Get Illinois Corn Price Alerts
GrainBrief monitors USDA AMS elevator bids, CFTC managed-money positioning, FAS export sales, and ethanol crush margins to send you a weekly price outlook for Illinois corn. Sign up free.
Start Free Trial →Illinois Corn Market Overview
Illinois corn basis is influenced by Illinois River barge traffic to NOLA and Chicago Board of Trade proximity. Central Illinois is the tightest basis zone in the Corn Belt.
Corn is planted in Illinois from late April through late May, with harvest running from September through November. Spring and early summer price movements often reflect weather risk premium during pollination and grain fill.
Understanding Illinois Corn Basis
Central Illinois basis for corn typically runs 10–25¢ negative. Southern Illinois (river access) can tighten to 5¢ or better during strong export demand.
When and how to use basis in your marketing plan: Most Illinois corn producers use a combination of cash sales at harvest, hedge-to-arrive (HTA) contracts, and basis contracts to manage price risk. Forward contracting 20–30% of expected production before planting can lock in historically strong spring prices.
What Drives Illinois Corn Prices
- CBOT ZC Futures: The national price benchmark. Local cash prices = futures + basis. Watch nearby and deferred futures spreads (carry structure) to determine whether the market is rewarding or penalizing storage.
- USDA FAS Export Sales: Released every Thursday at 8:30am ET. Strong export commitments — especially to China — typically move futures and local bids within 24 hours.
- CFTC COT Positioning: Large speculative funds (managed money) net position in ZC futures is a 2–4 week leading indicator of price direction. Extreme net-short positions often precede short-covering rallies.
- Ethanol Crush Margin: Corn-ethanol crush profitability directly determines how aggressively ethanol plants bid for local corn. Negative crush = plants throttling back = weaker elevator bids.
- USDA WASDE Report: Monthly supply/demand revision. Carryout-to-use ratio changes of more than 5% typically move prices $0.10–$0.30/bu within minutes of the noon ET release.
- Weather: Drought stress (NOAA Drought Monitor D2+) during critical growth stages is historically the largest single-day market mover. Illinois producers should track Corn Belt drought coverage weekly May–August.