More in Ed Usset

Did you see what happened with new-crop December corn prices Wednesday? After a nearly 5¢ rise, they closed at $5.67. While that is a long way from the $8 corn from last August, it represents a 2¢ rise above the crop insurance guarantee of $5.65. And that is what you were waiting for to justify your investment in crop insurance. The same faith that you have in burying seed hoping it will grow, has again paid off with your crop insurance decision. So what do you do with that now?...More

With early prices for 2013 crops at levels likely above projected breakevens, it may be time to get a few bushels booked, says Ed Usset, University of Minnesota grain marketing economist. Usset recently established his annual preharvest corn and soybean marketing plans. While he believes futures contracts normally provide more marketing alternatives to growers, he doesn’t discard cash contracts in his early marketing plans....More

Old-crop grain prices have tread water for months. Many traders believe that a market that cannot establish a clear uptrend is a market poised for a setback. I don’t agree. Old-crop corn and soybeans prices will hold steady and trade higher in the next few months. I read the same bearish news that you do. Let’s walk through the problems....More

In two years or possibly even in six months, many corn producers will recognize that $7.50 corn may well have been the worst thing that has happened to them in the last 10 years. I’ve said before that I am of very strong opinion that corn prices are in the midst of the biggest bear market in history. I am sure some readers have laughed at such a statement and others have thought I have lost my mind. I am convinced that $7.50 corn is actually going to be one of the worst things that has happened to a Midwest corn farmer in a long time....More