Not every feed is real-time. GrainBrief refreshes each source on the cadence its publishing agency supports: some are daily, some weekly, some monthly, some seasonal, and some annual. We label refresh timing clearly so buyers know which signals are current operating intelligence and which are slower-moving benchmarks.
Decision-support, not trading advice. Government and public datasets can be revised, delayed, missing, or unavailable. Canadian coverage uses official-market context unless a verified local bid feed or submitted quote network is active. GrainBrief's LOCK / HOLD / NEGOTIATE language is an informational procurement signal, not a guarantee, commodity trading recommendation, crop insurance recommendation, chemical-label instruction, tax or legal advice, or substitute for confirming local bid, basis, grade, delivery, currency, payment, and terms with your elevator, supplier, lender, agronomist, or licensed advisor.
Source-Health Trust Layer
Every source is labeled by what it powers, where it comes from, country/region fit, and freshness. The live API exposes last checked status at /api/data-sources/status; this page keeps the human-readable proof layer in front of buyers.
Checking current ingest evidence...
Configured streams are not counted as healthy until a recent successful run fetched records.
The latest run succeeded, fetched at least one record, and completed within the source's expected cadence.
The source may be slower by design, stale, missing run evidence, or may have completed with zero records. Check the stated reason before using it.
The source needs attention before it should be treated as fresh operating intelligence.
A configured source with no latest run stays unknown. It is never promoted to healthy from catalog configuration alone.
Free Intelligence Layers Being Packaged
GrainBrief's value is the synthesis layer: turning public data into procurement timing, basis risk, fieldwork windows, drought pressure, acreage context, crop-protection references, and supplier negotiation signals.
NOAA CPC outlooks
6-10 day, 8-14 day, monthly, and seasonal temperature/precipitation probabilities for weather-driven buying risk.
NASA POWER
Free ag-weather history and near-real-time weather variables for county-level stress scoring and local demo personalization.
USGS river levels
River gauge data for barge freight and basis stress on the Mississippi, Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri corridors.
Drought, storm, and acreage layers
U.S. Drought Monitor, NOAA Storm Events, and FSA acreage data help explain local production stress, prevented planting, hail/wind risk, and feed or hay pressure.
Soils, trade, and label references
NRCS soils, NASS Cropland Data Layer, Census trade, EPA PPLS, ERS baseline data, and state extension crop budgets add state-specific context beyond the Midwest row-crop core.
WASDE surprise tracker
Monthly carryout-to-use and supply/demand deltas converted into plain-English bullish/bearish pressure.
Rail, river, and policy risk
STB rail-service metrics, USACE lock/navigation notices, and Federal Register fertilizer-policy notices help explain basis, freight, and input-cost shocks.
Canada crop and movement context
Statistics Canada, AAFC, and Canadian Grain Commission sources add canola, spring wheat, durum, barley, oats, pulses, production, price, movement, and export context.
Western Canada expansion
Canadian Crop Movement Depth, Canadian Prairie Drought and Weather, Prairie Province Crop Reports, Canadian Supply and Disposition, Canadian Currency and Cross-Border Pressure, Canadian Rail and Port Logistics, and the Western Canada Submitted Bid Network are now tracked as source-health lanes.
Configured Source Stack
These are the 44 configured source families GrainBrief can ingest, normalize, or derive. The live health summary above determines which are healthy right now; a card appearing below is not proof of a successful latest pull.
Grain Cash Bids
Fertilizer Prices (Retail)
Grain Prices Paid (NASS)
Crop Progress & Condition
Crop Insurance Prices (RMA context)
Livestock & Dairy Markets
Export Sales (FAS)
Export Inspections (FGIS)
CFTC Commitment of Traders
WASDE Supply/Demand
Grain Basis (AgTransport)
Corn-Ethanol Crush Margin
Soybean Crush Margin
Diesel & Propane (EIA)
Fertilizer PPI & Natural Gas
Drought Monitor
Storm Events
FSA Crop Acreage
Soils & Crop Mix
Trade Flow & Pesticide Labels
ERS Baseline Projections
GDD Forecasts
Canada Farm Product Prices
Canada Field Crops
AAFC Crop Reports
Canadian Grain Statistics
Canadian Crop Movement Depth
Canadian Prairie Drought and Weather
Prairie Province Crop Reports
Canadian Supply and Disposition
Canadian Currency and Cross-Border Pressure
Canadian Rail and Port Logistics
Western Canada Submitted Bid Network
Weekly Data Release Calendar
Government data releases follow a strict calendar. GrainBrief processes each release within 15-30 minutes of publication. Subscribers receive automated alerts tied to the highest-impact releases.
| Day | Time (ET) | Data Release | Source | Commodities | Why It Matters | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Every Day | 6:00am CTGrainBrief pull | Cash Grain Bids (up to 12 named states; report-row coverage varies) | USDA AMS MARS | Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, Sorghum | Elevator bids - the price farmers actually receive. Basis calculated vs. CBOT nearby. | FREE |
| Weekly | Report-specificUSDA AgTransport | Cash/Futures/Basis Reference | USDA AgTransport Socrata | Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, Sorghum | Plain-labeled cash bid, futures reference, and basis. Basis = cash bid minus futures reference; the futures value is a source-published reference, not a real-time trading feed. | FREE |
| Every Day | 6:15am CTDerived after cash bids | Corn-Ethanol Crush Margin | EIA + FRED + USDA AMS | Corn, Ethanol, Natural Gas | Tells you whether ethanol plants are profitable and competing aggressively for corn. | DERIVED |
| Monday | 4:00pm ETApr-Nov only | Crop Progress & Condition | USDA NASS | Corn, Soybeans, Winter Wheat, Cotton, Spring Wheat | G/E condition ratings are the most correlated weekly signal to short-term futures moves during the growing season. | FREE |
| Monday | 4:30pm ET | EIA Weekly Petroleum (Diesel/Propane) | U.S. EIA | Diesel, Propane, Gasoline | Direct farm operating cost input. Propane drives grain drying cost in fall harvest season. | FREE |
| Thursday | 8:30am ETWe pull at 8:45am | USDA FAS Export Sales Report | USDA Foreign Ag Service | Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, Sorghum, Soy Meal, Cotton | Gross new export sales + marketing year pace vs. USDA target. Single most market-moving weekly release. Large China corn/soy purchases move futures $0.10-$0.25/bu within 30 minutes. | FREE |
| Thursday | 8:30am ETWe pull at 9:00am | USDA FGIS Export Inspections | USDA Federal Grain Inspection Service | Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, Sorghum, Oats, Barley | Physical grain loaded onto ships at Gulf/PNW/Atlantic terminals. Confirms whether FAS sales commitments are actually being executed. | FREE |
| Thursday | Releases middayWe pull Thursday night | NOAA Drought Monitor | Univ. of Nebraska-Lincoln / NOAA / USDA | All Corn Belt and major ag states | State-level D0-D4 drought coverage. D2+ in Iowa/IL during July = strongest bullish price signal in grain markets. | FREE |
| Thursday | Every other week | USDA AMS Production Cost Reports | USDA AMS MyMarketNews | Anhydrous Ammonia, Urea, UAN 28/32, DAP, MAP, Potash, Diesel, Propane | Bi-weekly retail fertilizer prices from Iowa and Illinois - the Corn Belt benchmark for input cost planning. | FREE |
| Friday | ~3:30pm ETWe pull 4:00pm | CFTC Commitment of Traders | CFTC Public Reporting Portal | Corn (ZC), Soybeans (ZS), Wheat (ZW, KE, MWE), Oats, Soy Meal, Soy Oil, Urea, DAP, Anhydrous | Managed-money net positions as of Tuesday close. Swings of 20,000+ contracts in one week historically precede a price reversal within 2-3 weeks. | FREE |
| Friday | Weekly | DDG & Soybean Crush Prices | USDA AMS MARS (Reports 3511, 3616, 3618) | Distillers Dried Grains, Wet DG, Soybean Meal, Soybean Oil | Co-products of ethanol and soybean crushing. DDG prices affect corn ethanol crush margin. Soybean meal + oil prices drive soybean crush profitability. | FREE |
| 2nd Tuesday | 12:00pm ETMonthly | WASDE Supply/Demand Report | USDA FAS PSD Open Data API | Corn, Soybeans, Wheat, Cotton, Sorghum - U.S. and world | Official USDA carryout (ending stocks) and supply/demand balance. A 50M bu corn carryout revision can move futures $0.15-$0.30/bu within minutes. GrainBrief updates all carryout-to-use ratios within 30 minutes of release. | FREE |
| Feb 1 | All dayAnnual | RMA Crop Insurance Projected Price | USDA Risk Management Agency | Corn, Soybeans, Winter Wheat, Spring Wheat, Cotton | The February discovery period average price - the floor used in Revenue Protection (RP) crop insurance contracts. Every marketing decision from March through harvest is made relative to this number. | FREE |
| Oct 31 | All dayAnnual | RMA Crop Insurance Harvest Price | USDA Risk Management Agency | Corn, Soybeans, Winter Wheat, Spring Wheat, Cotton | The October discovery average - determines whether RP insurance pays an indemnity. If harvest price > projected price, the insurance floor moves up. Farmers need this to know their minimum guaranteed revenue. | FREE |
| Monthly | Various | NASS Prices Paid Survey | USDA NASS QuickStats | Fertilizers, Fuels, Seeds, Chemicals | Annual survey prices farmers paid for inputs - national and state-level. Used for 5-year average benchmarking and cost-of-production calculations. | FREE |
| Daily | ContinuousGrowing season | NOAA NWS GDD Forecasts | NOAA National Weather Service API | All Corn Belt states (18 NWS stations) | 7-day Growing Degree Day accumulation for Corn Belt. GDD deficit + drought coverage = GrainBrief Yield Risk Score, a proxy for weather-driven price risk. Active May-September. | FREE |
Frequently Asked Questions
How accurate is the data?
GrainBrief prioritizes official public APIs and open data portals, then clearly labels source cadence. Raw observations come from the named source where available; GrainBrief-derived signals, indexes, and risk scores are calculated from those inputs. Government datasets can be revised, delayed, incomplete, or unavailable, so the data is only as current and accurate as the underlying source publication.
Why are cash bids not live real-time?
USDA AMS publishes elevator bid data after morning collection each business day - typically by 10am CT. True real-time cash bids require a paid licensing agreement with data aggregators like Barchart or DTN who collect directly from elevators via proprietary systems. GrainBrief uses the free USDA data because it covers the same elevators, lags by only a few hours, and costs you nothing. For decisions that require real-time bids (like a same-day cash sale), call your elevator directly.
When does GrainBrief's daily ingest run?
The main ingest job runs at 6:00am CT every day, pulling all sources that have new data. Thursday ingest runs a second pull at 8:45am CT specifically for USDA FAS export sales and FGIS export inspections (which release at 8:30am ET). Friday ingest runs a third pull at 4:00pm CT for the CFTC COT release. Derived signals (crush margins) compute after the 6:00am data is in the database.
What is not covered yet?
GrainBrief is a growing platform. We do not yet have: real-time CME futures quotes (requires paid exchange licensing), complete local elevator coverage outside the up to 12 named Midwest/Plains states represented in current USDA AMS report mappings, ocean freight rates (Baltic Dry Index requires paid subscription), private crop tour estimates (Pro Farmer, StoneX - proprietary), or individual elevator-level basis by ZIP code (Barchart has this in their paid API). Availability still varies by commodity, elevator, report, and release. If there is a specific data source you want to see added, sign up and let us know.
What cash, futures, and basis numbers are labeled?
GrainBrief labels USDA AgTransport cash bid, futures reference, and basis values where the public dataset publishes them. Basis = cash bid minus futures reference. The futures reference is source-published context, not a licensed real-time trading feed.
What does Canada coverage include?
GrainBrief Canada uses official-market context from Statistics Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and the Canadian Grain Commission for crop prices, production, movement, exports, and crop-market context. It does not imply live Canadian cash bids or local procurement advice unless a verified bid feed or submitted quote network is active.
Can I access the raw data via API?
GrainBrief API access is available on the Enterprise tier. The API delivers the same normalized price snapshots, COT positions, and export sales data in JSON format - useful for co-ops building member dashboards, agronomists building cost models, or developers integrating grain market data into other applications. Contact us for Enterprise pricing.
Are all these data sources really free?
The core sources listed here are public or open-access sources with their own terms, attribution rules, rate limits, and no-endorsement requirements. GrainBrief's value is not exclusive ownership of the public data; it is the synthesis layer that translates many source feeds into a single, practical weekly signal with refresh timing disclosed.
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