GrainBridge 2018-11-08T15:33:34+00:00

GrainBridge

GrainBridge

Through Grain PhD, every farmer will receive a free account to the GrainBridge software. Created by producers for producers, this easy-to-use software gives farmers of any crop the simple tools and information to manage their business and risk more confidently.

Cutting-edge and user-friendly, GrainBridge provides farmers a convenient, comprehensive way to organize and manage their production costs and price risk while improving the profitability of their operation. GrainBridge allows users to:

  • Build and understand production costs to establish benchmarks
  • Manage cash, futures and options all in one space
  • See real potential profitability via daily market updates
  • Incorporate crop insurance guarantees
  • Create what-if scenarios to simulate potential risk exposure
  • And much more

Who is GrainBridge?

The GrainBridge concept began development in 2006 and later became a reality when founded in December of 2007. GrainBridge is a Nebraska based company located in Omaha. We are a melting pot of agricultural businessmen, farmers, software developers and technology engineers focused on developing powerful, web based software and technology. The dedicated team at GrainBridge works together on a daily basis to improve the way people in agriculture manage risk, communicate and profit.

What Does GrainBridge Do?

GrainBridge employees share a love for agriculture, a passion for innovation, and a desire to make a difference. They provide innovative solutions for the agribusiness and farmer to help with management, collaboration and communications. They provide Software as a Service (SaaS) which is another way of saying we build web based software. GrainBridge flagship products help those involved in agriculture plan, manage, and communicate.

GrainBridge Mission

To maximize the efficiency, productivity and profitability of the agribusiness and farmer by providing customized web based software and technology solutions.

Why GrainBridge Does What They Do

Demand for agricultural commodities continues to increase both domestically and internationally, which in-turn is causing extreme price volatility across all segments of the agricultural industry thus, a growing need for improvements in managing risk and communicating with business partners. This is where GrainBridge makes a difference.

Grain PhD provides every agricultural producer with a free GrainBridge software account.


Join the Grain PhD Community

Learn how to use your Free GrainBridge Software

If you still have questions about GrainBridge or if would like to be walked through setup by an Ag Risk Specialist, call 1-844-GRAIN-01.

Set Up
Futures in GrainBridge
Cash Sales in GrainBridge
Basis in GrainBridge
Set Up
Step 1: Plan

Learn how to navigate the Profiles & Plan sections.


GrainBridge Set Up Progress
Step 1
33%
Step 2: Track

Learn how to navigate the Cash Sales, Brokerage & Summary pages of GrainBridge.


GrainBridge Set Up Progress
Step 2
66%
Step 3: Report

Learn about each of the reports GrainBridge provides and how to use them.


GrainBridge Set Up Progress
Step 3
100%
Futures in GrainBridge

GrainBridge allows users to enter and track their futures positions. The application will show users what futures contracts are open and the current value of these contracts if they were offset today. Additionally, users can see the overall value of their futures contracts to their total production on a per bushel basis (or per pound basis for livestock).


Download PDF

Grain

 1. After logging into GrainBridge, select the “Brokerage” tab at the top of the page and select “Futures”.

2. Select the green “+Add futures trade” button.

3. To add a futures trade, you will enter the contract order information. Today, you will take a short position on corn. Select “sell” as your position.

4. Choose “Corn” as the profile and the commodity.

5. Enter 5 in the “Contract quantity”. Recall that one standard contract of corn is 5,000 bushels. What is the total number of bushels in this contract?

6. Select DEC of the current year as your contract

7. Enter today’s futures price for DEC. Refer to the Grain PhD website under quotes and charts for this price. For example, if DEC corn is currently $4.25, enter this price in this field.

What is the total value of your contract? (Hint: multiply the number of bushels by the current price)

8. Fees are determined by individual brokers and vary from one to the next. This is the cost of trading a futures contract. If you choose to work with a Grain PhD Ag Risk Specialist, the fee is ~$25.00 a side. Enter $25.00 for the “Fee” or whatever amount your broker charges you.

9. Enter today’s date as your trade date.

10. Enter in the “Notes” section: “Price protection for corn. Offset by December 1st”.

GrainBridge Demo

11. Select the green “+Add futures trade” button.

12. Notice your contract under the futures trades. The Commodity, Position, Quantity, Contract Month, Price, Latest Board Price, and Gain/Loss Details are listed.

GrainBridge Demo

13. The number beneath “price” is the price at which the contract was sold. GrainBridge imports market prices at the end of every day. This is what’s listed beneath the “board price”.

14. As long as this contract is open, the Board Price will change every day. The gain or loss will also fluctuate as the board price changes.

15. Using GrainBridge, you can track your futures positions. Watch the board price over the next week and see how the value (Gain/Loss) of this contract changes.

Livestock

 1. After logging into GrainBridge, select the “Brokerage” tab at the top of the page and select “Futures”.

2. Select the green “+Add futures trade” button.

3. To add a futures trade, you will enter the contract order information. Today, you will take a short position on Live Cattle. Select “sell” as your position.

4. Choose “Live Cattle” as the profile and the commodity.

5. Enter 1 in the “Contract quantity”. Recall that one standard contract of live cattle is 40,000 pounds. What is the total number of pounds in this contract?

6. Select JUN of the current year as your contract

7. Enter today’s futures price for JUN live cattle. Refer to the Grain PhD website under quotes and charts for this price. For example, if JUN live cattle is $1.41/lb., enter this price in this field. (Note: CME reports livestock prices per hundredweight (cwt), but prices should be entered per pound in GrainBridge. To calculate the per pound price, divide the cwt price by 100.  For example, if the cwt price is $141.00, take $141/100 = $1.41)

8. Fees are determined by individual brokers and vary from one to the next. This is the cost of trading a futures contract. If you choose to work with a Grain PhD Ag Risk Specialist, the fee is ~$25.00 a side. Enter $25.00 for the “Fee” or whatever amount your broker charges you.

9. Enter today’s date as your “trade date.”

10. Enter in the “Notes” section: “Price protection for fed steers.

GrainBridge Demo

11. Select the green “+Add futures trade” button.

12. Notice your contract under the futures trades. The Commodity, Position, Quantity, Contract Month, Price, Latest Board Price, and Gain/Loss Details are listed.

GrainBridge Demo

13. The number beneath “price” is the price at which the contract was sold. GrainBridge imports market prices at the end of every day. This is what’s listed beneath the “board price”.

14. As long as this contract is open, the Board Price will change every day. The gain or loss will also fluctuate as the board price changes.

15. Using GrainBridge, you can track your futures positions. Watch the board price over the next week and see how the value (Gain/Loss) of this contract changes.

Cash Sales in GrainBridge
GrainBridge allows users to enter and track their cash sales. The application will show users what percentage of their production has been sold and the average price of their sales per bushel or per pound. Additionally, GrainBridge allows users to set a futures month and basis level to value unsold production, giving the user insight into what their total production is worth every day.


Download PDF

Grain

  1. After logging into GrainBridge, select the “Cash sales” tab at the top of the page.

2. To add a cash sale, select the green “+Add sale” button.

3. There are six primary components of a cash grain contracts that are recorded in GrainBridge:

– Sale type (Cash Sale, Basis, HTA, NPE)

– Buyer (Ex. Name of Coop)

– Amount (total bushels)

– Cash price

– Delivery (Ex. Nov 2017)

– Sale date

4. Select “Cash Sale” as the sale type and corn as the commodity profile. Cash sale is the sales type for both a spot sale and forward cash contract.

5. Create a buyer by selecting “Add new buyer” from the buyer dropdown. Enter your teacher’s last name and coop as the company name. Ex: Smith Coop. Enter your city and state and select the green “+Add new buyer” button. Keep this selected as the buyer.

6. Enter 25,000 bushels in the “Amount” field.

7. Enter a “Cash” price of $3.53 per bushel. This is the cash price that the buyer is willing to pay for the corn.

8. If this is a spot sale and delivery is being made today, enter today’s date in the delivery section. If this is a cash forward contract, choose a future delivery date range between October 1 and November 30.  Click the green “Apply” button to save the date range.

9. Enter today’s date as “Sale Date”.

10. To add a reference ID or notesclick the “Show more options” linkNotes are intended to provide the producer with an explanation of the transaction or a reminder for future actions required. Do not add a note today.

11. Select the green “+Add sale” button to save the transaction and click the “View sale” arrow to return to the cash sales list.

12. The pie graph demonstrates the percentage of corn unsold and sold under various contracts. Share with a neighbor what percentage of corn you have sold with this cash contract.

GrainBridge Demo

13. GrainBridge also provides a list of the quantity and price of bushels sold. The top line in bold provides the weighted average price of your entire corn production, including unsold bushels.

GrainBridge Demo

14. To review or edit any cash sales, refer to the Sales list in the lower half of the Cash sales tab. To make changes, such as enter a delivery or notes about the sale, select the “View” link to the right of the sale.

15. You have now added a cash grain contract to your account!

Livestock

  1. Select the “Live Cattle” profile from the dropdown menu.

2. To add a cash sale, select the green “+Add sale” button.

3. There are six primary components of livestock “Cash sale” that are recorded in GrainBridge:

– Sale type (Cash Sale)

– Buyer (Ex. Livestock Market)

– Pounds per Head

– Head Count

– Delivery (Ex. Nov 2017)

– Sale date

4. Select “Cash Sale” as your sale type and live cattle as the commodity profile.

5. Select “Add new buyer” from the “Buyer” dropdown. Enter your teacher’s last name and processing as the company name. Ex: Smith Processing. Enter your city and state and select the green “+Add new buyer” button. Keep this selected as the buyer.

6. “Pounds per head” is the weight of each animal. Enter 1250 in the pounds per head section.

7. This cash sale will be for 100 head of live cattle. Enter this value in the “Head count” section.

8. Enter a cash price of $1.19 per pound.
*Note: The GrainBridge application calculates livestock production on a per pound (lb) basis because it is commonly used by producers.  Buyers, on the other hand, calculate price using “per hundred weight” (cwt). Price for livestock is often reported using per hundred weight. To convert the price per hundred weight to price per pound, divide the per hundred weight price by 100. Thus, a price of $119/cwt for live cattle is equal to $1.19/lb.

9. If this is a spot sale and delivery is being made today, enter today’s date in the delivery section. If this is a cash forward sale, select the delivery date range of June 1 to July 31. Click the green “Apply” button to save the date range.

10. Enter today’s date as the “Sale date”.

11. To add a reference ID or notesclick the “Show more options” linkNotes are intended to provide the producer with an explanation of transaction or a reminder for future actions required. Do not add a note today.

12. Select the green “+Add sale” button to save the transaction. Click the “View sales” arrow to return to the cash sales list.

13. The pie graph demonstrates the percentage of live cattle production sold and unsold.

GrainBridge Demo

14. GrainBridge also provides a list of the quantity and price of pounds sold. The top line in bold provides the weighted average price per pound of your entire live cattle production, including unsold livestock.

GrainBridge Demo

15. To review or edit any cash sales, refer to the Sales list in the lower half of the Cash sales tab. To make changes, such as enter a delivery or notes about the sale, select the “View” link to the right of the sale.

GrainBridge Demo

15. You have now added a livestock cash contract to your account!

Basis in GrainBridge

GrainBridge allows users to enter and track their cash sales. The application will show producers what percentage of their production has been sold and the average price of their sales per bushel or per pound. Additionally, GrainBridge allows producers to set a futures month and basis level to value unsold production, giving the user insight into what their total production is worth every day.

Download PDF

 1. After logging into GrainBridge, select the “Cash sales” tab at the top of the page.

2. Select the green “+Add futures trade” button.

3. Select “Basis” as the “Sale type” and corn as the commodity profile.

4. Select the buyer you created in the cash sale module.

5. Enter 20,000 bushels in the “Amount” section.

6. For this module, set the basis at -$0.15 with the futures month of December of the current year.

7. Set the “Delivery” range as 12/01–12/31 for the current year.

8. Enter today’s date as the basis set date.

9. To add a reference ID or notesclick the “Show more options” linkNotes are intended to provide the producer with an explanation of transaction or a reminder for future actions required. Add a note to “lock-in the futures price prior to December expiration.”

10. Select the green “+Add sale” button to save the transaction. Select the “View sale” arrow to return to the cash sales list.

 11. The pie chart to the right of the screen demonstrates the percentage of corn sold with a basis contract.

 12. GrainBridge also provides a list of the quantity and price of bushels sold under various contracts. Notice the price of the basis contract. This price takes into account the basis level entered in the basis contract and the current futures price for December corn. This price will change as the December corn futures price changes. (*Note: GrainBridge imports the closing price for futures contracts at the end of every day. Thus, the price is calculated using yesterday’s closing price.)

GrainBridge Demo

13. Follow the future price for December corn for the next three weeks and set the futures price for this contract when you think you can maximize profit on this contract. To view the futures price for December corn, visit the Quotes and Charts page on Grain PhD.

14. When it’s time to set basis, either prior to or at the date of delivery, select “View” next to the basis contract.

GrainBridge Demo

15. Select the “Set futures” button and enter the futures price for this contract.

16. After entering the futures price, you have now completed a basis contract in your GrainBridge account!


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