Price scenarios as harvest approaches

As we wind down July, the farmer's attention will quickly turn to harvest preparations. Combines will be serviced and pulled out of hibernation, wagons will be greased and checked over, and by-hand yield checks will be the talk of coffee shops.

But as the growing season winds down, there remains a number of different possibilities as far as the balance sheets are concerned on how the rest of fall proceeds.

Starting with corn, let’s look at a few different factors that are still undecided and how they will affect the bottom line.

Yield is obviously the biggest question mark still remaining and the factor that likely makes the most difference on ending stocks and stocks-to-use ratios. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) currently has yield estimated at 181 bushels per...