What crop and livestock prices should you use in your budgets this year? North Dakota State University farm management specialists project these prices for 2018:

Grain
Corn — $3.25/bu

Soybeans — $8.85/bu

Spring Wheat — $5.60/bu

Durum wheat — $6.25/bu

Winter wheat — $4.25/bu

Feed Barley — $2.70/bu

Malting barley — $3.50/bu

Oil sunflower — $17/cwt

Canola — $17/cwt

Alfalfa hay — $100/ton

Mixed hay — $70/ton

Oats — $2/bu

Flaxseed — $9.50/bu

Dry beans — $22.50/cwt

Dry peas — $10.50/cwt

Lentils — $22/cwt

Livestock and milk
(price per cwt)

400-500 pound Beef steers — $185

500-600 pound Beef steers — $165

600-700 pound Beef steers — $155

700-800 pound Beef steers — $145

800-900 pound Beef steers — $137

1,100-1,700 lbs. Cull cows — $75

250 pound Slaughter hogs — $50

Slaughter ewes— $55

105-140 pound Slaughter lambs — $145

60-90 pound Feeder lambs — $180

All milk — $18

Short-term vs. long-term
Short-term planning prices should be used as a guide in setting price expectations for 2018 production, says Ron Haugen, NDSU Extension farm economist. They can be used to prepare annual enterprise budgets and annual whole-farm cash flow projections. They should not be used for planning capital purchases or expansion alternatives that extend beyond this production year.

“Unfortunately, the use of short-term planning prices to make long-term decisions is common,” he says. “This practice is not recommended because current supply/demand conditions rarely continue for long periods of time and are a poor indicator of future trends.”

NDSU also makes long-term planning price projections, which can be used in capital investment budgets. The long-term crop planning prices were derived from annual average price forecasts made by the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute. The prices were adjusted using historical relationships to reflect North Dakota farm gate prices.

NDSU also provides historical prices. They are a valuable reminder of past price fluctuations and trends, Haugen says.

See the NDSU publication “Plotting a Course 2018” for all the projections. The publication is also available from county Extension offices.

Source: NDSU