Record yields and strong prices don’t normally go hand-in-hand, but that’s the situation this year as robust demand chews up large U.S. corn and soybean crops.

“From a marketing perspective, the 2021 crop year has turned into a very good marketing year for us because we’re looking at the rare combination of strong production and strong prices at the same time,” Iowa State University crop markets specialist Chad Hart said last week on the ISU Pro-Ag Outlook webinar series. 

However, surging prices for fertilizer and other inputs could bleed much of the profitability out of corn and soybean budgets, he said.

“The key is to lock in some of the profitability when you can,” he said. “We have some...