +0.92% 🟢⬆️
🌾 SRW · Dec — 726.75 · +12½ · +1.75% 🟢⬆️
🌾 HRW · Dec — 794.50 · +10¾ · +1.37% 🟢⬆️
🌾 HRS · Dec — 746.25 · +5.00 · +0.67% 🟢⬆️
🥣 Oats · Dec — 416.25 · +9¾ · +2.40% 🟢⬆️
Prairie Crops
🌻 Canola · Nov — C$835.20 · +C$12.90 · +1.57% 🟢⬆️
🐮 Barley · cash (wk) — ~C$295/tonne · unch. ➖ †
Energy
🛢️ WTI · Nov — 92.37 · −3.71 · −3.86% 🔴⬇️
🔥 NatGas · Oct — 2.836 · −0.076 · −2.61% 🔴⬇️
Metals
🥇 Gold · Dec — 4,383.90 · −41.00 · −0.93% 🔴⬇️
🥈 Silver · Dec — 66.415 · −0.734 · −1.09% 🔴⬇️
The Read
🌽 Corn — 543.00, +15½ (+2.94%) 🟢⬆️
December corn was the board's second-biggest mover, bouncing hard off Friday's dip as heavy rain across Iowa and northern Illinois waterlogged fields and slowed combines just as harvest should be hitting stride.
CFTC data show funds pushed their net-long corn position to a fresh record (414,460 contracts) over the weekend, adding fuel on top of Friday's USDA cut to the Kansas yield forecast.
So what: a wetter, slower harvest delays when new-crop bushels actually hit the bin, and a record fund long means this board can move fast in either direction from here.
Watch: Thursday's Trump-Xi summit for any China corn/wheat purchase headline, and how far harvest progress slips in Tuesday's USDA crop progress report.
🫘 Soybeans — 1328.00, +24½ (+1.88%) 🟢⬆️
November beans extended their run as China's Sinograin auctions off 543,000 tonnes of reserve beans on the 22nd, a supply-side wrinkle that hasn't slowed fresh buying.
China remains over halfway to its 25-million-tonne purchase pledge, and a Bessent-led delegation's weekend meeting with Chinese officials ahead of Thursday's summit reportedly went smoothly.
So what: the demand story is still intact heading into the highest-stakes week of the quarter for U.S.-China trade headlines.
Watch: any confirmation out of the Trump-Xi summit on the outstanding $17 billion crop-purchase commitment.
🥩 Soybean Meal — 368.40, +9.80 (+2.73%) 🟢⬆️
Meal led the soy complex higher, tracking corn and beans up as funds that were net sellers Friday look to have flipped back to buyers.
Processor coverage and livestock feed demand stayed firm underneath the move.
So what: ration costs tick back up after Friday's brief relief, a reminder how fast this complex can swing both ways right now.
Watch: whether meal keeps pace with beans or starts to pull ahead on its own crush-margin story.
🧈 Soybean Oil — 68.85, +0.63 (+0.92%) 🟢⬆️
Oil posted the smallest gain in the soy complex and, notably, rose even as crude fell nearly 4% — a real break from its usual tight leash to the energy tape.
Biofuel-policy uncertainty continues to keep a lid on how far oil can run compared to its meal and bean cousins.
So what: a soy complex rallying on grain-market fundamentals rather than energy correlation is the more bullish kind of move for crush margins.
Watch: any EPA signal on biofuel blending mandates, and whether oil keeps decoupling from crude's swings.