Moore Research Center, Inc.

What Are the Standard Old Crop and New Crop Delivery Months for Corn, Wheat, and Soybeans?

Question

How can I determine the standard old crop and new crop delivery months for:

• CBOT Corn
• CBOT Wheat
• CBOT Soybeans

The conflicting information available online has made it difficult to identify which contracts represent old crop and new crop markets.

Answer

Understanding the USDA marketing year for each crop helps explain which futures contracts are generally considered old crop and new crop.

USDA Marketing Years

• Corn: October through September
• Winter Wheat: June through May
• Soybeans: September through August

Corn

The standard new-crop corn contract is December, while September is generally considered the last old-crop month.

Advances in seed genetics and farming technology have allowed corn to be planted and harvested earlier than in the past. In some years, especially during hot and dry growing seasons, a significant portion of the crop may be harvested before September delivery. Despite this shift, traders still traditionally view:

• September Corn = Old Crop
• December Corn = New Crop

Wheat

Although some winter wheat harvest begins as early as late April, the standard new-crop wheat contract is July.

Traditionally:

• May Wheat = Old Crop
• July Wheat = New Crop

Soybeans

The USDA soybean marketing year begins in September. However, the standard new-crop soybean contract is November.

Historically, very few soybeans have been harvested early enough for delivery against the September contract. As a result, September soybeans have often been viewed as a transitional or "in-between" month with relatively low volume and open interest.

Traditionally:

• August Soybeans = Old Crop
• November Soybeans = New Crop

Summary

While harvest timing may vary from year to year, these contract relationships remain the standard references used by many grain traders and seasonal spread analysts.