Corn Production, Diesel Rules, Soybean Futures & Popcorn Farming | Daily Farm Brief Sept. 17

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Good morning, Farm Nation, and good afternoon, Truck City. This is your daily farm brief from FarmTales Unplugged, sponsored by World TradeX, the future of food. Today is Thursday, September 17th, 2026. And here's what we've got for you. Today, drought is taking a serious bite out of South Dakota corn. America is changing the rules to keep diesel moving. Soybean futures are starting the morning higher, and later, an Indiana farmer is harvesting something in September that he says he's never harvested in September before. And yes, you can eat it at the movies. First up this morning, a reminder that a national crop average can hide some pretty painful numbers at the farm level. USDA is forecasting South Dakota's 2026 corn yield at about 141 bushels per acre. That's down 26 bushels per acre from last year. Soybeans are expected to average about 41 bushels per acre, down roughly six bushels. The culprit is drought. Parts of South Dakota have struggled with dry conditions through critical stages of the growing season, and the damage is now showing up as combines approach the field. Why does this matter outside of South Dakota? Because this is exactly why farmers shouldn't make marketing decisions based solely on the national crop number. The United States can produce a large crop overall, while individual regions and individual farms experience a completely different reality. A 26 bushel yield loss isn't a statistic when it's in your field. It's your income. And unfortunately, fertilizer, land payments, and equipment payments don't normally offer a 26 bushel drought discount. Now to something that affects almost every farmer in America right now. Fuel. I know we keep talking about it because it's a big story and it keeps moving. The federal government has temporarily relaxed hours of service limits for truck drivers hauling gasoline and diesel. For the next ninety days, qualifying fuel drivers can operate within a 16-hour window instead of the normal 14. While still being required to take rest breaks. Why? Because fuel supplies are tight, transportation is strained, and diesel has become extraordinarily expensive. The U.S. average diesel price has reached $629 a gallon, according to Energy Information Administration figures cited by rooters. Our truckers out there, our farmers out there, they they know what they're paying. And agriculture is getting hit from almost every direction. Fuel the combine, fuel the tractor, fuel the grain truck, then pay somebody else who's also buying diesel to move the crop. The government's hope is that giving fuel haulers more flexibility will help keep gasoline and diesel flowing through the supply chain. For farmers, it's important during harvest because a diesel shortage isn't merely expensive. A diesel shortage can stop work. And there are few things more frustrating than having a crop ready, good weather, and a machine that would love to harvest if somebody would just give it something to drink. Now, the farm business minute. Off to the markets. Soybean futures were higher in overnight trading this morning, while corn and wheat were also being watched closely as traders digest harvest expectations and global demand. There's another corn market number worth knowing today. U.S. ethanol production averaged about 1.099 million barrels per day last week, essentially unchanged from the week before. But ethanol inventories climbed to their highest level in more than four months. Why should a corn grower care? Because ethanol is a major source of domestic corn demand, which he knows. Strong production consumes corn. But growing ethanol inventories can indicate supply is building faster than it's being used. It's not necessarily a warning sign by itself, but it's one more number worth watching. Especially while a lot of corn is about to come out of America's fields. The market lesson this morning? Watch the board. Watch your basis. And don't forget to watch who is actually using the crop. Alright, it's time for today's almanac check. According to the traditional old farmer's almanac best days calendar, September 17th is considered a favorable day for pruning plants when you want to encourage growth. It's also supposedly a good day to go camping. And for reasons I'm fairly certain have never appeared in a USDA report, today is also considered a good day to straighten your hair. The almanac bases these traditional best days partly on the moon's position and lunar phase, so here's today's farm advice. If you've got something that actually needs pruning, fine. If you've got harvest equipment that needs repairing, I'd probably work on that first. And now, we're only five days away from the Autumnal Equinox, which arrives September 22nd. The old farmer's almanac puts this year's equinox at 8.05 p.m. Eastern Time, which means fall is officially here. Although if you're already 12 hours into a harvest day, I'm guessing the calendar doesn't need to tell you that. And finally, today's you don't hear that every day. Let's go to Washington County, Indiana, where farmer Greg Rowland is harvesting popcorn. That's not the unusual part. The unusual part is when he's harvesting it. Roland says his family has never harvested popcorn in September before. This year's crop matured unusually early after a growing season that included an early May freeze that forced the family to replant about 600 of its 1,000 acres. Now the popcorn is ready and they're getting it into the bin because leaving mature popcorn standing exposes it to wind and storm damage. And yes, this is actual commercial popcorn, the kind grown specifically to pop. Which means somewhere in Indiana this morning, a combine is harvesting the beginning of somebody's future movie snack. Agriculture is amazing when you think about it. A farmer spends months dealing with freezes, rain, fertilizer prices, diesel prices, and markets. So six months later, somebody can sit in a theater and complain that their popcorn costs $12. This one's for our truckers. Breaker 19. Anyone got a bear report up ahead? Yeah, driver, Smokey's sitting at mile marker 82. Copy that. What's he driving? A lawn chair? A lawn chair? Yep. Radar gun in one hand, coffee in the other. That's your daily farm brief from FarmTales Unplugged. Two stories farmers need to know. A look at the business of agriculture, a little wisdom from the almanac, and one story proving agriculture is never boring. I'm Rick Portonova. Have a great Thursday. FarmTales Unplugged is brought to you by World Trade X, the future of food. Music credits, courtesy of FMA. Credits to Philip Revenel, JMHBM, Vlad Anikov, and Sinclabs.