News Announcements
Ludlow Coop is Offering Free Delayed Pricing on Corn & Soybean Deliveries
CORN deliveries beginning 1-14-26 are eligible for:
Delayed Pricing – FREE moisture averaged by farm ID (within a 30 day delivery period) and shrunk to 15.0% FREE DP is until 2:00 p.m. on 8-31-26, new 2026 crop rates will go into effect at that time.
CORN deliveries beginning 1-14-26 are eligible for:
Open Storage – moisture averaged by farm ID (within a 30 day delivery period) and shrunk to 14.0% charges of NO drop charge and .0012 cent per bushel per day (3.5 cents per month) thru 8-31-26, new 2026 crop rates will go into effect at that time.
BEAN deliveries beginning 1-14-26 are eligible for:
Delayed Pricing – FREE NO MOISTURE AVERAGING (within a 30 day delivery period) and shrunk to 13.0% FREE DP is until 2:00 p.m. on 8-31-26, new 2026 crop rates will go into effect at that time.
BEAN deliveries beginning 1-14-26 are eligible for:
Open Storage – NO MOISTURE AVERAGING (within a 30 day delivery period) and shrunk to 13.0% charges of NO drop charge and .0012 cent per bushel per day (3.5 cents per month) thru 8-31-26, new 2026 crop rates will go into effect at that time.
SPACE AS AVAILABLE FOR CORN & BEANS
Time to Begin Marketing for the 2026 Crop Year with the Average Pricing Program
Why Choose the Average Pricing Program?
- Build a solid base for your 2026 crop marketing plan.
- Capture seasonal highs: Historically, January through June offers the strongest pricing opportunities.
- Flexibility: Commit only 20–35% of an average crop, leaving room for additional marketing.
- Take the emotion out of pricing—a great option for landlords.
- No enrollment cost.
- Extended marketing window: Sell ahead instead of after harvest (19 months vs. 9 months).
Ludlow Coop’s Average Pricing Program
Set Weeks: February 11 – June 24, 2026
- Weekly pricing every Wednesday at noon.
- 20 weeks total; final price is the average of all weekly pricings.
- Based on December (CZ26) corn futures and November (SX26) bean futures.
- Contracts are for Fall 2026 delivery.
- Sign-up deadline: Tuesday, February 10, 2026. Contract must be signed and received before start date.
Patron’s Choice Average Pricing Contract
Your Choice of Consecutive Weeks
- Weekly pricing every Wednesday at noon.
- Choose any consecutive weeks between January 14 – August 26, 2026.
- Based on CZ26 corn futures and SX26 bean futures.
- Contracts are for Fall 2026 delivery.
Ready to Enroll?
Contact your settlement location with:
- Number of bushels
- Chosen dates (for Patron’s Choice)
- Delivery location
Ludlow Coop Offices:
- Buckley: (217) 394-2331
- Danforth: (815) 269-2390
- Ludlow: (217) 396-4111
- Piper City: (815) 707-3347
- Goodwine: (815) 457-2880
2025-2026 Board Members Elected
This is the list of the newly elected board members who will be serving for the 2025/2026 fiscal year.
Roger Gustafson (Paxton) – President
Kenny During (Rantoul)– Vice President
Robert Schmid (Buckley)– Secretary
Cory Roelfs (Rantoul)– Treasurer
Steve Glazik (Paxton)
Dan Kief (Loda)
Jeff McGehee (Onarga)
Brent Neukomm (Cissna Park)
Jim Niewold (Loda)
Mike Otto (Buckley)
Pat Quinlan (Ludlow)
2025-2026 Drying and Storage Rates
We have posted the current rates for drying and storage grain on our website.
Please visit our Crop Policy Service Rates page for Corn and Soybeans to plan for your storage and drying needs for this harvest season.
Please call the office if you have questions: 217-396-4111
The Grainery Newsletters
5/14/26 MIDCO AFTERNOON COMMENTS
5.14.26 MIDCO MORNING COMMENTS 0 CommentsComment on Facebook
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🌽 Corn Market Update
Corn futures bled lower on Thursday, erasing much of the last week's rally and closing back near the lows made five trading sessions ago on a combination of China disappointment and a nearly-ideal forecast for the Corn Belt into the end of the month while the E15 news seems to have been back-burnered. It's really not much more complicated than that. The funds are sitting on a fairly hefty long position, which means any sort of negative headlines subject prices to liquidation selling, and we assume this was largely the case today. However, like we mentioned at the top, Trump has not headed back to the states yet and there are likely to be additional headlines tomorrow morning. We would also add that nothing has changed in the Middle East, which has still been the source of some of the premium put in the market since the start of spring.
🌱 Soybean Market Update
Soybean futures sold off hard on Thursday, driven by a lack of new purchase agreements by the Chinese and what we assume was a mass exodus of stale longs that have been banking on something friendly out of this meeting for weeks now. Additional old crop purchases were always going to be a long shot in our opinion simply due to economics, but we have no idea what to make of the 25 MMTs of purchases the US side continues to stand on but that the Chinese have made no mention of. There were rumors (a single source) on Thursday that China would be dropping it's 10% tariff on US beans in exchange for the US dropping it's 10% fentanyl tariff, but we have been unable to confirm this. However, such a move would be critical for non-state buyers being able to source US supplies again, which we see as critical to China's ability to make good on the 25 MMTs of purchases US traders seem to banking on.
🌾 Wheat Market Update
Just two days ago it seemed the wheat market was headed for the $7 mark amid crop loss in the west, but you wouldn't know it based on today's price action that has now wiped out about half of that rally. We've talked about it before, but supply driven rallies are fickle, and today's price action in the wheat seems to be a perfect example. Whether or not today's high has priced in the worst of the supply panic this week will be the big question now going forward; the US supply situation is only a small piece of the world puzzle, but a shift to El Niño and a shaky start to the spring season in the Black Sea region have given the market enough reason to at least stay supported into harvest.
... See MoreSee Less
Good morning. Ag prices have fallen overnight on less confidence that new ag purchases will be announced by China in the summit meeting. Secretary Bessent stated that “soybeans are all taken care of”, which prompts talk that the original agreement of 25 MMT is it. There was hope in recent days that new China bean purchases would be announced during this meeting, but the current reaction of bean futures is reflecting that Bessent’s comments will mean limited new purchases outside of the previous pledge. We will see how futures react as more news from the summit is released. July beans are currently back below $12.00 and trading below the previous 3 sessions of lows. Crude is slightly lower and has been in a relatively tight range overnight. The WSJ is reporting that the U.S. and China agree that the Strait shouldn’t be determined by Iran. The House approved the E15 bill last night, but the Senate is unlikely to pass it. It may need to be included in a larger bill to get it through the Senate. The rain total forecast for the Midwest looks wetter for the next 7 days with heaviest totals due the late weekend and early next week. Temps will be on the warmish side but periods of cooler weather will show up with the rain. The far west and far east sides of the Midwest will largely miss out this round. Better rains are forecasted for the southeast into the long holiday weekend. Exports sales were noticeable slower this week with corn sales at 26.96 mbu. Bean sales were 3.75 mbu. and old crop wheat sales were 4.90 mbu. Conab released its May production update this morning. Beans were slightly higher at 180.1 MMT and corn was also slightly higher at 140.2 MMT. More news is likely to come out of the summit, but the ag markets are speaking pretty loudly this morning on what they think already. Have a safe day.
... See MoreSee Less
News Announcements
5/14/26 MIDCO AFTERNOON COMMENTS
🌽 Corn Market Update
Corn futures bled lower on Thursday, erasing much of the last week's rally and closing back near the lows made five trading sessions ago on a combination of China disappointment and a nearly-ideal forecast for the Corn Belt into the end of the month while the E15 news seems to have been back-burnered. It's really not much more complicated than that. The funds are sitting on a fairly hefty long position, which means any sort of negative headlines subject prices to liquidation selling, and we assume this was largely the case today. However, like we mentioned at the top, Trump has not headed back to the states yet and there are likely to be additional headlines tomorrow morning. We would also add that nothing has changed in the Middle East, which has still been the source of some of the premium put in the market since the start of spring.
🌱 Soybean Market Update
Soybean futures sold off hard on Thursday, driven by a lack of new purchase agreements by the Chinese and what we assume was a mass exodus of stale longs that have been banking on something friendly out of this meeting for weeks now. Additional old crop purchases were always going to be a long shot in our opinion simply due to economics, but we have no idea what to make of the 25 MMTs of purchases the US side continues to stand on but that the Chinese have made no mention of. There were rumors (a single source) on Thursday that China would be dropping it's 10% tariff on US beans in exchange for the US dropping it's 10% fentanyl tariff, but we have been unable to confirm this. However, such a move would be critical for non-state buyers being able to source US supplies again, which we see as critical to China's ability to make good on the 25 MMTs of purchases US traders seem to banking on.
🌾 Wheat Market Update
Just two days ago it seemed the wheat market was headed for the $7 mark amid crop loss in the west, but you wouldn't know it based on today's price action that has now wiped out about half of that rally. We've talked about it before, but supply driven rallies are fickle, and today's price action in the wheat seems to be a perfect example. Whether or not today's high has priced in the worst of the supply panic this week will be the big question now going forward; the US supply situation is only a small piece of the world puzzle, but a shift to El Niño and a shaky start to the spring season in the Black Sea region have given the market enough reason to at least stay supported into harvest.
... See MoreSee Less
0 CommentsComment on Facebook
5.14.26 MIDCO MORNING COMMENTS
Good morning. Ag prices have fallen overnight on less confidence that new ag purchases will be announced by China in the summit meeting. Secretary Bessent stated that “soybeans are all taken care of”, which prompts talk that the original agreement of 25 MMT is it. There was hope in recent days that new China bean purchases would be announced during this meeting, but the current reaction of bean futures is reflecting that Bessent’s comments will mean limited new purchases outside of the previous pledge. We will see how futures react as more news from the summit is released. July beans are currently back below $12.00 and trading below the previous 3 sessions of lows. Crude is slightly lower and has been in a relatively tight range overnight. The WSJ is reporting that the U.S. and China agree that the Strait shouldn’t be determined by Iran. The House approved the E15 bill last night, but the Senate is unlikely to pass it. It may need to be included in a larger bill to get it through the Senate. The rain total forecast for the Midwest looks wetter for the next 7 days with heaviest totals due the late weekend and early next week. Temps will be on the warmish side but periods of cooler weather will show up with the rain. The far west and far east sides of the Midwest will largely miss out this round. Better rains are forecasted for the southeast into the long holiday weekend. Exports sales were noticeable slower this week with corn sales at 26.96 mbu. Bean sales were 3.75 mbu. and old crop wheat sales were 4.90 mbu. Conab released its May production update this morning. Beans were slightly higher at 180.1 MMT and corn was also slightly higher at 140.2 MMT. More news is likely to come out of the summit, but the ag markets are speaking pretty loudly this morning on what they think already. Have a safe day.
... See MoreSee Less
0 CommentsComment on Facebook
0 CommentsComment on Facebook