Moving averages are what its name implies. It’s an average price – including for grains – over a given period of time. Because grain futures prices wobble higher and lower on any given day, it can be useful to smooth out the data and look at longer-term trends.

And as the old saying goes, “The trend is your friend,” according to Farm Futures senior grain market analyst Bryce Knorr. Knowing what the trend is doesn’t always guarantee a better price, but it can generally give you a better idea of when to sell.

In the latest episode of the Farm Futures Deep Dive podcast, we take a closer look at moving averages and how to incorporate them into your overall grain marketing plan.

Miss an episode? Follow the links below to get smarter about export data, volatility, spreads and much more.

Episode #14: USDA's big data dump

Episode #13: Pricing Windows

Episode #12: South America

Episode #11: USDA Grain Stocks

Episode #10 – Options

Episode #9 – Outside Markets

Episode #8: Basis

Episode #7: Volatility

Episode #6: Grain Marketing Math

Episode #5: El Niño

Episode #4: USDA Export Data

Episode #3: USDA Production Projections

Episode #2: China 

Episode #1: Spreads

Senior Editor Bryce Knorr first joined Farm Futures Magazine in 1987. In addition to analyzing and writing about the commodity markets, he is a former futures introducing broker and is a registered Commodity Trading Advisor. He conducts Farm Futures exclusive surveys on acreage, production and management issues and is one of the analysts regularly contracted by business wire services before major USDA crop reports. Besides the Morning Call on www.FarmFutures.com he writes weekly reviews for corn, soybeans, and wheat that include selling price targets, charts and seasonal trends. His other weekly reviews on basis, energy, fertilizer and financial markets and feature price forecasts for key crop inputs. A journalist with 38 years of experience, he received the Master Writers Award from the American Agricultural Editors Association. And you can follow Farm Futures throughout the day on Twitter at www.twitter.com/farmfutures.

Senior Editor Ben Potter brings more than 14 years of professional agricultural communications and journalism experience to Farm Futures. He began working in the industry in the highly specific world of southern row crop production. Since that time, he has expanded his knowledge to cover a broad range of topics relevant to agriculture, including agronomy, machinery, technology, business, marketing, politics and weather. He has won several writing awards from the American Agricultural Editors Association, most recently on two features about drones and farmers who operate distilleries as a side business. Ben is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism.