The two principal commodity crops grown in Iowa, corn and soybeans, have seasonal patterns that can be tools used to construct marketing plans. Post-harvest crop marketing decisions are difficult, but using history can provide a guide for action.  

Although not repeated every year, on average, both price and crop marketings have patterns that can help plan crop risk management.

Price patterns

Using data from the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (Iowa Corn and Soybean Price Received, 1980-2016, monthly averages), price histories can tell the story of seasonal price patterns.   As you may imagine, the price range over that time has been large.  For example, in just the past five years:

• Corn has ranged from a high of $7.13 in March 2013 to a low of $3.08 in September 2016.

• Soybeans have ranged from ...