The last few weeks before harvest fill up quickly. Equipment needs a final check, bins need to be ready, contracts need to be reviewed, and yield expectations may still be changing.

It’s also a good time to take another look at your grain marketing plan.

You don’t need to predict exactly where prices will be at harvest, but you do need a clear picture of what your farm needs, what you’ve already committed, and which decisions still need to be made.

Use this pre-harvest grain marketing checklist before harvest begins. Work through it separately for corn and soybeans, since your costs, expected production, contracts, storage capacity, and delivery plans may be different for each crop.

Your Pre-Harvest Grain Marketing Checklist

Before harvest starts, make sure you can answer the following questions:

•  What’s my updated projected break-even for each crop?
•  How many bushels do I realistically expect to harvest?
•  How many bushels have I already priced?
•  How much expected production remains unpriced?
•  What contracts and delivery commitments do I need to fulfill?
•  How much storage will actually be available?
•  What will it cost to store grain rather than sell it at harvest?
•  What price targets am I watching?
•  What conditions will trigger another review?
•  What expenses and loan payments are coming due?
•  Who needs to know the plan before harvest begins?

If any of those answers are unclear, now is the time to work through them.

1. Update Your Projected Break-Even

Your pre-plant budget may not reflect where the farm stands today.

Since that budget was created, you may have had additional field passes, repairs, changes in fertilizer or crop protection costs, higher interest expenses, or a shift in expected yield. Even if your cost per acre hasn’t changed much, a lower yield estimate can raise the price needed per bushel.

Cost of production and expected production are foundational parts of a grain marketing plan because they help provide context for pricing objectives. The University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of Extension’s grain marketing guidancerecommends beginning with expected production and cost of production before setting pricing objectives.

Update your projected break-even for corn and soybeans separately:

Updated projected cost per acre ÷ current expected yield per acre=projected break-even price per bushel

Make sure the calculation reflects the costs you intend it to cover. 

A full-cost break-even may include:

• Seed
• Fertilizer
• Crop protection products
• Fuel and repairs
• Machinery ownership and depreciation
• Labor
• Land costs
• Crop insurance premiums
• Interest
• Allocated overhead

Your projected break-even isn’t a guarantee of final profitability. Actual yield, final costs, basis, quality adjustments, drying, hauling, and other expenses can change the result.

It does, however, give you a useful starting point for evaluating a local bid.

Checklist:

•  I’ve updated my projected corn break-even.
•  I’ve updated my projected soybean break-even.
•  My yield assumptions reflect current field conditions.
•  I know which costs are included in each calculation.
•  I’m comparing current bids with the correct break-even calculation.

Related reading: Review the costs commonly left out of a farm break-even calculation.

2. Update Your Expected Production

A marketing plan based on an outdated yield estimate can give you the wrong picture of what’s still available to price.

Before harvest, review expected production using the best information available for your farm. Consider recent field observations, changes in harvestable acres, weather damage, disease pressure, and other conditions that could affect harvested bushels.

Then compare expected production with the bushels you’ve already committed.

The Michigan State University Extension grain marketing plan templateincludes expected production, bushel objectives, quantities sold, prices received, and remaining unpriced production as key parts of a marketing plan.

For each crop, write down:

• Harvestable acres
• Current expected yield per acre
• Total expected production
• Bushels already contracted
• Expected bushels that remain unpriced

Use this calculation:

Expected production − committed bushels=expected unpriced production

Keep corn and soybeans separate, and review contracts by delivery period and location.

The result is still a projection. Until harvest is complete, actual production may differ from the estimate. Continue updating the number as field conditions and harvested yields become clearer.

Checklist:

•  I’ve updated expected corn production.
•  I’ve updated expected soybean production.
•  I know how many bushels are already committed.
•  I know how many expected bushels remain unpriced.
•  I’ve accounted for changes in harvestable acres or yield expectations.
•  I haven’t treated projected production as guaranteed production.

3. Review Every Grain Contract

Harvest isn’t the time to discover that a contract has a different delivery window, quality requirement, or delivery location than you remembered.

Pull together every corn and soybean contract and review:

• Crop
• Contracted quantity
• Price or pricing method
• Delivery period
• Delivery location
• Quality specifications
• Premiums or discounts
• Transportation responsibility
• Fees
• Remaining pricing decisions
• Other contract obligations

Grain-contract terms can vary by buyer and contract type. Iowa State University Extension’s guidance on grain contracts recommends understanding every contract’s features, how the contract reduces market risk, where it leaves the seller exposed, and what obligations it creates.

Grain-contract risk guidance from Texas A&M AgriLife Extension also recommends understanding how the net grain price will be determined and considering what could happen if production falls below the quantity committed.

If your production outlook has changed and you’re concerned about meeting a commitment, contact the buyer early. Don’t assume weather damage, a lower yield, or another production problem automatically changes the contract’s terms.

Checklist:

•  I’ve reviewed every open corn contract.
•  I’ve reviewed every open soybean contract.
•  I know the quantity, quality requirements, delivery location, and delivery period for each contract.
•  I understand how the price will be determined.
•  I’ve identified any contracts that still require a pricing decision.
•  I understand my obligations if production falls short.
•  I’ve contacted the buyer about anything I don’t understand.

4. Confirm Your Harvest Delivery Plan

Your marketing plan also needs to work operationally.

For each contract, confirm:

• Which crop will be used to fulfill the contract
• How the contracted quantity fits with expected production
• When the delivery window begins and ends
• Where the grain needs to go
• Whether transportation is available
• Who will coordinate loads
• What quality requirements must be met
• Whether receiving hours or scheduling requirements could affect delivery

You don’t need to assign every load in advance, but your contracts should fit the way you expect harvest to run.

A clear delivery plan can help prevent a marketing decision from becoming a harvest bottleneck.

Checklist:

•  Contract delivery locations are confirmed.
•  Delivery windows are on the harvest calendar.
•  Transportation needs have been reviewed.
•  The people involved in harvest know which quantities are committed.
•  Buyer receiving hours and scheduling requirements have been checked.
•  Contract quality requirements are easy to reference.

5. Know How Much Storage You’ll Actually Have

Available storage affects how much grain can remain unpriced after harvest.

Start with total bin capacity, then subtract:

• Grain already in storage
• Space reserved for another crop
• Capacity that won’t be available because of repairs or maintenance
• Space needed for grain already committed but temporarily stored on the farm

Also consider whether corn and soybean harvest timing could create competition for the same space.

Storage can add flexibility to a marketing plan, but it isn’t free. Iowa State University Extension’s grain-storage guidance identifies storage charges, interest on grain inventory, additional corn drying, shrinkage, handling, and possible quality deterioration as costs that may affect the decision to store grain rather than sell it at harvest.

Before deciding to store grain, compare its costs and risks with the potential value of waiting. That potential value may come from a higher price, stronger basis, or another marketing opportunity, but none of those outcomes is guaranteed.

Checklist

•  I know how much usable on-farm storage will be available.
•  I’ve identified which crop is expected to go into each bin.
•  I know whether commercial storage may be needed.
•  I’ve estimated relevant storage, interest, drying, shrinkage, and handling costs.
•  I know how much the net value of the grain would need to improve to cover the cost of storing it.
•  My bins, fans, and handling equipment are ready.
•  I’ve considered how storing grain could affect cash availability.

Related reading: Compare the costs of on-farm and elevator storage.

6. Check Local Bids and Basis

The futures price isn’t the same as the price your farm will receive.

Basis is the difference between a local cash price and the applicable futures price. The University of Wisconsin–Madison Division of Extension’s basis guide explains that basis can reflect transportation, storage and handling costs, local supply and demand, and grain quality.

Before harvest, record:

• Current harvest-delivery bids
• Deferred-delivery bids
• The futures contract associated with each bid
• Current basis
• Historical or typical basis for your area, if reliable information is available
• Differences among buyers
• Transportation costs to each location
• Applicable premiums or discounts

A higher posted bid may not provide the best net value if it requires a longer haul or comes with different fees, quality standards, or delivery terms.

Compare what could remain after freight, fees, drying, storage, and other relevant costs.

Checklist:

•  I’ve recorded current local bids for corn and soybeans.
•  I know the basis associated with each bid.
•  I’ve compared delivery periods and locations.
•  I’ve included transportation and other relevant costs in the comparison.
•  I understand the quality requirements and possible discounts.
•  I’m comparing bids on a consistent net-price basis.

7. Write Down Your Target Prices

“Sell when the price looks good” isn’t a clear plan.

A useful target is tied to your farm’s projected costs, pricing objectives, and financial needs. It should also reflect the type of price you’re comparing. A futures target, a local cash-price target, and a net price after delivery costs aren’t necessarily the same number.

Write down:

• Your projected break-even
• The margin you’d like to evaluate above that break-even
• Your local cash-price target
• The quantity you’d consider pricing at that level
• The delivery period that fits the plan

The Michigan State University Extension grain marketing plan template includes expected production, bushel objectives, target prices, pricing tools, and decision deadlines. It also provides a way to track quantities sold, prices received, and remaining unpriced production.

Your target doesn’t guarantee profit, and it doesn’t mean you need to price every available bushel when the market reaches that number. It gives you a defined point at which to evaluate the opportunity using current information.

Checklist:

•  I’ve written a target price for corn.
•  I’ve written a target price for soybeans.
•  Each target is connected to my projected break-even and financial plan.
•  I know how many bushels I’d evaluate at each target.
•  I’m comparing the target with the correct local bid and delivery period.
•  I’ve written the targets somewhere I’ll actually review them.

8. Decide What Will Trigger a Sale

A price target is useful, but price doesn’t have to be your only decision trigger.

Your plan might call for another review when:

• A local bid reaches a target price
• Basis reaches a level you’ve been watching
• A decision date arrives
• Storage approaches capacity
• A delivery opportunity becomes available
• Cash is needed for an operating-loan payment or another obligation
• Your yield outlook changes
• Remaining unpriced production exceeds your comfort level
• Production falls close to the quantity already committed

Adding a deadline matters because the market may never reach the exact price you had in mind. Penn State Extension’s grain marketing plan guidance recommends pairing price targets with sale deadlines so the plan still prompts a decision when a target isn’t reached.

A trigger doesn’t have to mean an automatic sale. It can mean stopping to reassess your projected production, current bids, contracts, storage, and cash needs rather than continuing to wait without a plan.

Checklist:

•  I’ve identified the price or basis level that will trigger a review.
•  I’ve set a decision date if the target isn’t reached.
•  I know what storage or cash-flow conditions could require another review.
•  I know how a change in expected production could affect the plan.
•  I’ve written down who will be involved in the decision.
•  The plan is somewhere I’ll actually see it during harvest.

9. Match the Marketing Plan with Upcoming Cash Needs

A price may work with your projected break-even but have a delivery or payment schedule that doesn’t match your farm’s upcoming obligations.

Before harvest, review:

• Operating-loan payments
• Land payments
• Input balances
• Equipment payments
• Fuel and harvest expenses
• Drying, storage, and transportation costs
• Household draws and other planned cash needs

Then compare those obligations with revenue already associated with contracted grain and the expected timing of future sales.

The buyer’s payment terms and the contract’s delivery period can affect when funds become available. Confirm those details rather than assuming delivery and payment will occur at the same time.

Checklist:

•  I know which expenses are due during and shortly after harvest.
•  I’ve reviewed the expected timing of revenue from current contracts.
•  I know whether additional grain revenue may be needed at harvest.
•  I’ve confirmed payment timing with the buyer when necessary.
•  My storage plan doesn’t create a cash shortfall I haven’t accounted for.
•  My marketing and cash-flow assumptions use the same expected production.

Related reading: Review your farm’s upcoming cash-flow needs.

10. Put the Plan Where Your Team Can Use It

A marketing plan doesn’t help much if it lives only in one person’s head.

Before harvest begins, make sure the people who need the information understand:

• Which quantities are committed
• Where contracted grain needs to be delivered
• The delivery windows
• Which bins are assigned to each crop
• Who can approve a pricing decision
• Who should be contacted when field conditions or production expectations change

Keep the plan brief enough that you can refer to it when harvest gets busy.

A one-page summary may include:

The numbers will likely change as harvest progresses. Starting with a written plan gives you something concrete to update as actual yields, storage needs, and market conditions become clearer.

Keep Your Pre-Harvest Numbers Organized in roots

We built roots to keep farm budgets, field data, and marketing plans in one portal.

CropOps helps you review projected production costs and multi-year budgets. Crop Marketing includes current market-price integration, contract tracking, target-price monitoring, real-time position reporting, and sold-versus-unsold bushel views.

Before harvest, that gives you one place to review the numbers behind this checklist:

• Projected cost of production
• Current contracts
• Target prices
• Priced bushels
• Unpriced bushels
• Current market information

roots doesn’t predict where prices will go or make a grain-marketing decision for you. It helps keep the information behind that decision organized and accessible when harvest starts moving quickly.

Sign up and get started with roots

This article is provided for general educational purposes and isn’t individualized financial, legal, crop insurance, or commodity-marketing advice. Before entering a grain contract, review its terms and consider consulting your grain buyer, crop insurance agent, lender, marketing adviser, attorney, or another qualified professional.

Frequently Asked Questions About Pre-Harvest Grain Marketing

What should be included in a pre-harvest grain marketing checklist?

A pre-harvest grain marketing checklist should include your updated projected break-even, expected production, bushels already priced, expected unpriced bushels, open contracts, storage capacity, target prices, decision dates, delivery plans, and upcoming cash needs.

Review corn and soybeans separately because costs, yields, contracts, storage needs, and marketing opportunities may differ between the two crops.

When should I review my harvest marketing plan for corn and soybeans?

Review the plan before harvest gets busy, then update it as yield expectations, costs, local bids, storage availability, or delivery commitments change.

How do I know how much grain is still unpriced?

Subtract committed bushels from your current expected production:

Expected production − committed bushels=expected unpriced production

This is still a projection before harvest. Final production may differ, so continue updating the estimate as field conditions and harvested yields become clearer.

Should I sell grain at harvest or store it?

There isn’t one answer for every farm. Compare the available harvest bid with the potential value of storing grain after accounting for storage charges, interest, drying, shrinkage, handling, possible quality deterioration, basis expectations, cash needs, and available bin capacity.

Storage provides flexibility, but any potential improvement in price or basis needs to be evaluated against its costs and risks.

What should trigger a grain sale?

A decision trigger may be a target price, a target basis, a deadline, a cash need, limited storage capacity, a delivery opportunity, or a change in expected production.

The trigger can prompt a review rather than an automatic sale. Its purpose is to keep the decision from being postponed indefinitely while market conditions and harvest plans continue to change.

What should I review before signing a grain contract?

Review the commodity, quantity, price or pricing method, delivery period, location, quality requirements, transportation responsibility, fees, premiums, discounts, and your obligations if production falls short.

Make sure you understand how the contract may reduce risk, where it leaves you exposed, and how the final price will be determined. Ask the buyer to explain anything that isn’t clear before you agree to the contract.

Can roots help with pre-harvest grain marketing?

roots keeps farm budgets, current market information, contracts, target prices, and sold-versus-unsold bushel information in one portal.

CropOps supports cost-of-production analysis and budgeting, while Crop Marketing supports contract tracking, price-target monitoring, real-time position reporting, and sold-versus-unsold bushel views. These tools can help you keep the information behind your pre-harvest plan organized.