By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH

Indiana Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Average prices farmers received for their corn, soybean and wheat crops dipped from July to August, and analysts don’t anticipate a big turnaround in upcoming months.

For corn, prices averaged $3.68 a bushel in August, down from July’s $3.80, according to the monthly Agricultural Prices report released Sept. 29 by the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). The August price was up 5 cents from a year ago. The highest average price in the past 12 months was $3.82 in January.

Soybeans dropped to an average of $9.71 in August from July’s $9.95. In August 2014, farmers received $12.40 for their beans. September 2014 saw the highest average price – $10.90 – during the last 12 months.

Wheat’s average price of $4.82 in August was down from July’s $5.15. It was also off more than $1 a bushel from the $5.90 farmers received in August 2014. January’s average of $6.15 was the highest price in the past year.

"Producers received higher prices for market eggs, lettuce, strawberries and apples, but lower prices for broilers, wheat, onions and hay," NASS said in its report.

NASS also looked at the prices farmers paid for such items as fertilizer, feed and chemicals. According to the report’s August Index of Prices Paid for Commodities and Services, Interest, Taxes and Farm Wage Rates, farmers paid just under 1 percent less than they did in July, but 3.6 percent less than they did in August 2014. They paid 8 percent more than in the base year of 2011.

For prices received and paid, NASS uses the year 2011 as a basis for comparison. The year was chosen because it was seen as a so-called "normal" year, said Troy Joshua, chief of the agency’s Environmental, Economics and Demographics Branch.

"Since July, lower prices for hay and forages, feed grains and concentrates more than offset higher prices for complete feeds and supplements," NASS noted. "Lower prices for nitrogen more than offset higher prices for mixed fertilizer and potash and phosphate. Compared with last month, prices are higher for herbicides and insecticides. Prices are lower for diesel, gasoline and LP gas."

Last month, in its World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report, the USDA projected average prices per bushel for the 2015/16 corn crop will be $3.45-$4.05. For soybeans, the agency estimated $8.40-$9.90 and for all wheat, $4.65-$5.35.

A good harvest could negatively impact corn and soybean prices, said Randy Martinson, manager of Progressive Ag Marketing.

"We’re hearing in some areas (the harvest) is better than expected," he noted. "That’s going to pull the market down. For wheat, I see the possibility of a recovery, but corn and soybean markets are destined to see a little more pressure. I expect them to trade back to previous lows."

Allendale, Inc. analysts project a median price for soybeans of $8.70, with a high range of $8.90-$8.95 and a low of $8.55-$8.60, said Rich Nelson, the company’s chief strategist. For corn, they estimate $3.90-$4 in the next couple of months.

He commented the day the Agricultural Prices report was released, but before NASS published its Grain Stocks update the next day. "We’re still saying completely neutral on soybean prices for the next six months," he said.

"After December, we can start talking about prices over $4 (for corn). It’s the same story as with soybeans. This (grain stocks report) is a minor revision to old-crop supply and therefore, new-crop beginning stocks. We don’t see any major changes in the price from this report."