Farm Profit Maximization

There's a lively dance taking place right now that is shape-shifting land management decisions. Interactions between markets and government policy form the baseline for agri-product pricing.

This research series explores the shifting revenue potential facing farmland owners related to production systems, crop/pasture management, nutritional and ecological outcomes. The future looks quite different, but one thing stays the same: market demand and government policies drive the bus that determines ultimate profit potential.

At the root of the farmland economy lies the basic choice of what to plant. In this era of runaway interest in soil health, the bare minimum definition of that is to rotate annually among the three main groups of crops.

• Cereals: wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye, etc.

• Oilseeds: soybeans, canola, flaxseed, sunflowers, camelina, etc.

• Pulse crops: peas, lentils, chickpeas, dry beans, faba beans, lupins, etc.

Higher tiers of soil health, and market prices, come available for practices that go much further to increase plant diversity in farmland than just a ‘good rotation.' However, for now, monocrop corn, soybeans, canola and wheat dominate the North American arable land base.

Commodity crop price discovery offers baseline patterns for understanding the dance between markets and governments that determines profit. Comparing each step by crop type offers a methodology for discerning future trends and formulas for farm profit-maximization.