One of the problems of Corn Belt agriculture is the instability of its prices. This is especially true of its major products, corn, hogs and cattle.

Among these three, the price of corn deserves particular study. Its fluctuations are rapid and irregular, and at times become very great. On four different occasions since the world war, the price of No.3 yellow corn at Chicago has risen or fallen more than 25 cents in two months. The coefficient of variability of the series of monthly prices (the standard deviation of the prices divided by their mean) for the period November, 1923, to December, 1929, inclusive, is 15.5.

On account of these fluctuations in the price of corn, farmers with cash corn to sell face the possibility of gaining or losing heavily.