Tallgrass Ag
Vern Gruber · Thayer County, NE · Owen Speck · client since 2017
2.8M bu at 69% priced
$11.8M under management
Call before pricingCosts are estimatesLast spoke in 63 days7 other findings(785) 555-5288
Every rung on every ladder clears this family's cost of production plus the desk's $0.10 cushion, and nothing has passed its sell-by date. The plan is doing its job.
Corn new crop · Dec 2026
Break-even $4.14 · cash bid $4.14 · 52% priced against a 80% pace
Ladder covers 73% of the cropGuarantee 1.3M bu
| Rung | Price | Over cost | Tranche | Away from the bid | Sell by | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $4.32 | +$0.18 | 15% 249k bu | Filled | Jul 25, 2026 3 months ago Window Feb-May | Hit |
| 2 | $4.55 | +$0.41 | 22% 365k bu | Filled | Sep 25, 2026 30 days ago Window Feb-May | Hit |
| 3 | $4.81 | +$0.67 | 21% 348k bu | $0.67 | Nov 25, 2026 in 31 days Window Feb-May | Working |
| 4 | $5.00 | +$0.86 | 15% 249k bu | $0.86 | Jan 25, 2027 in 3 months Window Feb-May | Working |
Corn old crop · Dec 2026
Break-even $3.78 · cash bid $4.14 · 92% priced against a 95% pace
Ladder covers 61% of the crop
| Rung | Price | Over cost | Tranche | Away from the bid | Sell by | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $3.96 | +$0.18 | 15% 176k bu | Filled | Oct 25, 2026 today Window Feb-May | Hit |
| 2 | $4.18 | +$0.40 | 16% 187k bu | Filled | Dec 25, 2026 in 61 days Window Feb-May | Hit |
| 3 | $4.36 | +$0.58 | 15% 176k bu | Filled | Feb 25, 2027 in 4 months Window Feb-May | Hit |
| 4 | $4.57 | +$0.79 | 15% 176k bu | Filled | Apr 25, 2027 in 6 months Window Feb-May | Hit |
Rungs are sorted by price rather than by the order they were entered, because a scale-up ladder only reads as a ladder in price order. Distance is measured from the cash bid, which is the board plus the local basis, not from the board alone.
A rung that filled before its date is done rather than overdue. The desk's cushion over break-even is $0.10, because a break-even is itself an estimate and pricing exactly at one is pricing at the midpoint of an error bar. On this crop that means a rung has to clear $4.24 to count as clearing cost.