I don't remember when Brian Duffy published this cartoon in the Des Moines Register, but I think it was 1993.  It was posted on a ISU professor's door during all my years at Iowa State...and that was a really long time...  The great part about ISU, at least at that time, was that it wasn't … Continue reading Does Planting Pace Matter? →

It's going to be a VERY brief post today, folks... I planted corn until just before rain Saturday night, and I'm going to head back out and get back at it this afternoon I was feeling bullish enough late last week that I decided to begin converting some of my sales to minimum price contracts … Continue reading Weekly Data Dump: May 6, 2019 →

"Man who picks bottom gets stinky fingers." -Old Chinese Proverb CORN MARKET UPDATE: WEEKLY CORN MARKETING THOUGHTS: I'm running late this week because I was planting beans late last Friday to beat the rain! While the past week in grain prices was UGLY, it sure feels like the market let loose a whole bunch of … Continue reading Weekly Data Dump: April 29, 2019 →

As part of my weekly grain merchandising routine I prepare a summary of our hedged positions and a very brief overview of the markets, called my "Merchandising Dashboard."  After preparing the Dashboard, I share it with my business partners and other associates during a 15-minute weekly teleconference.  Since I began in late-2016, the weekly ritual … Continue reading Weekly Data Dump: April 19, 2019 →

Sometimes I can't help myself...it's hard for me to solve problems without just going for the most complicated solution...  If you're not into math and computers and such, just trust me when I say that just selling as little as 50 bushels per acre at prices currently available can greatly improve your odds of profit … Continue reading Unnecessarily Complex →

Based on surveys done by folks who care about such things, it is often said that farmers feel that marketing is the absolute worst part of farming.  I'm guessing they didn't ask about budgeting, because I just finished putting mine together for this season after having  procrastinated on a "make new crop budgets" on a … Continue reading My 2019 Crop Budgets →

I'm not going to ask you to name names, but do you know someone who should have sold more grain when the markets were decent last spring?  Yes? Unfortunately, my wife does, too.  By now we've all heard about #Seasonal price patterns, and how prices tend to peak during planting season, but why didn't we … Continue reading It’s Target Season: Don’t Miss the Buck! →

I made the mistake once of showing my wife that there's been an opportunity for me to sell our corn and soybeans at a healthy profit every year since I picked up my farming habit.  Her response should have been predictable..."then why do you make grain marketing so difficult?"...  Hmmm...touché.  I quickly rattled off a … Continue reading TMI →

I have had great intentions to launch a "seasonal averaging contract" program for our grain customers.  Typically, an averaging contract is simply an automated agreement between a grain producer and grain buyer to sell a pre-determined volume of grain at regular intervals over a period of time to try and achieve a price equal to … Continue reading When Average is Above Average →

If you haven't sold your old-crop soybeans yet, do you know what you're waiting for, or are you just waiting?  Do you have a target, or is it just "more"? Cash soybean prices have been trending up since early-harvest lows, which really shouldn't be all that surprising, but at this point I think it's time … Continue reading Great Expectations →