AG Squawk AM 7/8/2026 | The Dow Drops 500 and France’s Corn Conditions

We track a weather-driven ag market setup as livestock closes mixed and grains grind higher overnight. We also connect a major heat wave in France to global corn supply risk and explain how a sharp Dow and oil move can spill into farm markets. 
• Livestock market closes for live cattle, feeder cattle, and hogs 
• Grain markets firmer overnight for corn, soybeans, and Chicago wheat 
• Corn Belt forecast shifting from near-term rain to hot, dry heat 
• France heat wave driving a steep drop in corn crop conditions 
• Why France’s role in EU corn production matters for Chicago futures 
• Outside markets whipsaw as oil surges and Dow futures fall 
• Key economic calendar items including EIA stocks and FOMC minutes 
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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Good morning, Jed Sidwell here, live from Joliet, Illinois. I'm with Ag Bull Media. We're a financial channel that loves agriculture. This is AgSquawk A.M. It's your if it's your first

Welcome And The Market Focus

SPEAKER_00 0:12

time listening. We're dang glad to have you. Today we're going to talk about France and why we saw this big overnight shift in the Dow Jones. We'll get to all of that here in a bit. Well, let's go ahead and quote the livestock markets and where they closed yesterday. Shall we? Live cattle closed at 238.43 cents, down 68 cents.

Livestock Close And Early Grain Strength

SPEAKER_00 0:43

Feeder cattle finally saw a jump, though, in the month of August, up 15 cents at 360 and 65 cents. Hogs, however, were down $1.60 at $96.93. Hopefully, we can maybe start to see a bounce there on the hog side of things. They've been kind of been going downwards for just a little

Corn Belt Forecast Turns Hot

SPEAKER_00 1:04

bit here. Hopefully, we see a slight rally. But hey, we've seen an overnight rally the past three overnight sessions on the grain side of things, and that's super cool to see. Corn, the September contract, is at 443 right now. Soybeans are at 1190, and Chicago wheat is at 622. It seems like every time we go to bed and we wake up, man, the market's just slightly higher. It's been great to see as we trade off some of this weather here for a little while. Speaking of weather, we have our weather brought to us by Mr. Craig Solberg up next. He always brings this nice 120-day chart for us to look at the Corn Belt. Can expect to see rains tonight and through Saturday, July 12th through 7, the 17th, though it's going to be very dry and a lot of heat, however, going to reach 95 to 100 across Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, northern Nebraska, and the Dakotas. So enjoy the rain while it's here. It's going to get hot and dry, and we're going to turn on the oven before too long. It's going to be like the hard red wheat belt because their complete dryness is going to kind of set in Saturday with peak heats hitting July 18th through the 22nd. Speaking of weather, we have a big kind of just weather-based show for you today. We're going to talk about France. They are seeing a dang big heat wave over there, and

France Heat Wave And Corn Conditions

SPEAKER_00 2:29

the crop conditions are not looking very good because of it. I really like this chart here. It's the French maize or what we call corn conditions, the good to very good segment is that dark blue line there, down to 58%, down 18 points in just one week. It's the lowest since late June 2013. And man, that is just a scorcher that they're having over there. We're like, well, it's just one country in the EU. France is the main corn producer over there. And this is a scary low point. Obviously, a different market. But I think we could see maybe a bounce in the Chicago board to trade here at some point because of it. If their internal production is this low, at some point they're going to have to start import some corn in the near future. On to our outside market discussion for today, the big headline. Davis would probably throw in some music here to kind of highlight this headline, but the Dow futures dropped more

Dow Drop, Oil Spike, And Iran News

SPEAKER_00 3:32

than 500 points last night as oil surges after Trump declares an Iran's ceasefire is over. This follows Trump's remarks of what he said was a series of powerful strikes against Iran in retaliation after they came after three commercial vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz. That was a big movement we saw last night in the Dow and Energies. We're going to go ahead and keep you updated there on those markets as changes happen. And if you'd like more news on outside markets, Tommy does a great job with our text alerts keeping you updated on the price of oil. If you'd like to listen to that, go ahead and pop on to our premium

Premium Alerts, Calendar, And Sign Off

SPEAKER_00 4:14

side. It's $25 a month or $250 annually. Just like, Jed, I didn't have my cattle update today. Well, it's because I'm saving the best for last. I'm going to talk to Mr. Mike Sands today, doing our Fat Tuesday show on Wednesday this week. That's on the premium side as well. And we'd love to have you over there on the premium side to talk about markets with Mr. Mike Sands. He does a great job of breaking down cattle every day and every week for us on two different shows. Well, onto the economic calendar for today. We have just a few things to look at throughout your day. This morning the NBA mortgage applications already came out at 6 a.m. The EIA energy stocks come out at 9 30 a.m. And the FOMC meeting minutes come out at 1. Well, that's all we have for you today. Make sure and tune in to Mr. Davis Michelson this afternoon with AgSquawk PM. Man, he's had on a heater of a lineup of guests recently, and they're only going to get better here into the coming weeks. I have a great time listening every single day. Find it on all platforms Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, anywhere where you find podcasts or videos, AgSquawk will be there with myself or Davis Michelson. Well, thanks for watching. Thanks for listening today. Go ahead and follow us on our socials. We're on all of them. Remember, I'm Jed Sidwell and with Ag Bull Media. We're a financial channel that loves agriculture. Have a great day.