Seasonals are useful for identifying the major turning points in prices as well as the magnitude of the change in prices. The relationship between existing or expected prices to costs of production should carry more weight than just making marketing decisions at the expected seasonal price extremes. Assemble these in a notebook organized by commodity. Seasonals are regular occurring patterns that are related to the calendar year and are usually closely related to the seasonal nature of crop production and harvesting. Cycles are somewhat regularly occurring patterns that could span minutes or many, many years.
Seasonal patterns are one special type of cycle.
Trends are longer term one directional changes such as a long-term uptrend in prices caused by inflation. This could help setting price time goals. For More Details Ferris, John N. Agricultural Price and Commodity Market Analysis , W. C. B. McGraw -Hill. 1998. Ferris John N. Seasonal Cash Price Patterns for Selling Decisions on Corn Soybeans and Wheat , North Central Region Extension Publication, no.