Market Report

By: Connor Jacobson

Currently the cash corn price at Red Wing Grain in Red Wing is $2.91 per bushel. In Goodhue at Ag Partners the current cash corn price is $2.85 per bushel. Moving on to the Soybean side of the market Red Wing Grain cash price is $9.23. The current Ag Partners cash price for Soybeans is $9.00. Red Wing Grain almost always offers more for grain, the reason for this is because they are located right on the river so it is cheaper to ship the grain out. Grain prices are significantly lower than they have been in the past, in 2011 corn was $7 per bushel and Soybeans were $15 per bushel.

I talked to local farmer, Scott Jacobson about the current grain markets. Scott explained that the reason the grain prices are so low is that in the past few years the U.S. crop yields have been very good so there is too much grain out there. I also asked if it is possible for crop farmers to still be profitable, he stated that it is possible but farmers now more than ever are closely watching their expenses and only buying things they need. Scott also told me that the future of crop prices does not look good since this year is also gonna be a record breaking yield.

Now onto the cattle, fed beef steers topped out at $1.10 per pound Wednesday October 11th at Central Livestock in Zumbrota. For feeder cattle the top was $1.65 per pound for around a 600 pound calf. These prices aren’t quite as high as they were a couple of years ago, but are still not to bad. I talked with Trent Stemmann, a local cattle producer. Trent stated how now is the time to buy feeder cattle because of low feeder cattle prices. Also the cost of feed is low, which should make it a profitable situation. He also explained that he believes the fed cattle price should go up in the near future, so if you are close to selling try to hold off for a few months if at all possible.