Selling your crop forward can be a good option when prices are low, but how can you work out whether the carry is enough to cover your extra costs for holding on to your crop?

Prices move all year round, and a broader, 12-month or even 24-month approach to selling can help spread risk and improve your long-term returns.

A good grain marketing plan helps you sell at the right time, for the right price, to meet your business needs. It brings structure to your sales decisions, helping you manage risk and secure long-term profitability.

Arable farmers and City traders might seem worlds apart. Yet both professions tackle the same challenge: managing risk in a volatile world. So what can farmers learn from those who make a living from mastering the markets?

If you’ve ever found yourself taking whatever price your regular merchant offers – just to get the job done – you’re not alone. For most UK arable farmers, getting a fair grain price can feel like more hassle than it’s worth.

Prices might feel a long way off when you’re planning next year’s crop, but it’s never too early to lock in value and control your risk. Forward-selling isn’t just for harvest-ready grain – it’s a year-round tool for strategic grain marketing.

Even in a tough market, the fundamentals of good grain marketing remain the same. As attention turns to next year’s harvest cycle, how can you promote stability rather than speculation?

With rising input costs and pressure on grain prices, knowing your cost of production is key if you want to stay in control of your margins. We look at how to calculate the breakeven price for each crop you grow.

How do you know if you’re being offered a fair price for your grain? If you can’t be sure, you could be missing out on pounds per tonne, which quickly mounts up to thousands of lost income across your crop.

A clear marketing plan doesn’t guarantee you’ll always get the top price, but it does help you protect your bottom line, while taking the emotion out of your grain-selling decisions.

We’re committed to helping farmers get the best possible price for their grain. But exactly how much more could you really be earning? We look at three ways to measure the benefit of selling grain through Hectare Trading.

Mobile trading can’t remove all the risk and uncertainty from grain marketing. But it can give you more visibility and control, wherever you happen to be.

Global grain markets are a complex web, driven by different harvest schedules around the world. So what are the main international factors that can affect the price of your grain?

For UK arable farmers, the past five years have brought more than their fair share of uncertainty. Whether you’re selling grain this week or planning for next season, access to reliable, timely information can make all the difference.

By selling smaller portions of your grain throughout the harvest year, you can manage your risk while keeping the flexibility to respond to market moves.

With prices under pressure, getting the best possible return for your grain is more important than ever. Every extra pound per tonne adds up, especially across hundreds of tonnes.

Selling grain before you know your exact crop yield and spec might feel like a gamble – but it can actually help lower your overall risk and make it easier to plan ahead with confidence.