If you’ve noticed your working capital shrinking—or even disappearing—during the 2024 crop year, you’re not alone. Farmers across the U.S. are grappling with the dual impact of lower commodity prices and rising input costs. However, some relief “MAY” be on the way. 

Strong domestic demand, combined with decreasing secondary rail freight rates, has contributed to historically strong basis levels. 

Let’s recap basis and spreads quickly in layman’s terms.  

• Basis is the localized price differentiator buyers and sellers use relative to the referenced futures price. For corn, the reference price is Chicago.  

• A futures spread is the difference in value between two futures months.

Export sales are up. The USDA has export sales at 2325 million bushels (mb) for 2024/25 compared to 2292 mb last marketing year, which is a 1.4 percent increase. High sales in October have left people wondering: