Crop Basics
Mix-ups Between Oilseed and Grain Cargoes
A bin or truck that last carried oilseed can spoil the next grain cargo. The mix-up is physical and contractual.
Crop Basics
Crop Basics
Corn as a Traded Crop: A Short History
Corn became a global feed and industrial crop after a long life as a New World grain. The trade still follows that bulk logic.
Crop Basics
Durum Wheat and Bread Wheat for Buyers
Durum is typically a pasta wheat. Bread wheat is a different class. A surplus of one does not fill a contract for the other.
Crop Basics
Lentils, Peas, and Chickpeas as Cargo
Pulses trade in smaller, pickier lanes than bulk wheat. Color, size, and variety can matter as much as weight.
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.
Crop Basics
Oats as a Smaller Traded Grain
Oats move in smaller streams than corn or wheat. Milling and feed buyers do not write the same spec or the same bid.
Crop Basics
Why Broken Kernels Change a Rice Bid
Broken rice kernels usually sell below head rice. The bid should say how that percentage is measured and paid.
Crop Basics
Sorghum in Trade, and Why Some Say Milo
Sorghum is a feed and food grain traded on its own terms. In parts of the United States, people still call it milo.
Crop Basics
Feed Barley and Malting Barley in Trade
Feed barley and malting barley meet different specs. Germination and variety decide which bid is real.
Crop Basics
Grain Grading: How Test Weight and Damage Set Value
How grain grades work, what test weight, damaged kernels and foreign material mean, and how quality factors turn into discounts at delivery.
Crop Basics
Wheat, Corn and Soybeans: How They Differ in Trade
Three crops, three markets: how wheat, corn and soybeans differ in use, planting seasons, quality needs and the way they move in trade.
Crop Basics
What Is a Bushel, and Why Do Grain Prices Use It?
A plain-English look at the bushel: how it became a weight, how it differs by crop, and how to convert bushel prices to metric tons.