Tanner Ehmke is lead economist for grains and oilseeds in CoBank’s Knowledge Exchange research division. His focus is on providing market and industry research for the wheat, corn, soybean and rice sectors. Prior to joining CoBank in 2015, he marketed seed for his family’s seed company in western Kansas, where his family has farmed since 1885.
Tanner previously was a commodities analyst at an agricultural market research and advisory firm in Chicago, a commodity markets reporter for Dow Jones at the Chicago Board of Trade, and an agricultural journalist covering crop production and farm business management. He continues to maintain an active role in farming today.
Tanner holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics and a master’s degree in agricultural business from Kansas State University.
Market volatility offered farmers new marketing opportunities in grains and oilseeds in the first quarter. Farmers plan to shift acres to soybeans in 2026 and away from corn and wheat. Drought is again plaguing the U.S. winter wheat crop, and producers look to El Nino for potential relief.
Cotton farmers plan to expand acreage as prices forge a mild recovery. Long-grain rice acreage is projected to be smallest since 1983 as farmers shift acres to soybeans. Global abundance of sugar is bearing down on prices, discouraging U.S. farmers from expanding sugarbeet acreage.
Market volatility offered farmers new marketing opportunities in grains and oilseeds in the first quarter. Farmers plan to shift acres to soybeans in 2026 and away from corn and wheat. Drought is again plaguing the U.S. winter wheat crop, and producers look to El Nino for potential relief.
CoBank’s analysis finds that soybean acreage in 2026 is set to expand overall as soybeans offer stronger economic returns over other crops and U.S. farmers rotate crops after last year’s heavy corn acreage.
Farmers were aggressive sellers of soybeans last fall but were more reluctant to market corn and wheat, according to CoBank’s collateral monitoring reports of grain company customers as of Nov. 30, 2025.
Global grain and oilseed markets remain oversupplied, but increased biofuels production and improving export conditions are boosting U.S. producer optimism that prices have passed their cyclical bottoms.
Despite rising fears, artificial intelligence is unlikely to spark a jobs apocalypse for recent college graduates.
The U.S. is expected to harvest a record fall crop of 21.5 billion bushels of corn, soybeans and grain sorghum this year – up 10% YoY and a new record – on the heels of the largest wheat harvest in five years.
Lower fertility rates, declining labor force participation, and lower net immigration are combining to squeeze labor supply. With the labor supply in rural America set to get tighter, technology – most obviously AI and robotics – will likely be at the core of any strategy to address the oncoming labor squeeze.
Trade uncertainty and shifting tariff policies are slowing new‑crop grain sales as merchandisers, elevators, and end users navigate weaker export demand and heightened market volatility.
CoBank’s Q1 2025 Quarterly report examines the economic forces shaping rural America, highlighting key shifts across agriculture, energy, communications, and financial markets as the year begins.
While the U.S. economy continues to outperform earlier expectations — delivering solid growth, low unemployment and moderating inflation — the rural economic outlook is less certain
The U.S. harvested the second-biggest corn and soybean crop on record this fall, improving carries in the futures market and lifting the margin outlook for grain elevators storing corn and soybeans.
