Row Crops Today — May 26, 2026
The 5-minute 5 AM brief for row crop producers and ag professionals
Headline Stack
⛽ Boozman says standalone year-round E15 bill has the votes to pass the Senate
🚢 Gulf-to-Japan grain freight hits $72/ton, highest since July 2022
🧪 Fertilizer Institute CEO: Strait of Hormuz blockade could keep prices elevated for years
🌽 Illinois hits 54% corn and 57% soybeans planted as of May 11
🌧️ NDSU warns early-planted Red River Valley soybeans face frost risk
Top Story
⛽ Boozman says standalone year-round E15 bill has the votes to pass the Senate. — LINK
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Boozman says a standalone, nationwide year-round E15 bill has enough support to pass the U.S. Senate, with Majority Leader John Thune actively pushing the measure. Year-round E15 is projected to add roughly 2.4 billion bushels of annual corn demand if enacted nationwide. Boozman told Brownfield the legislation — the Nationwide Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2025, sponsored by Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska — will move separately from the farm bill because it falls outside the ag committee's jurisdiction. "It's one of the number one priorities we have to get done, that's the view of the ag committee and majority leader, Senator Thune, besides being majority leader, is one of our most active members and this is right at the very top of his list that needs to be done," said John Boozman, Chairman, U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee. Boozman identified refinery-related provisions attached to the House E15 package as the remaining obstacle, saying small and medium refineries face jeopardy under that combined approach and the two issues "really have nothing to do with each other."
More This Week
🚢 Gulf-to-Japan grain freight reaches highest level since July 2022. — LINK
USDA data show Gulf-to-Japan grain shipping rates have climbed to $72 per metric ton — the highest level since July 2022 — with Gulf rates up 44% and Pacific Northwest rates up 41% since January 1.
Diesel for grain haulers sits at $5.60 per gallon as of mid-May, more than $2 above the year-ago price.
Rising ocean freight and inland fuel costs are compressing export margins for U.S. corn and sorghum shipments moving through both the Gulf and PNW corridors.
🧪 Fertilizer Institute CEO: Hormuz blockade has price fix "months or even years" away. — LINK
Roughly one-third of the world's urea, 20% of phosphate, and more than half of sulfur shipments move through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively blocked by Iran since March 2.
"Fertilizer issues have taken on a life of their own," said Corey Rosenbusch, President and CEO of the Fertilizer Institute, adding that returning to normal production in the region could take months or even years.
Fertilizer prices were already elevated before hostilities between the U.S. and Iran escalated; supply chain disruption in the Strait has driven input costs to fresh highs.
🌽 Illinois reaches 54% corn and 57% soybeans planted as of May 11. — LINK
USDA's May 11 crop progress report put Illinois corn at 54% planted — in line with the five-year average — and soybeans at 57%, 10 percentage points ahead of average; 30% of corn and 31% of soybeans had emerged.
"We've been trying to make up for lost time here in the last week and a half and have gotten quite a few of our beans in, but I'm still a little hesitant to put corn in the ground because it's been cold and wet up here," said Bob Stewart, President, Kendall-Grundy Farm Bureau.
Climate Prediction Center May outlooks favor cooler-than-normal and drier-than-normal conditions across the Upper Midwest, including northern Illinois.
🌧️ NDSU agronomist warns early Red River Valley soybeans face frost risk. — LINK
Fargo's May average of 51°F is nearly 4°F below normal, and the May 17 USDA report had North Dakota at 58% corn and 41% soybeans planted, with Minnesota at 86% corn and 74% soybeans.
"You are at risk of these frosts doing something," said Anthony Hason, Extension Educator, University of Minnesota, referring to producers who pushed to plant soybeans before corn.
NDSU agronomist Ana Carcedo said most regional crops are still in the ground or just emerging — protecting them from recent frosts — while the NWS two-week outlook calls for above-normal temperatures across North Dakota and Minnesota.
Basis Watch
Missouri North Central soybean basis firmed 15 cents at the top end on Friday, May 22, with Missouri Northwest soybeans matching that 15-cent gain at the low end. Kansas South Central rounded out the soybean strength with a 5-cent improvement, while Iowa Northwest old-crop soybeans firmed 4 cents on the low side.
On the corn side, Kansas South Central old-crop basis firmed 5 cents, and Missouri Northwest improved 5 cents at the low end. Nebraska East Central and Central old-crop corn firmed 2 to 3 cents, while Iowa Northwest softened 4 cents at the top end. The broad pattern of firming bids in old-crop corn and soybeans aligns with the spring clearout season, when interior supplies tighten ahead of planting.
Source: USDA AMS
Diesel for grain haulers sits at $5.60 per gallon as of mid-May — more than $2 above last year's price — compounding record-high ocean freight costs for U.S. grain exporters.
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