Thoughts on pricing old crop corn and soybeans

Two miles from the finish of the American Birkebeiner ski race from Cable to Hayward, WI, February 22, 2014.

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about what to do with old crop corn and soybeans. Market prices have been in a trading range since harvest; $3.90-$4.20/bu. for corn and $12-13/bu. for soybeans in SW Minnesota. Cash price are currently on the high end of the range and my bias is to treat the current market strength as a selling opportunity.

By the way, I skied and completed the American Birkebeiner on Saturday – 54 kilometers (33 miles) of winter bliss. The Birkie is known (and cursed) for its hilly terrain. The ups and downs of this ski event brought to mind the ups and downs of the grain  markets since harvest.

Patience is a virtue, and if you still have grain in storage, you are a patient marketer. Stubbornness is not a virtue – take a good hard look at the opportunity to get grain sold during the current price rally.