Is There Enough Storage For The 2025 Crop?

America’s farmers are harvesting large amounts of corn and soybeans, and the question is, do they have enough room to store the incoming commodities?  Bernt Nelson, an economist with the American Farm Bureau Federation, said farmers are facing a classic case of supply versus demand.

“Corn production for the ‘25-‘26 marketing year is estimated at a record 16.8 billion bushels," Nelson said.  "Now if we kind of switch gears and look over at soybean production, it's also projected to be higher, at 4.3 billion bushels. If we kind of think about what's happening with demand, demand is lower due to the ongoing trade challenges. And what this really means is that we've got a big crop, and we need to find a place to put it.”

We Just Don't Have Enough Storage

Nelson said the problem is that the national storage capacity for grain crops hasn’t increased at the same rate as production has.

“Grain storage capacity has gone up only a little bit at the same time," Nelson added.  "So, if we look at combined on- and off-farm storage capacity as of December 1, 2024, this total’s about 25-and-a-half billion bushels. Our big Corn Belt states have added very little new storage space in recent years."

The Long-term Impact

Nelson said insufficient storage space can have an effect on commodity prices.

"The increase in crop size with limited increase in demand or storage space could continue putting some pressure on our crop prices," he said.  "It also could have a big impact on basis. A weakening basis would really add a significant price risk to the farm sector on the bottom line."

Learn more by visiting the AFBF's Website.

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