Price Risk
Storage Cost Versus Hoping for a Better Price
Holding grain has a cost: money, quality risk, and a bin you may need. Compare that cost with the later bid before you wait.
Tariffs and Policy
Grain as a Diplomatic Good: A Short History
Grain has long been a tool of relief and of leverage. Commercial sales and political shipments are not the same contract.
Trade Paperwork
Proforma Invoice or Commercial Invoice
A proforma invoice is a preview of a sale. A commercial invoice is the bill. Mixing them up stalls payment and clearance.
Trade Paperwork
A Checklist Before Export Documents Go Out
Before an export set leaves the office, match names, weights, originals, and dates. One mismatch can hold the cargo.
Price Risk
Old-Crop and New-Crop Price Gaps
Old-crop and new-crop prices answer different seasons. A wide gap is a clue about nearby tightness, not a promise.
Payment and Credit
A Checklist Before You Extend Buyer Credit
Extending credit on a grain sale means the cargo can leave before the money arrives. Check the buyer, the limit, and the paperwork first.
Inspection and Sampling
Why Millers Test Wheat Protein
Wheat protein is a spec for flour performance. A higher number is not always better, and the buyer's range is the one that counts.
Crop Basics
Canola, Rapeseed, Oil, and Meal
Canola is a low-erucic form of rapeseed sold for oil and meal. The name on the contract should match the product.
Price Risk
A Target Price and a Market Order
A target waits for a number you chose. A market order takes the price available now. They fail in different ways.
Tariffs and Policy
A Checklist When Policy News Hits Your Crop
When a headline mentions your crop, check the product, the origin, the date, and whether anything is actually in force.
Trade Paperwork
How to Read a Quantity Clause
A quantity clause sets the amount, the tolerance, and who chooses the final figure. The price means little without it.
Storage and Freight
From Sacks to Bulk: How Handling Changed
Grain once moved in sacks that a person could lift. Bulk handling changed ships, elevators, and what a sample has to represent.