Episode Number
10335
Episode Show Notes / Description
- Matt Bennett, AgMarket.net
- County Governments Dealing with Data Centers
- Mike Tannura, Tstorm.net
- County Governments Dealing with Data Centers
- Mike Tannura, Tstorm.net
Transcript
cmr260423
Todd Gleason: From the land grant university in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, this is the closing market report. It is the 23rd day of April 2026. I'm Extension's Todd Gleason. Coming up, we will talk about the commodity markets with Matt Bennett. He is at agmarket.net in Windsor, Illinois. We will explore big data centers and how counties—in this case, Logan and Champaign across the state of Illinois and the Midwest—are dealing with big data centers. Then, we will turn our attention to the weather forecast with Mike Tannura. He is at T-Storm Weather in Naperville, Illinois. We will do all of that right here on this Thursday edition of the closing market report from Illinois Public Media.
We are in the midst of our final day, the final hours in fact, of the spring fund drive. You can help us out because the Ag programming comes to you because of you. Make that contribution now at willgive.org or 217-244-9455 and make sure they know it is in support of agriculture.
Announcer: Todd Gleason's services are made available to WILL by University of Illinois Extension.
Todd Gleason: July corn for the day closed at $4.63 and 3/4, a penny higher. New crop December was up 1 and 1/4 at $4.83 and 1/2. July soybeans closed at $11.74 and 3/4, down 4 and 3/4 cents. November was at $11.55, a penny lower. Bean meal futures were unchanged. Bean oil was 2 cents lower. Soft red winter wheat for July was up 13 and 1/4 cents at $6.22 and 1/4. The hard red July harvest month closed at $6.79 and 1/2, up 29 and 1/4 cents on this Thursday afternoon.
01:52 Ag Markets with Matt Bennett
Todd Gleason: Matt Bennett from agmarket.net now joins us to take a look at the marketplace. Hi Matt, thanks for being with us today.
Matt Bennett: Absolutely.
Todd Gleason: Let's begin. I know you finished up with soybeans last week. How far along are you on corn, and are you moving? It appears there is a lot north of us that isn't actually in the field, and there was quite a bit of rain.
Matt Bennett: Last week we had seven-tenths of an inch of rain at home and then close to an inch on the weekend. Our tiled ground became fit over the last day or so, and we have been able to run on corn. We are around a third of the way done. If things go smoothly, we could put a bunch in the ground in the next day or so. It depends on whether the rain hits tomorrow. If Mother Nature is good to us, we will probably get most of our corn in the ground by the end of the weekend.
Todd Gleason: I told the folks on air yesterday that I was headed to see if my field in Logan County was going to be planted that day. It was. I drove by it, and because it is no-till, you cannot easily tell, but they assured me they had put it in the ground. Now, we have to deal with marketing that crop, and it appears today that there is just not a lot happening in the marketplace. How did you see this week take place?
Matt Bennett: The bean market is range-bound. As far as the corn market goes, there is definitely some interest in not letting this market tank. We have seen some buying come in. It has not held every day, but we have not moved lower and followed soybeans. From a corn perspective, some of the weather issues and sitting planters are lending support. We are looking at energy every day as a big topic, but on a stand-alone basis, corn has a great demand story. There are weather concerns out of Brazil, but if this Argentine crop is as big as anticipated, world fundamentals will not be burdensome, even though demand is at an all-time record. The war continues to be something we tread lightly around, but these markets are in great shape compared to a year ago. We do not want to lose sight of that.
Todd Gleason: You mentioned the word tank, and that is a concern at this point. As we get deeper into the planting season, the futures may roll over. How concerning is that for you at this time?
Matt Bennett: It is certainly a concern, but I will point out we have had opportunities to sell at better levels than we saw a year ago. We have had opportunities to lock in worst-case scenarios, and we still do. A central Illinois grower with an average APH can make good money on beans here. On corn, it depends on when fertilizer was bought, but the vast majority of growers with average to above-average yields can make money on corn as well. We need to lock in some worst-case scenarios to avoid sitting here wondering why we didn't act if the market falls out of bed.
Todd Gleason: With the war in Iran on a pause, how much concern is building in the farm population related to fall anhydrous or nitrogen prices and next year's profitability?
Matt Bennett: That is where my biggest concern lies. I am concerned that even if energy prices moderate, it will be tough on fertilizer. With the way world flows have been disrupted and natural gas facilities taken out, there will be problems sourcing nitrogen at desired price levels. These 2027 corns have been near $5.00. We will need prices in excess of that if looking at $1,100 or $1,200 anhydrous because the numbers do not work well. It is highly concerning.
Todd Gleason: What are you watching in the wheat market or in livestock at this time?
Matt Bennett: I expected wheat to have had a better week after the crop ratings we have seen. We have to understand the U.S. does not grow a large crop compared to other places in the world, but it is certainly traded. On the cattle front, the Secretary of Agriculture stated he is not going to have a meeting later this week. I think that gives people reason to believe the border is a long way from opening. With screwworm 60 to 80 miles away from the border, it remains a stressful situation, and I do not think they will be in any hurry to open it.
Todd Gleason: Finally, we are in the final hours of our fund drive for the afternoon. Thank you for being on air with us for such a long time, and we appreciate the fact that producers call in and make those contributions at 217-244-9455 or willgive.org. That is Matt Bennett with agmarket.net joining us on the closing market report.
07:43 County Governments Dealing with Data Centers
Todd Gleason: Counties throughout the Midwest are struggling with the onslaught of requests to site large data centers. There is a proposal to place one near Latham in Logan County in central Illinois. Protesters gathered Monday night in Lincoln and again last night to make public comments at the Logan County board meeting. Representatives of HUT8 were on hand and addressed some of the water use and noise issues raised by the public.
HUT8 Representative: We are willing to commit to water caps, noise limits, and decommissioning bonds. Depending on what the ordinance shapes up to be, yes, we will bring forward a conditional use permit.
Todd Gleason: Logan County is still working through a conditional use permit ordinance for the proposed Latham data center. The board let a 60-day moratorium on data center applications expire. In Champaign County tonight, the board will consider whether to adopt a change to an ordinance regarding a moratorium on data centers over 10,000 square feet. It would reduce the moratorium from 12 to 9 months. I spoke earlier today with Andrew Rehn of the Prairie Rivers Network about the Champaign County debate.
Andrew Rehn: We need a moratorium. One way or the other, we need to leave tonight with a moratorium. If we do not have one, Champaign County is obligated to review data center proposals using their current statute. That statute was written for contemplating small data centers. When looking at the behemoths we are seeing on the landscape now, we need new rules capable of addressing the concerns associated with a large data center.
Todd Gleason: From the Prairie Rivers Network perspective, what is the difference between a small data center and the data centers of today?
Andrew Rehn: It is a facility that is a hundred times larger. Energy is typically how we measure them. A small data center might use one to five megawatts. The proposals we are seeing are 600 megawatts. In Joliet, we were seeing 1,800 megawatts. The scale has increased exponentially. When dealing with that much energy, you are also dealing with massive land use and water consumption, depending on the technologies utilized. It brings up questions that aren't relevant for smaller facilities. We could have a hundred small data centers proposed and built to equal just one of these new facilities. The scale is so different that it is the appropriate time to review the rules and determine what is needed for this incoming reality.
Todd Gleason: Is the Prairie Rivers Network's point that you oppose the data center, or simply that you want the impact thought through before allowing them to move forward?
Andrew Rehn: We are not talking about a specific data center proposal, so I will not say whether we support it broadly. We are talking about the rules. We need to ensure that if these facilities are built, they are built appropriately and all potential impacts on people are addressed. There are things that critically need to be handled at the county level, like setbacks and noise. Other things need to be addressed at the state level with the Power Act, to address the grid and energy prices. Those questions have a much broader geographic scope than a single county. We need to have state-level answers. We do not have an official position on data centers broadly, but we need the right rules in place before venturing into this new world of hyperscale data centers.
Todd Gleason: The Champaign County board will meet at 6:30 tonight in the Urbana, Illinois Brookens Administrative Center. The Power Act is a bill Illinois lawmakers are considering in Springfield. It would regulate large data centers, addressing concerns about price increases, electricity shortages, and environmental impacts. You are listening to the closing market report from Illinois Public Media.
15:28 Ag Weather with Mike Tannura
Todd Gleason: Let's turn our attention to the growing regions across the planet. Mike Tannura is here. He is with T-Storm Weather out of Naperville, Illinois, CEO and president there, online at tstorm.net. Hi Mike. I want to pick up where we left off last week regarding the hard red winter wheat growing regions. They have had a difficult time, particularly in Kansas and Oklahoma. Can you tell me more about that crop as we approach the end of April?
Mike Tannura: There are a couple of different things to look at. If you examine the proportion of the U.S. hard red winter wheat crop that has had less than half of its normal rainfall over the last 90 days, it stands at 50%. Looking back at any day in April and May through 2012, there is only one day that hit that high, and that was May 7th, 2014. This coverage of dryness is almost unprecedented over the last 14 years. Additionally, temperatures must be considered. From February through the end of April, this will go down as the warmest by a huge margin in more than 130 years of records across Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. It will end up 12 to 15 degrees warmer than normal, and the next closest margins are around 8 to 10 degrees. The weather has been extremely unusual.
Todd Gleason: You are a meteorologist and a trained agricultural economist from the University of Illinois. You have developed a product to follow this proprietary data. Do you have a yield forecast for the hard red winter wheat crop?
Mike Tannura: We have a product called YieldCast which forecasts the U.S. corn, soybean, and spring wheat yields. We recently started with HRW and SRW wheat forecasts. The models certainly reflect a problem for the hard red winter wheat crop due to the dryness. A significant question moving forward is whether late rains over the next one to two months can reverse the damage. Modeling suggests that even if we get excellent rain, it is likely too late to reverse the damage already done. Where the crop ends up will largely depend on what takes place in Montana and South Dakota. That crop develops later, and they can still have a strong yield with favorable rain and temperatures over the next couple of months. While that region only accounts for about 20% of U.S. production, it is enough to make a difference.
Todd Gleason: Switching to growing regions in the United States, let's take a look at the Corn Belt and what the forecast might look like.
Mike Tannura: Corn and soybean planting is racing forward, well ahead of schedule, largely due to the warm weather. We have seen very wet conditions develop in Wisconsin and Michigan, but they do not typically plant this early, and it is not representative of the whole Corn Belt. It will turn cooler and wetter moving forward. We will see storms over the next two days, but the critical event will happen on Sunday and Monday. A large shield of rain is expected to move across the central U.S. due to a cooler air mass moving southward. This will establish a temperature gradient and bring half an inch to one and a half inches of rain across a large area of corn and soybeans. More rain is expected later next week. While these may not be massive rain events, they will keep conditions moist. Combined with below-normal temperatures, it is not an ideal setup for rapid planting or growth.
Todd Gleason: Is there anything we should be concerned about regarding the cool temperatures?
Mike Tannura: Ideally, you want mild weather in April and May. The warm weather today is beneficial, but the pattern will shift next week. We will see highs in the 60s and 70s, and some 50s in the north, accompanied by frost and freezes that will slow down progress. The key takeaway is that crops planted by late May or early June still have full yield potential if favorable weather follows. It is too early to be overly concerned, though we would prefer to see warmer conditions rather than the incoming cool down.
Todd Gleason: Thank you. We will speak with you again next week. That is Mike Tannura. He is with T-Storm Weather. That is tstorm.net online. You have been listening to the closing market report on this Thursday afternoon.
Todd Gleason: From the land grant university in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, this is the closing market report. It is the 23rd day of April 2026. I'm Extension's Todd Gleason. Coming up, we will talk about the commodity markets with Matt Bennett. He is at agmarket.net in Windsor, Illinois. We will explore big data centers and how counties—in this case, Logan and Champaign across the state of Illinois and the Midwest—are dealing with big data centers. Then, we will turn our attention to the weather forecast with Mike Tannura. He is at T-Storm Weather in Naperville, Illinois. We will do all of that right here on this Thursday edition of the closing market report from Illinois Public Media.
We are in the midst of our final day, the final hours in fact, of the spring fund drive. You can help us out because the Ag programming comes to you because of you. Make that contribution now at willgive.org or 217-244-9455 and make sure they know it is in support of agriculture.
Announcer: Todd Gleason's services are made available to WILL by University of Illinois Extension.
Todd Gleason: July corn for the day closed at $4.63 and 3/4, a penny higher. New crop December was up 1 and 1/4 at $4.83 and 1/2. July soybeans closed at $11.74 and 3/4, down 4 and 3/4 cents. November was at $11.55, a penny lower. Bean meal futures were unchanged. Bean oil was 2 cents lower. Soft red winter wheat for July was up 13 and 1/4 cents at $6.22 and 1/4. The hard red July harvest month closed at $6.79 and 1/2, up 29 and 1/4 cents on this Thursday afternoon.
01:52 Ag Markets with Matt Bennett
Todd Gleason: Matt Bennett from agmarket.net now joins us to take a look at the marketplace. Hi Matt, thanks for being with us today.
Matt Bennett: Absolutely.
Todd Gleason: Let's begin. I know you finished up with soybeans last week. How far along are you on corn, and are you moving? It appears there is a lot north of us that isn't actually in the field, and there was quite a bit of rain.
Matt Bennett: Last week we had seven-tenths of an inch of rain at home and then close to an inch on the weekend. Our tiled ground became fit over the last day or so, and we have been able to run on corn. We are around a third of the way done. If things go smoothly, we could put a bunch in the ground in the next day or so. It depends on whether the rain hits tomorrow. If Mother Nature is good to us, we will probably get most of our corn in the ground by the end of the weekend.
Todd Gleason: I told the folks on air yesterday that I was headed to see if my field in Logan County was going to be planted that day. It was. I drove by it, and because it is no-till, you cannot easily tell, but they assured me they had put it in the ground. Now, we have to deal with marketing that crop, and it appears today that there is just not a lot happening in the marketplace. How did you see this week take place?
Matt Bennett: The bean market is range-bound. As far as the corn market goes, there is definitely some interest in not letting this market tank. We have seen some buying come in. It has not held every day, but we have not moved lower and followed soybeans. From a corn perspective, some of the weather issues and sitting planters are lending support. We are looking at energy every day as a big topic, but on a stand-alone basis, corn has a great demand story. There are weather concerns out of Brazil, but if this Argentine crop is as big as anticipated, world fundamentals will not be burdensome, even though demand is at an all-time record. The war continues to be something we tread lightly around, but these markets are in great shape compared to a year ago. We do not want to lose sight of that.
Todd Gleason: You mentioned the word tank, and that is a concern at this point. As we get deeper into the planting season, the futures may roll over. How concerning is that for you at this time?
Matt Bennett: It is certainly a concern, but I will point out we have had opportunities to sell at better levels than we saw a year ago. We have had opportunities to lock in worst-case scenarios, and we still do. A central Illinois grower with an average APH can make good money on beans here. On corn, it depends on when fertilizer was bought, but the vast majority of growers with average to above-average yields can make money on corn as well. We need to lock in some worst-case scenarios to avoid sitting here wondering why we didn't act if the market falls out of bed.
Todd Gleason: With the war in Iran on a pause, how much concern is building in the farm population related to fall anhydrous or nitrogen prices and next year's profitability?
Matt Bennett: That is where my biggest concern lies. I am concerned that even if energy prices moderate, it will be tough on fertilizer. With the way world flows have been disrupted and natural gas facilities taken out, there will be problems sourcing nitrogen at desired price levels. These 2027 corns have been near $5.00. We will need prices in excess of that if looking at $1,100 or $1,200 anhydrous because the numbers do not work well. It is highly concerning.
Todd Gleason: What are you watching in the wheat market or in livestock at this time?
Matt Bennett: I expected wheat to have had a better week after the crop ratings we have seen. We have to understand the U.S. does not grow a large crop compared to other places in the world, but it is certainly traded. On the cattle front, the Secretary of Agriculture stated he is not going to have a meeting later this week. I think that gives people reason to believe the border is a long way from opening. With screwworm 60 to 80 miles away from the border, it remains a stressful situation, and I do not think they will be in any hurry to open it.
Todd Gleason: Finally, we are in the final hours of our fund drive for the afternoon. Thank you for being on air with us for such a long time, and we appreciate the fact that producers call in and make those contributions at 217-244-9455 or willgive.org. That is Matt Bennett with agmarket.net joining us on the closing market report.
07:43 County Governments Dealing with Data Centers
Todd Gleason: Counties throughout the Midwest are struggling with the onslaught of requests to site large data centers. There is a proposal to place one near Latham in Logan County in central Illinois. Protesters gathered Monday night in Lincoln and again last night to make public comments at the Logan County board meeting. Representatives of HUT8 were on hand and addressed some of the water use and noise issues raised by the public.
HUT8 Representative: We are willing to commit to water caps, noise limits, and decommissioning bonds. Depending on what the ordinance shapes up to be, yes, we will bring forward a conditional use permit.
Todd Gleason: Logan County is still working through a conditional use permit ordinance for the proposed Latham data center. The board let a 60-day moratorium on data center applications expire. In Champaign County tonight, the board will consider whether to adopt a change to an ordinance regarding a moratorium on data centers over 10,000 square feet. It would reduce the moratorium from 12 to 9 months. I spoke earlier today with Andrew Rehn of the Prairie Rivers Network about the Champaign County debate.
Andrew Rehn: We need a moratorium. One way or the other, we need to leave tonight with a moratorium. If we do not have one, Champaign County is obligated to review data center proposals using their current statute. That statute was written for contemplating small data centers. When looking at the behemoths we are seeing on the landscape now, we need new rules capable of addressing the concerns associated with a large data center.
Todd Gleason: From the Prairie Rivers Network perspective, what is the difference between a small data center and the data centers of today?
Andrew Rehn: It is a facility that is a hundred times larger. Energy is typically how we measure them. A small data center might use one to five megawatts. The proposals we are seeing are 600 megawatts. In Joliet, we were seeing 1,800 megawatts. The scale has increased exponentially. When dealing with that much energy, you are also dealing with massive land use and water consumption, depending on the technologies utilized. It brings up questions that aren't relevant for smaller facilities. We could have a hundred small data centers proposed and built to equal just one of these new facilities. The scale is so different that it is the appropriate time to review the rules and determine what is needed for this incoming reality.
Todd Gleason: Is the Prairie Rivers Network's point that you oppose the data center, or simply that you want the impact thought through before allowing them to move forward?
Andrew Rehn: We are not talking about a specific data center proposal, so I will not say whether we support it broadly. We are talking about the rules. We need to ensure that if these facilities are built, they are built appropriately and all potential impacts on people are addressed. There are things that critically need to be handled at the county level, like setbacks and noise. Other things need to be addressed at the state level with the Power Act, to address the grid and energy prices. Those questions have a much broader geographic scope than a single county. We need to have state-level answers. We do not have an official position on data centers broadly, but we need the right rules in place before venturing into this new world of hyperscale data centers.
Todd Gleason: The Champaign County board will meet at 6:30 tonight in the Urbana, Illinois Brookens Administrative Center. The Power Act is a bill Illinois lawmakers are considering in Springfield. It would regulate large data centers, addressing concerns about price increases, electricity shortages, and environmental impacts. You are listening to the closing market report from Illinois Public Media.
15:28 Ag Weather with Mike Tannura
Todd Gleason: Let's turn our attention to the growing regions across the planet. Mike Tannura is here. He is with T-Storm Weather out of Naperville, Illinois, CEO and president there, online at tstorm.net. Hi Mike. I want to pick up where we left off last week regarding the hard red winter wheat growing regions. They have had a difficult time, particularly in Kansas and Oklahoma. Can you tell me more about that crop as we approach the end of April?
Mike Tannura: There are a couple of different things to look at. If you examine the proportion of the U.S. hard red winter wheat crop that has had less than half of its normal rainfall over the last 90 days, it stands at 50%. Looking back at any day in April and May through 2012, there is only one day that hit that high, and that was May 7th, 2014. This coverage of dryness is almost unprecedented over the last 14 years. Additionally, temperatures must be considered. From February through the end of April, this will go down as the warmest by a huge margin in more than 130 years of records across Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. It will end up 12 to 15 degrees warmer than normal, and the next closest margins are around 8 to 10 degrees. The weather has been extremely unusual.
Todd Gleason: You are a meteorologist and a trained agricultural economist from the University of Illinois. You have developed a product to follow this proprietary data. Do you have a yield forecast for the hard red winter wheat crop?
Mike Tannura: We have a product called YieldCast which forecasts the U.S. corn, soybean, and spring wheat yields. We recently started with HRW and SRW wheat forecasts. The models certainly reflect a problem for the hard red winter wheat crop due to the dryness. A significant question moving forward is whether late rains over the next one to two months can reverse the damage. Modeling suggests that even if we get excellent rain, it is likely too late to reverse the damage already done. Where the crop ends up will largely depend on what takes place in Montana and South Dakota. That crop develops later, and they can still have a strong yield with favorable rain and temperatures over the next couple of months. While that region only accounts for about 20% of U.S. production, it is enough to make a difference.
Todd Gleason: Switching to growing regions in the United States, let's take a look at the Corn Belt and what the forecast might look like.
Mike Tannura: Corn and soybean planting is racing forward, well ahead of schedule, largely due to the warm weather. We have seen very wet conditions develop in Wisconsin and Michigan, but they do not typically plant this early, and it is not representative of the whole Corn Belt. It will turn cooler and wetter moving forward. We will see storms over the next two days, but the critical event will happen on Sunday and Monday. A large shield of rain is expected to move across the central U.S. due to a cooler air mass moving southward. This will establish a temperature gradient and bring half an inch to one and a half inches of rain across a large area of corn and soybeans. More rain is expected later next week. While these may not be massive rain events, they will keep conditions moist. Combined with below-normal temperatures, it is not an ideal setup for rapid planting or growth.
Todd Gleason: Is there anything we should be concerned about regarding the cool temperatures?
Mike Tannura: Ideally, you want mild weather in April and May. The warm weather today is beneficial, but the pattern will shift next week. We will see highs in the 60s and 70s, and some 50s in the north, accompanied by frost and freezes that will slow down progress. The key takeaway is that crops planted by late May or early June still have full yield potential if favorable weather follows. It is too early to be overly concerned, though we would prefer to see warmer conditions rather than the incoming cool down.
Todd Gleason: Thank you. We will speak with you again next week. That is Mike Tannura. He is with T-Storm Weather. That is tstorm.net online. You have been listening to the closing market report on this Thursday afternoon.