We’ve mentioned it before, but wouldn’t it be nice to know exactly when you need to sell your grain?

When you create your grain marketing plan for your operation, you’ll need to focus on different benchmarks to help you determine when to market your grain. Those benchmarks will be different for pre-harvest and post-harvest marketing.

In part two of this conversation, Luke Beckman, a grain sales manager with Central Valley Ag Cooperative, explores strategies and benchmarks for post-harvest marketing.

One of the most frequently asked questions in grain marketing: When should I sell my grain?

If only there was a magic ball to predict price trends in the future…

Hopefully, somebody’s working on that technology, but until then, it’s important to develop a marketing strategy that works for your operation.

In part one of this conversation, Luke Beckman, a Grain Sales Manager with Central Valley Ag Cooperative, is going to walk us through trends and suggestions for pre-harvest marketing plans.

Grain IQ is a production of the Nebraska Rural Radio Association, with support from the Nebraska Soybean Board. It is brought to you in part by Nebraska Soybean Farmers and their checkoff.

Now that you’ve learned about puts and calls in options trading, let’s put the ideas into workable examples.

Doug Simon, a commodity consultant with Tredas, works through math problems to help you better understand options trading and how it can be a part of your grain marketing plan.

What are my options with options trading? Should I sell a put or buy a call, or buy a put or sell a call?

Confused yet? It’s a lot to digest!

Doug Simon, a commodity consultant with Tredas, breaks down puts and calls and how they can layer into your grain marketing plan.

Put me in, coach!

There are all kinds of players in the futures market, from grain buyers to money managers to food processors and more. Farmers are actually just a small piece of that puzzle.

In this episode of Grain IQ, we explore the players in the futures market. Who is involved and how does that impact YOU, the farmer?

Justin Lovegrove, owner, president and grain marketing advisor with the ARC Group, describes the players in the futures market.

Many grain producers base their grain marketing decisions on basis or the cash market. So why is it important that farmers understand the futures market?

Darin Fessler, senior hedge advisor at Lakefront Futures and Options, said that understanding the futures market can help producers better manage risk throughout the year.

Guest: Jeff Peterson, Heartland Farm Partners

Throughout season one of Grain IQ, listeners have learned about factors that influence commodity trade, tendencies of different types of grain marketers and strategies for developing a grain marketing plan.

In this episode of Grain IQ, Jeff Peterson, president of Heartland Farm Partners, shares helpful resources for developing a marketing plan.

Guest: Ed Usset, University of Minnesota

While it’s important to understand basis, the Chicago Board of trade, seasonality patterns and more in grain marketing, it’s even more important to be able to think about all of those components collectively to develop a marketing plan.

In the latest episode of Grain IQ, Ed Usset, a grain marketing economist for the Center for Farm Financial Management at the University of Minnesota, explores two main types of grain marketing plans: pre-harvest and post-harvest.

Usset said producers can view his pre and post-harvest grain marketing plans for corn, soybeans and wheat dating back to 2014. The plans are available here.

Every year is different when it comes to grain marketing, but some patterns will hold true.

In this episode of Grain IQ, Heartland Farm Partners President Jeff Peterson sheds light on how the seasonality of grain can impact your marketing plan.

Grain IQ is a production of the Nebraska Rural Radio Association, in cooperation and with support from the Nebraska Soybean Board.

In order to stay profitable, producers have to sell their commodities at or above their breakeven. Seems pretty simple, right?

So who determines what those commodities are worth? How do other people buy and sell futures and options? Who sets the prices of commodities?

That’s where the Chicago Board of Trade comes into play.

In this episode of Grain IQ, author and market analyst Elaine Kub explains the role the Chicago Board of Trade plays in setting the futures price for commodities.