“I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. No one’s engaged, not the farmer and not the consumer,” Setzer said.
Many growers sold just enough this spring to cover short-term cash-flow needs, Setzer said. Some are counting on adverse weather this summer to trigger price rallies, though nothing is guaranteed.
Three farmers told Reuters they convinced seed and chemical suppliers to reduce late fees, allowing them to hang on to their crop. Others, use the futures market to hedge the risk of further price declines.
Meanwhile, commercial buyers are banking on lower prices this summer due to the grain glut, analysts said.
USDA will offer an update of how much corn sits on farms in a quarterly stocks report on June 28.
U.S. corn supplies stored at the farm level stood at just over 5 billion bushels as of March 1, the second-highest on-farm stocks on record for that date, according to USDA.
Some buyers are enticing farmers with premiums for immediate grain supplies but adjust prices downward once orders are filled.
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