Tuesday, August 18, 2026
Metals took the day's sharpest hit as gold and silver both slid on surging bond yields, natural gas rallied on a Texas heat wave, and the grain complex mostly drifted lower on profit-taking after last week's wheat rally.
The Board
Grains & Oilseeds
🌽 Corn · Dec: 488.00 · −1½ · −0.31% 🔴⬇️ †
🫘 Beans · Nov: 1216.75 · +¾ · +0.06% 🟢⬆️
🥩 Meal · Dec: 318.80 · +0.10 · +0.03% 🟢⬆️
🫙 Oil · Dec: 69.63 · −1.19 · −1.68% 🔴⬇️
🌾 SRW · Dec: 681.25 · −8 · −1.16% 🔴⬇️
🌾 HRW · Dec: 758.50 · −13¼ · −1.72% 🔴⬇️
🌾 HRS · Dec: 703.75 · +¾ · +0.11% 🟢⬆️
🌾 Oats · Dec: 349.50 · −¼ · −0.07% 🔴⬇️
Prairie Crops
🌻 Canola · Nov: C$805.90 · −21.50 · −2.60% 🔴⬇️ †
🐮 Barley · cash: C$275/tonne (approx) · n/a · n/a ➖ †
Energy
🛢️ WTI · Sep: 84.94 · +0.44 · +0.52% 🟢⬆️ †
🔥 NatGas · Sep: 2.776 · +0.086 · +3.20% 🟢⬆️
Metals
🥇 Gold · Dec: 4,389.50 · −84.20 · −1.88% 🔴⬇️
🥈 Silver · Sep: 63.420 · −2.811 · −4.24% 🔴⬇️
The Read
🌽 Corn: 488.00, −1½ (−0.31%) 🔴⬇️ $CORN ( ▼ 0.22% )
Corn eased modestly even as export demand stayed hot; the Pro Farmer Crop Tour flagged drought stress in South Dakota and uneven Ohio maturity, but new-crop Dec pulled back while old-crop pace stayed firm.
One independent price feed showed corn higher on the day rather than lower; Barchart's dated settle is used here, flagged for confirmation.
So what: a soft Dec print keeps new-crop pricing calls unhurried heading into harvest.
Watch: Thursday's Export Sales report and this week's Crop Tour yield updates.
🫘 Soybeans: 1216.75, +¾ (+0.06%) 🟢⬆️ $SOYB ( 0.0% )
Beans held a bare gain as Chinese demand kept a floor under the market, mostly digesting Monday's China-driven rally rather than extending it.
Meal and oil traded on their own paths today, a reminder beans' move is about crush economics as much as the cash grain itself.
So what: basis holders get another green, if barely, session as China's buying streak continues.
Watch: daily export-sale confirmations and whether China's purchase pace holds through the week.
🥩 Soybean Meal: 318.80, +0.10 (+0.03%) 🟢⬆️
Meal was essentially flat, trailing both beans and oil as the crush split (how the crush margin divides between meal and oil) tilted toward oil again today.
Protein-feed demand from cattle and hog rations stayed steady background support rather than a catalyst.
So what: ration costs for livestock feeders hold near flat, a rare quiet day on this line.
Watch: board crush margins and the next Fats & Oils report for the meal/oil split.
🫙 Soybean Oil: 69.63, −1.19 (−1.68%) 🔴⬇️
Oil gave back some of Monday's crude-driven surge, pulling back on its usual tight leash to energy even as WTI held a modest gain today.
The pullback flipped the product split back toward meal for the session.
So what: biodiesel feedstock costs ease from Monday's spike, a small relief for renewable-diesel margins.
Watch: renewable-diesel policy headlines and whether oil keeps tracking crude's swings this week.