March 2023 Update.
Another February down, and I don’t have many complaints about the weather. I had a lot of days outside working in a sweatshirt, and not too much snow overall.
As we are coming to the end of the spring crop insurance pricing period, it looks like corn will be at 5.95 and soybeans around 13.75. Last year’s prices were 5.90 and 14.33. In general prices were pretty stagnant until the end of the month. The next reports to watch for are the monthly WASDE on March 8th and planting intentions on March 31st.
The USDA held their annual Ag Outlook Forum, releasing some estimates for corn and soybeans. They expect 91.0 million planted acres of corn vs 88.6 last year, increased ending stocks and stocks/use %, and decreased avg farm price. Soybeans are estimated at 87.5 million planted acres, which is the same as last year. The other metrics are the same as corn – increased ending stocks, higher stocks/use %, and lower price as well. These figures are obviously subject to changes between now and planting and weather determining yields, but interesting to look at anyways.
Historically, spring is a great time to forward contract grain, especially for your upcoming crop. Give me a call at 608.634.3184 and we can look at breakeven projections, and have some goals in mind before the weather changes and you’re busy getting equipment ready and taking care of spring projects.
Jory Bossuyt
Grain Lead & Merchandising