RES0208

December 18, 2023

Grain markets have significantly changed over the past thirty years, but many wheat growers still rely solely on the elevator quote at harvest time. Discover a better approach in this study of the potential outcomes of six marketing strategies (taking harvest bids, average pricing, time and price, basis speculation, stepped price target, and delayed pricing) applied by winter wheat producers in Idaho during the 2000-22 crop years. The results? Selling before harvest and selling three months postharvest are more profitable tactics than the benchmark strategy of selling at harvest long-term. A pair of tables (based on futures prices from both the Kansas City and Chicago boards of trade) conveniently compile all the complex data, making it easier to compare and analyze the marketing outcomes for all six strategies.

Authors: Tyler Hand, Xiaoli Etienne

10 pages