Farm Raw Product Wholesalers NAICS 4245

Jan 23, 2026 - Corn Growers Alarmed by New Supply Projections

• The USDA’s new projection of a record 17‑billion‑bushel corn supply for 2025–2026 signals serious challenges ahead for US grain farmers, the National Corn Growers Association warned in January. Such a large surplus is expected to push corn prices even lower, worsening already thin margins as growers face high input costs and weakening farm finances. Farmer groups warn that without rapid demand expansion, the oversupply could deepen the economic strain across rural regions. The NCGA is urging policymakers to open new export markets and accelerate trade deals with countries like India, Vietnam, and Kenya. A major near‑term demand boost could come from year‑round E15 ethanol sales, which NCGA estimates could absorb an additional 2.4 billion bushels annually. Without these market outlets, growers fear that the combination of excess supply, soft prices, and rising costs will intensify financial pressure across the grain sector.
• Leading indicators for the farm sector’s financial health all show elevated risk, according to the latest report from the Rural and Farm Finance Policy Analysis Center. The report tracks 14 financial indicators organized in four classes: Farmer and banker sentiment; Farm income and balance sheet health; Farm machinery market dynamics; and Credit quality. The risk rating (on a 1-10 scale, with 1 being low risk and 10 high risk) is 6.2. The farm machinery market showed the biggest signs of deterioration, with a risk rating of 5.7, while farm income and balance sheet health, and credit quality carry a risk rating of 5.8 each, and farmer and banker sentiment at 5.9. The forecast shows a decline in net cash income for the two crop farm business types: a 1% decline for specialty crops farm businesses and a 14.8% drop for corn farm businesses.

• Farm raw products wholesalers have a lot riding on the merger of the Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern railroads: About 3.2 million rail cars of grains, oilseeds, and other agricultural products move by rail on an annual basis, representing more than 10% of all rail shipments, and 26% of grain has at least one rail movement, according to the National Grain and Feed Association. The $85-billion proposed merger would create the nation’s first transcontinental freight railroad, connecting over 50,000 route miles across 43 states and linking some 100 ports, according to Union Pacific. In 2023, more than 80.5 million tons of corn, 26.3 million tons of soybeans, and 25.8 million tons of wheat were shipped by rail, per the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service. The companies are targeting an early-2027 close for their merger, which faces intense scrutiny from the Surface Transportation Board.
• Producer prices for farm product raw material merchant wholesalers tumbled nearly 25% in September compared to a year ago, after jumping 17.1% in the previous September-versus-September annual comparison, according to the latest US Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Wholesale prices of farm raw products – currently at historically low levels – are volatile and are impacted by swings in prices for farm commodities including grains, crops, and livestock. Employment by the industry grew 1.9% year over year in August, according to the BLS. Industry sales rose 7.2% year over year in July, according to the Census Bureau.