News

Chances for better grain prices could be on the horizon

A market analyst says there could be some opportunity farmers to lock in decent grain prices.

Jeff Peterson is with Heartland Farm Partners. “Focus on storage or delayed pricing first. Then at some point down the road, when we see some basis improvement, we can then transition out of that into a basis contract looking for a little bit higher price on the futures side down the road.”

He says there is rain in the forecast this week for parts of the Corn Belt, and that could improve some basis levels. “Because it’s going to slow up this harvest, which overall, it sure seems like it’s moving a long slower than what I thought it was going to be.  That should help us there.”

For farmers who have made some sales and are storing grain, Peterson tells Brownfield, “The question becomes – what do I do in regard to rolling those hedges forward for my protection if I’m talking corn December out to March or December out into May? – I would say we are really close to needing to do that.  On the beans side, I’d say you’re probably fine.”

He says farmers should know their break-even costs and monitor yields to help determine when and how many bushels to move.