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University of Illinois economist expects low, steady commodity prices in 2026

An agricultural economist at the University of Illinois says he expects commodity prices to remain low and stable in 2026.

Joe Janzen says trade uncertainties and a large U.S. corn and soybean crop mean there’s not much room for improvement in prices.

“USDA did release some numbers this fall where they cut the size of the crop, but pretty minimally.”  He says, “I’m expecting they’ll make a maybe slightly larger cut, but not a cut that’s big enough to really change the nature of the overall supply and demand balance.”

He tells Brownfield that expected record production in South America also tempers his optimism.

“With record Brazilian crops, it’s limited upside for the foreseeable future,” he says.

Janzen says that means farmers holding onto the 2025 crop should maximize their selling windows.

“Particularly with the announcement of some aid to the farm sector, there might be a kind of an unwillingness to think about moving bushels in January, February, March, and holding that crop into right before the next harvest,” he says.

He says utilizing wider sales windows spreads out some of the price risk faced by producers.

AUDIO: Joe Janzen – University of Illinois