Courtesy Iowa State University Department of Economics.
Agricultural economists say the outlook for crop markets in 2026 shows some similarities to last year, but with a few signs of improvement on the demand side. Chad Hart is an economics professor at Iowa State University, and he says current crop prices remain relatively low after an extended downturn, but market conditions are beginning to shift.
“The similarities when I’m looking at where prices are right now versus where they were a year ago,” Hart says. “The key difference right now is that on the demand side, we are seeing growth emerge more boldly than it was a year ago. And that offers more opportunity for recovery in some of our crop markets.”
Hart says that while demand may help stabilize crop markets, farmers should not expect a rapid return to high profitability.
“Now that doesn’t mean rocketing back to profitability. We’re not gonna get that easy, quick response,” Hart says. “But what we are doing is slowly building back over time.”
Hart adds that after a prolonged period of low prices, producers are focused on managing the factors they can control while adapting to market conditions they cannot influence. His comments are featured in a recent edition of the Iowa Business Report, which is hosted by Jeff Stein and can be found at TotallyIowa.com.
