Grower Tools & Resources

With a Delayed Pricing contract, you deliver your grain to the elevator immediately but wait to set the final price. This is a popular choice when you’ve run out of bin space but think the market has room to move higher.

How it works: You transfer ownership of the grain to us upon delivery. You have a set window of time to “price” that grain based on the current cash price at the elevator.

The Benefit: You move the crop off the farm and avoid physical storage issues while keeping the door open for a market rally.

The Risk: You are fully exposed to price drops, and you’ll typically pay a monthly service fee (DP charges) until the grain is priced.

A Basis contract allows you to lock in the difference between the local cash price and the futures market (the “basis”), but leaves the futures price open for later.

How it works: You “fix” the basis—which is great if local demand is strong—but the final check you receive will fluctuate based on how the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) moves. You’ll choose a futures month to track and must price the grain before that month expires.

The Benefit: Protects you from the local basis widening (weakening) while allowing you to benefit if the national futures price goes up.

The Risk: If futures prices fall, your final payout falls with them, regardless of how good the basis was.

An HTA contract is the exact opposite of a Basis contract. You lock in the futures price on the CBOT but wait to set the local basis until a later date.

How it works: You secure a specific futures price for a specific delivery month. This “floors” the biggest part of your price. Before you deliver, you’ll need to “set the basis” to determine your final cash price.

The Benefit: Excellent for protecting yourself against a drop in the national market while giving you the flexibility to wait for local basis levels to improve.

The Risk: If local basis levels weaken (e.g., the elevator is full or there’s a rail backup), your final price could end up lower than expected even if the “board” stayed high.

A Spot Sell is a simple transaction where you deliver your grain and price it immediately based on the elevator’s current daily cash price.

How it works: You bring the grain to the scale, and the price is set the moment you deliver (or shortly after the physical characteristics like moisture and grade are determined). Ownership transfers immediately, and payment is processed right away.

The Benefit: It is clean and simple. You get immediate cash flow, eliminate all future price risk, and avoid any storage or service fees.

The Risk: You take whatever the market is offering that day. If the market rallies next week, you don’t participate in that upside.

A Forward Contract allows you to lock in the total cash price (both the futures and the basis) for a specific amount of grain to be delivered at a future date.

How it works: You agree today on the price you will receive when you deliver your corn or soybeans later (e.g., locking in a price in July for October delivery). This sets your “check price” in stone, regardless of what the market does between now and delivery.

The Benefit: Total price protection. If the market crashes before you deliver, your price is safe. It makes budgeting and cash-flow planning much easier because you know exactly what that grain is worth.

The Risk: You are locked in. If the market rallies significantly after you sign, you cannot participate in those higher prices. There is also a production risk—if a weather event prevents you from growing the grain, you are still obligated to fulfill the bushels on the contract.