Prices are good for organic grain growers here in Wisconsin, but the market is just as volatile if not more than what we’re seeing at the Chicago Board of Trade for conventional grains.
Jim Copher is a specialty grain trader and merchandiser with The DeLong Company. He explains that with organics, there’s no price hedging or futures markets — it’s all cash traded. The price is driven by market calling and the two states that use the most supply: California and Pennsylvania.
He pulled numbers for Mid-West Farm Report. At the end of October, both organic corn and wheat traded at $10.50 a bushel. Organic soybeans traded at $27.00. He says organic corn has been somewhat stable, but the swing in organic grain prices can be up to $3.
Imports are the largest market mover for organics, Copher explains. The U.S. does not produce enough grain to fulfill organic demand. New imports from Canada, Turkey or South America, for example, will weaken the U.S. organic market. However, the U.S. has seen year-over-year increases in organic acres.
“We’re at the point of, probably in the next few years, of producing enough organic corn in this country to match our demand,” Copher says. “This organic market, probably in the next three to five years, is going to look dramatically different than what it looks like today.”
Poultry operations are the largest buyers of organic grain. It used to be organic dairies. Copher says consumers are buying organic eggs, which is driving that demand.
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