Overview
The GrainBrief API is a REST API that returns JSON. Price, signal, and risk data comes from public source feeds including USDA AMS, USDA NASS, USDA FAS, CFTC, EIA, FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis), NOAA/NWS, NASA POWER, and USGS, with refresh timing based on each source's publication cadence.
Decision-support only.
API responses may be delayed, revised, incomplete, unavailable, or derived from public-source inputs. GrainBrief is not a commodity trading advisor and the API does not provide financial, futures trading, hedging, crop insurance, chemical-label, legal, tax, agronomic, or procurement advice. Confirm local terms before acting.
Public endpoints (marked free) require no authentication. Pro endpoints (marked pro) require a Bearer token available on paid plans.
Authentication
Pro endpoints require API key auth.
Pass your key in the Authorization header:
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY
Get your API key at /auth/signup. Free accounts have read-only access to public endpoints. Pro accounts unlock 30-day history, alert webhooks, and bulk export.
Base URL
https://grainbrief.com
Live Prices free
GET
/api/prices/live
Returns the most recent available value for each requested commodity or signal code. Refresh cadence depends on the source: some feeds are daily, some weekly, some monthly, and some seasonal. Regional lookup falls back to national if no state data exists.
| Parameter | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| codes | required | Comma-separated commodity codes (max 20). See Commodity Codes. |
| region | optional | State slug for regional lookup (e.g. iowa, kansas). Falls back to national. |
Example Request
curl "https://grainbrief.com/api/prices/live?codes=FERT_UREA,NWS_FIELDWORK_IA,CPC_TEMP_610_IA,WASDE_STOCKS_USE_GRAIN_CORN,FAS_GRAIN_CORN_WEEKLY,COT_GRAIN_CORN,RIVER_STAGE_07010000®ion=iowa"
Example Response
{
"GRAIN_CORN": {
"price": 4.52,
"unit": "per bushel",
"region": "iowa",
"price_date": "2026-05-06",
"label": "Corn",
"source": "usda_ams"
},
"GRAIN_SOY": {
"price": 10.81,
"unit": "per bushel",
"region": "iowa",
"price_date": "2026-05-06",
"label": "Soybeans",
"source": "usda_ams"
}
}
Recent Crowdsourced Bids free
GET
/api/bids/recent
Returns farmer-submitted elevator cash bids. All submissions are anonymous (IP hashed). Useful for cross-referencing USDA data against real-world elevator bids.
| Parameter | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| state | optional | 2-letter state code (IA, IL, NE…) |
| commodity | optional | Commodity code (GRAIN_CORN, GRAIN_SOY…) |
| limit | optional | Max results (default 20, max 50) |
Example Request
curl "https://grainbrief.com/api/bids/recent?state=IA&commodity=GRAIN_CORN&limit=10"
Example Response
{
"count": 3,
"bids": [
{
"id": "b1a2c3d4-...",
"commodity_code": "GRAIN_CORN",
"commodity_name": "Corn",
"state": "IA",
"city": "Ames",
"cash_price": 4.47,
"bid_date": "2026-05-07",
"elevator_name": null
}
]
}
State Average Bids free
GET
/api/bids/state-avg
Returns the average, min, and max crowdsourced elevator bid for a state+commodity over the last 14 days.
| Parameter | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| state | required | 2-letter state code (IA, IL, NE…) |
| commodity | required | Commodity code (GRAIN_CORN, GRAIN_SOY…) |
Example Request
curl "https://grainbrief.com/api/bids/state-avg?state=IA&commodity=GRAIN_CORN"
Example Response
{
"state": "IA",
"commodity": "GRAIN_CORN",
"avg_price": 4.49,
"min_price": 4.38,
"max_price": 4.61,
"count": 17,
"window_days": 14
}
Health Check free
GET
/health
Returns platform status. Use for uptime monitoring.
Response
{ "status": "ok", "app": "grainbrief" }
Price History pro
Returns 30-day or 1-year price history for any commodity code. Requires Pro API key. Useful for trend analysis, basis tracking, and feeding your own models.
GET
/api/prices/history
Requires Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY. Contact us for Pro access.
Commodity Codes
Grains
| Code | Description | Unit | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| GRAIN_CORN | Corn cash price | per bushel | USDA AMS |
| GRAIN_SOY | Soybean cash price | per bushel | USDA AMS |
| GRAIN_WHEAT | Wheat cash price | per bushel | USDA AMS |
| GRAIN_WHEAT_SRW | Soft Red Winter wheat | per bushel | USDA AMS |
| GRAIN_WHEAT_HRW | Hard Red Winter wheat | per bushel | USDA AMS |
| GRAIN_SORGHUM | Grain sorghum (milo) | per bushel | USDA AMS |
Livestock
| Code | Description | Unit | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| LIVE_CATTLE | Fed cattle, 5-area weighted avg | per cwt | USDA AMS MARS |
| FEEDER_CATTLE_700 | Feeder steers 700-800 lb | per cwt | USDA AMS MARS |
| LEAN_HOGS | Barrows & gilts, national | per cwt | USDA AMS MARS |
| DAIRY_CLASS3 | Class III milk | per cwt | USDA AMS NDPSR |
Inputs & Energy
| Code | Description | Unit | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| FERT_UREA | Urea benchmark | per ton | USDA AMS / NASS fallback |
| FERT_NH3 | Anhydrous ammonia benchmark | per ton | USDA AMS / NASS fallback |
| FERT_DAP | Diammonium phosphate benchmark | per ton | USDA AMS / NASS fallback |
| FERT_POTASH | Potash benchmark | per ton | USDA AMS / NASS fallback |
| FUEL_DIESEL | Retail diesel / farm fuel pressure | $/GAL | EIA / FRED |
| FUEL_PROPANE | Retail propane / drying fuel pressure | $/GAL | EIA |
| NAT_GAS | Henry Hub natural gas | $/MMBtu | FRED MHHNGSP |
| CRUDE_OIL | WTI crude oil | $/barrel | FRED DCOILWTICO |
Weather, Freight & Market-Risk Signals
| Code | Description | Unit | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| NWS_FIELDWORK_IA | 7-day fieldwork window score for Iowa. Swap the state suffix for IL, IN, OH, MN, NE, KS, MO, ND, or SD. | index | NWS forecast grid |
| NWS_PRECIP_IA | 7-day precipitation risk for Iowa. Same state suffixes as fieldwork. | index | NWS forecast grid |
| NWS_HEAT_IA | 7-day heat stress risk for Iowa. Same state suffixes as fieldwork. | index | NWS forecast grid |
| NWS_FREEZE_IA | 7-day freeze risk for Iowa. Same state suffixes as fieldwork. | index | NWS forecast grid |
| CPC_TEMP_610_IA | NOAA 6-10 day temperature probability direction for Iowa. Use CPC_TEMP_814_IA for 8-14 day. | probability direction index | NOAA CPC |
| CPC_PRECIP_610_IA | NOAA 6-10 day precipitation probability direction for Iowa. Use CPC_PRECIP_814_IA for 8-14 day. | probability direction index | NOAA CPC |
| POWER_GDD_IA_CENTRAL | Growing degree days, Central Iowa | GDD | NASA POWER |
| POWER_PRECIP_IA_CENTRAL | Daily precipitation, Central Iowa | mm | NASA POWER |
| POWER_WIND_IA_CENTRAL | Wind speed, Central Iowa | m/s | NASA POWER |
| RIVER_STAGE_07010000 | Mississippi River at St. Louis | feet | USGS Water Services |
| RIVER_STAGE_07032000 | Mississippi River at Memphis | feet | USGS Water Services |
| RIVER_STAGE_03611500 | Ohio River at Metropolis | feet | USGS Water Services |
| WASDE_STOCKS_USE_GRAIN_CORN | Monthly corn stocks-to-use ratio. Also supports GRAIN_SOY, GRAIN_WHEAT, and GRAIN_SORGHUM. | % stocks-to-use | USDA WASDE / PSD |
| FAS_GRAIN_CORN_WEEKLY | Weekly export sales volume. Also supports GRAIN_SOY, GRAIN_WHEAT, GRAIN_SORGHUM, SOY_MEAL, and COTTON. | metric tons | USDA FAS |
| FAS_GRAIN_CORN_PACE | Export-sales pace pressure signal for corn. Same commodity suffixes as weekly export sales. | index | USDA FAS |
| COT_GRAIN_CORN | CFTC net managed-money position for corn. Also supports grain, soybean product, natural gas, and fertilizer-linked contracts where available. | contracts (net) | CFTC COT |
Data Sources
| Source | Data | Cadence |
|---|---|---|
| USDA AMS MARS API | Grain elevator bids, livestock prices, dairy | Daily 06:00 UTC |
| USDA NASS QuickStats | Crop progress, prices received, planted acres | Weekly Monday |
| USDA FAS Export Sales | Weekly export commitments by commodity | Thursday 08:30 ET |
| CFTC COT | Managed money positioning in ZC, ZS, ZW, ZL, ZM | Friday 15:30 ET |
| FRED (St. Louis Fed) | Fertilizer PPI, WTI crude, diesel, natural gas | Daily 06:00 UTC |
| EIA Open Data | Ethanol production, diesel retail prices | Weekly |
| NASA POWER | Temperature, precipitation, wind, GDD fieldwork signals | Daily, newest valid observation |
| USGS Water Services | River stage for freight and barge corridor stress | Hourly/Daily by gauge |
| Crowdsourced bids | Farmer-submitted elevator cash bids (anonymous) | Real-time |
Rate Limits
| Tier | Limit | History |
|---|---|---|
| Free (public endpoints) | 60 req/min per IP | None (today only) |
| Pro ($49/mo) | 600 req/min | 30 days |
| Enterprise (custom) | Unlimited | Full history + bulk export |
Exceeding free limits returns 429 Too Many Requests. Pro API keys bypass IP-level limits.
Need Pro or Enterprise Access?
30-day price history, alert webhooks, bulk CSV export, and dedicated support.
Get API Access →