2025 marked another year of broadly poor commodity prices, although soybeans saw an uptick in portions of the U.S., according to recent data. Unfortunately, trade tensions may have caused some soybean producers to miss out.
USDA released the annual Crop Values Summary on Thursday which focuses on the average cash price received by farmers for the marketing year. This price data is used in combination with the December Crop Production figures to calculate the total cash receipts for select commodities, giving a glimpse of the economic output of U.S. production agriculture. Data from the report is also utilized in setting reference prices for numerous government programs.
National average cash prices for most row crops declined from last year, with the price of corn down 14 cents to $4.10, all wheat down 62 cents to $4.90, and upland cotton falling to a six-year low price of 59.5 cents. Soybeans were one of the few bright spots, with the national price climbing 20 cents to $10.20. A closer look at how prices moved at the state-level reveals that higher increases were typically seen further south and east. A potential driver of the east-west discrepancy can be attributed to the harvest season trade tensions with China, when bids in the Pacific Northwest saw sharp decline, which in turn pressured local prices in the Dakota’s and far upper Midwest.
Increased production in the form of a record-setting corn crop and other well-yielding commodities offset mostly lower prices, resulting in the total value of production increasing $2.58 billion from 2024 to $167.64 billion. This price data is still considered preliminary and crops will receive a final update at the end of their marketing year. Detailed state-level breakdowns on cash prices for all principal field crops is available in the full report here.