Higher Cash Grain Prices Could Soon End

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Farmers are on track to receive higher cash prices for their grain this harvest, but that might not be the case next year. Most recent figures compiled in USDA’s World Ag Supply and Demand Estimates Report call for an average cash price of $5.40 per bushel of corn, $6.60 per bushel of wheat, and $12.90 per bushel of soybeans. While these figures were revised lower from projections over the summer, they’re still higher than updated projections released earlier this month by the University of Missouri’s Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute. Director Pat Westhoff cautions that prices next season could decline.

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Prices will also be influenced by future trade deals, including any that follow the expiration of the Phase One Trade Deal with China. Westhoff says while he anticipates China to continue making significant purchases next year, several factors remain uncertain.

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Recent updates to the baseline FAPRI projections also anticipate a decline in farm income, as government relief programs established in response to the coronavirus pandemic come to an end.