Farmers Choose Storage Over Cash Sales for Corn and Soybeans

Growers of corn and soybeans face numerous marketing choices after harvest, including immediate cash sales, futures, and options. Success in these decisions often requires considering local basis patterns and specific end-user demand rather than applying a universal approach to all commodities.

Corn and soybeans have distinct market drivers, which means strategies that work for one may not be suitable for the other. Storing grain on-farm is typically the most profitable strategy on average because prices usually rise after harvest pressure subsides.

According to the Farm Futures study, storing corn on-farm lost 12 cents per bushel last fall before accounting for facility depreciation. However, on-farm soybean storage netted 88 cents a bushel more than the harvest price for the 2025 crop, which was the highest performance among common marketing tactics.

The study found that selling July futures to hedge corn inventory has beaten the harvest price in nearly 75% of years since 1985. This strategy relies on basis improvement to encourage farmers to empty their bins later in the season.