Answer Engine Brief
What is grain basis?
Grain basis is the local cash bid minus the referenced futures price for the same commodity and delivery window. GrainBrief does not publish one basis number that is good everywhere, because the comparison is the same location, commodity, and delivery period over time.
How to use this answer
- Write the formula as cash bid minus the futures contract that bid actually references.
- Compare the same elevator or buyer, commodity, and delivery window. A different month is a different basis.
- A negative basis is ordinary in many interior markets. Stronger or weaker means versus that location's own history, not versus zero.
- A strong basis is not a strong flat price. Futures can be weak while basis is strong, and the reverse is also true.
- Confirm the live bid, grade terms, and delivery slot with the buyer before you sell. GrainBrief's public pages are context, not the elevator's current bid.
Page reviewed2026-10-12
Topicgrain basis
Source familyUSDA AMS cash grain bids and USDA AgTransport cash, futures, and basis context already ingested by GrainBrief. This page does not add a bid.
Common follow-up questions
Is a negative grain basis bad?
Not by itself. Many locations normally trade under the referenced futures price. The useful comparison is the same market's recent basis for the same delivery window.
Where does GrainBrief get basis context?
From USDA AMS cash grain bids and USDA AgTransport cash, futures, and basis series already in the source stack. A missing observation stays missing.
Does this page quote today's basis?
No. It defines the calculation. Today's bid still has to come from the buyer or from a timestamped public bid GrainBrief has actually ingested.