Rain delays impact markets throughout the Corn Belt

BROOKINGS, S.D. — Abnormal weather conditions — namely, a switch to wetter conditions across the United States — have pushed feed prices higher, said Mike Minor, risk manager for Professional Ag Marketing. He shared a markets update during Swine Day on Sept. 29, 2026, at South Dakota State University. A recent spike in the soybean meal market has kept things inflated, Minor said. For the hog industry specifically, higher inputs still really crunching the next 12 months for margin, especially as the U.S. consumer is struggling a little bit to buy as much pork as they used to. Rain has been causing harvest delays at a time when producers need conditions to be drier. Normally by now, we re out of the weather market in the United States. We are typically toward, you know, focusing on harvest pace, things like that, which is really slow right now after a dry summer. Pretty erratic weather throughout most of the Corn Belt, Minor said. We ve started to pick up a lot of