How To Become A Grain Trader: What It Is and Career Path

What is a grain trader and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a grain trader. For example, did you know that they make an average of $51.71 an hour? That's $107,547 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 47,700 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreGrain TraderUS Average

Salary

7.8

Avg. Salary $107,547

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.7

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.21%

Asian 9.61%

Black or African American 4.34%

Hispanic or Latino 8.36%

Unknown 4.02%

White 73.46%

Gender

female 39.13%

male 60.87%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

6.7

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.6

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.7

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a grain trader

Explore grain trader education requirements

Most common grain trader degrees

Bachelor's

85.0 %

Master's

15.0 %

Start to develop specific grain trader skills

Skills	Percentages
Commodities	52.20%
Arbitrage	30.02%
Wheat	17.78%

Complete relevant grain trader training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New grain traders learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a grain trader based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real grain trader resumes.

Research grain trader duties and responsibilities

Communicate with brokers to ensure accurate allocations for futures, foreign exchange, and equities between separately manage accounts.
Purchase and sell physical commodities in order to capitalize on arbitrage opportunities between various locations, markets and commodities.
Automate the trade allocation and reconciliation procedures using VBA programming which is leveraged to systematically detect any trade breaks or discrepancies.
Make markets electronically in CME commodity option markets.

Apply for grain trader jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a grain trader job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do grain traders rate their job?

5/5

Based on 1 ratings

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Grain trader reviews

5.0

A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2020

Pros

Been a grain & pulse trader for nearly 50 years and love it. No workdays are ever the same and you have to be a self starter. You get on the phone and give yourself a raise every day.

Cons

You get on the phone and give yourself a raise