Good weather drives corn prices to record low
Corn prices fell to a record low; it hasn’t been this cheap in almost four years. Weather conditions are favorable for the crops at this point, and that means surpluses. But with so much corn, can farmers sell it all?
“There are still real nice markets out there,” says Keith Alverson, a sixth-generation ethanol corn farmer in Chester, South Dakota. “It’s just a matter of what price point you want to market it at.”
Alverson says although there’s huge demand for corn, there’s still an abundance of it that needs a home. So what does an ethanol corn farmer do with all of their extra corn?
“We are gearing it up for storage,” says Alverson. They’ve added more bunker storage to hold the corn and are preparing for a big harvest.
Over the past few months, Alverson says he’s seen a big change in corn prices. A bushel is going for about $3.50 now, about $1.00 to $1.50 less than it was a year ago.
But Alverson says he’s confident he will still sell his corn and manage his profits accordingly.
“Just like any other business, you try and lock in your margins,” says Alverson. “We made some grain sales ahead of time at nice profitable levels, and we try to manage out costs wisely.”
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