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Grain prices stay low with harvest underway
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DES MOINES — Iowa’s corn and soy prices remain well lower than at any point in the last few years, according to the latest USDA monthly price report for the state. The news is unwelcome to many farmers with harvest season in full swing, expecting high yields compared to the last few cycles, which were marked with lengthy droughts.
The average price received by farmers for corn during August 2024 in Iowa was $4.02 per bushel according to the report. That’s 30 cents below the July price and $1.75 below August 2023.
The August 2024 average price received by farmers for soybeans, at $10.10 per bushel, was $1.10 below the July price and $4.00 below August’s in 2023.
The price drops from July to August continued a downward trend that started in mid to late spring of this year, and a streak of prices lower than any seen since about 2020, according to historical USDA data tracked by the Iowa State University Extension Office.
While the grains’ values are well below those of 2023 and ‘24, they’re still higher than those measured in the last sustained price drop: bushel prices for corn and soy hovered around roughly $3.50 and $9, respectively, for much of 2015-2020.
Iowa’s farmers got a slightly better return for their corn than the national average of $3.84 per bushel last month, according to the report, while Hawkeye State soybean bushels sold slightly below the national mark of $10.30.
Cattle and egg prices in the state have gone up over the last year, according to the USDA report. Hog prices have gone down, however, with hogs going from an average of $73.70 per hundred pounds to $67.80, from August of ‘23 to ‘24.
All hay prices in Iowa averaged $121.00 per ton in August. That works out to $9.00 below the July price and $42.00 below the August 2023 price. The August 2024 alfalfa hay price, at $123.00, was $7.00 below the previous month and $44.00 below last year’s. The average price received for other hay during August was $112.00 per ton: $18.00 less than July and $28.00 below the same time in 2023.
The average price for milk was $23.30 per cwt, 80 cents above the July price and $4.20 above August 2023.
Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com
