What are Crop Progress Reports? Actually, this is one report name that really does describe what the report is all about–woo hoo! The report comes out weekly and describes where the crop is in the growing season across the U.S. (i.e. the crop’s PROGRESS) and compares each state’s progress to the previous week, previous year,…
Category: Grain Market
Secrets to Reading a Bid Sheet Element #5: Cash Price
Welcome to the last post in our series: Secrets to Reading a Bid Sheet! By now, you should feel pretty comfortable navigating a grain buyer’s bid sheet. (If you’ve missed any of the previous posts, take a minute to review them by clicking the links below!) Secrets to the Bid Sheet SummaryDelivery DatesFutures Price Part…
Secrets to Reading a Bid Sheet Element #4: Basis
If I were betting on the most frequently asked question or commonly misunderstood item on a grain buyer’s bid sheet, it would be BASIS. It seems just hearing the word causes people to shut down…but not today! Today’s the day we tackle basis! Before I answer four commonly asked questions, I’ve defined a few key…
Secrets to Reading a Bid Sheet Element #3: Change
We’re now on element #3 in our “Secrets to Reading a Bid Sheet” series! If you missed the other posts in the series–take a couple minutes to click the links & catch up! 1(summar), 2(delivery dates), 3a(futures price), 3b(futures month) Today, we tackle change. Change might seem like a simple concept and, mathematically, it is….
Secrets to Reading a Bid Sheet Element #2: Futures Month (Part 2)
One thing you may have noticed about the futures price when we discussed it last week, (find the article here if you missed it!) is that with the futures price, comes a futures MONTH. The futures prices associated with those months are also different prices…but why? To help grasp difficult concepts, I find it helpful…
Secrets to Reading a Bid Sheet Element #2: Futures Price (Part 1)
What impact does the Futures price have on the Cash Price I will receive? Do you invest in the stock market? If you do, a good starting point to understanding the futures price of a commodity is to relate it to the price of a stock. Before you decide to invest in a share of…
Why didn’t you Sell Grain Today?
If you’re still learning the marketing side of the farm operation, have you ever asked your farmer this question: “Why didn’t you sell grain today?” It doesn’t matter whether the market price was up or down or whether it’s corn, beans, cattle or hogs. Just ask him, “Why didn’t you sell today?” If the market…