Iowa Cash Corn Prices Down 17 Cents in a Week, to $4.40 a Bushel
The average Iowa cash corn bid moved 17 cents lower over the week, to $4.40 a bushel. Cash soybeans closed the week at $12.32 a bushel across Iowa. These are USDA's Iowa cash bids and the nearby futures closes for the week of October 5-9, 2026.
This week's Iowa market numbers
| This week | Week ago | Year ago | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corn, Iowa cash bid ($/bu) | $4.40 | $4.57 | $3.71 |
| Corn basis, Iowa (cents vs nearby futures, now December 2026) | 40 under | 41 under | 42 under |
| Corn, nearby and new crop futures -- December 2026 ($/bu) | $4.80 | $4.98 | $4.13 (December 2025) |
| Soybeans, Iowa cash bid ($/bu) | $12.32 | $12.35 | $9.36 |
| Soybean basis, Iowa (cents vs nearby futures, now November 2026) | 60 under | 43 under | 71 under |
| Soybeans, nearby and new crop futures -- November 2026 ($/bu) | $12.92 | $12.78 | $10.07 (November 2025) |
| Soybean meal, nearby futures -- October 2026 ($/short ton) | $365.6 | $344.7 | $267.4 |
| Soybean oil, nearby futures -- October 2026 (cents/lb) | 68.02 | 68.21 | 49.40 |
| Soybean-to-corn price ratio (Iowa cash) | 2.80 | 2.70 | 2.52 |
Each figure is the week's close: the last bid or settlement of the week. The nearby futures column follows whichever contract was nearest to delivery on that date, so a week-ago or year-ago figure can be an earlier contract month.
Across Iowa's regions
| Region | Corn basis | Week change | Soybean basis | Week change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwest | 41 under | +1 | 58 under | -3 |
| North Central | 44 under | -2 | 65 under | -2 |
| Northeast | 45 under | -2 | 72 under | -13 |
| Southwest | 31 under | +3 | 58 under | +1 |
| South Central | 42 under | +0 | 65 under | -20 |
| Southeast | 48 under | +1 | 71 under | +2 |
| Mississippi River terminals (report 3043) | 29 under | +4 | 28 under | +1 |
Week change in cents a bushel: plus is narrower (closer to futures), minus is wider.
What the numbers measure
The cash price is what an Iowa elevator or processor bids today for grain delivered to its door. The futures price is set on the Chicago Board of Trade for grain delivered months out at a handful of delivery points; the nearby contract is the one closest to delivery. Basis is the gap between the two: cash minus futures. A basis of "40 under" means the local bid is 40 cents a bushel below the futures price. Basis carries everything futures leave out -- the freight from an Iowa farm to the river or the rail, the local supply of grain and the local demand for it.
Basis usually widens at harvest. In a few weeks most of the year's crop comes off the field at once; elevators fill, rail cars and barges are booked, and the local bid falls relative to futures until the grain can move. As the bins empty over the winter it usually narrows again.
The new-crop contract is December for corn and November for soybeans: the delivery month the fall harvest is priced against, and the price a farmer uses for grain not yet out of the field. From mid-September the nearby contract IS the new-crop one, so the two lines are the same number until it expires. USDA's Iowa report publishes today's cash bids only, not bids for delivery after harvest, so this page shows no new-crop basis -- only the new-crop futures price and its spread over the nearby.
Against the same week since 2021
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa cash corn | $5.04 | $6.74 | $4.68 | $3.85 | $3.71 | $4.40 |
| Iowa corn basis | 21 under | 16 under | 26 under | 31 under | 42 under | 40 under |
| Iowa cash soybeans | $11.71 | $13.39 | $12.28 | $9.46 | $9.36 | $12.32 |
| Iowa soybean basis | 47 under | 45 under | 53 under | 60 under | 71 under | 60 under |
USDA's Iowa basis record starts in mid-2021, so this is the same week of the year in each of the 6 years it covers. A year ago and the range across those years are both shown on purpose: which one a number is measured against changes how it reads.
Also this week
- The Iowa cash corn bid is 19% higher than the same week last year ($3.71).
- The Iowa cash soybean bid is 32% higher than the same week last year ($9.36).
- At Iowa cash bids, one bushel of soybeans is worth 2.80 bushels of corn -- more than in the same week of any year since 2020.
Who this helps and who it squeezes
| What this week's grain numbers mean | |
|---|---|
| Farmers delivering grain | Helps when cash rises. The cash bid, futures plus basis, is the price paid at the elevator, so a wider basis takes cents off even when futures are unchanged. |
| Elevators and grain merchandisers | Earn on basis more than on price. They pay the cash bid and hedge with futures, so their margin is the basis, not the price level. |
| Livestock feeders and ethanol plants | Squeezes when corn rises. Corn is their largest input; a wide local basis lowers what they pay. |
| Soybean processors | Squeezes when soybeans rise, helps when meal and oil rise. The crush margin is the value of the meal and oil over the cost of the bean. |
Why an Iowan should care
This is harvest, when the most Iowa grain changes hands of any time of year, and the cash bid and basis decide what the crop is worth at the farm gate. Iowa grows more corn than any other state and ranks at or near the top in soybeans, so a few cents a bushel on the Iowa bid adds up across the state's farms, elevators, feedlots and ethanol plants.
Sources: USDA Agricultural Marketing Service -- Iowa Daily Cash Grain Bids (report 2850; the state figure is the average of USDA's six Iowa regions) and Iowa-Southern Minnesota Barge Terminal Cash Grain (report 3043), week of October 5-9, 2026; Chicago Board of Trade corn, soybean, soybean meal and soybean oil nearby futures closing prices, and the new-crop December corn and November soybean contracts; the contract month is from the CBOT delivery calendar. Basis is the cash bid minus the nearby futures price; week changes, same-week history and the soybean-to-corn ratio are arithmetic on those figures.
Compiled automatically by the Drive365 Data Desk from published USDA and exchange data. Generated 2026-10-11 17:20 UTC. This page reports published figures and the arithmetic on them. It does not forecast prices or offer trading or business advice.
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