Grain prices have fallen to their lowest level since COVID-19. A Bloomberg report extended this year’s losses to 17 percent, with grains trading at the lowest point since 2020. It’s a sharp reversal from the post-COVID rally that sent grain prices more than doubling through 2022.

University of Illinois Ag Economist Scott Irwin said the falling grain prices could mean significant financial losses for producing corn and soybeans this year. “Regardless of the fine details of crop insurance and government payments, alarm bells should be going off about the scale of potential corn and soybean losses for the 2024 crop in the Corn Belt,” Irwin said. “Right now, the losses look punishing due to the combination of rising expenses in recent years and the significant drop in corn and soybean prices.”

He added that corn losses could surpass $200 per acre, and soybean losses could easily reach $98 per acre.