Blog Contributors

in Let's Get Digital Apr. 26, 2013

Calculate Soybean Seeding Rates, Input Breakeven with Mobile App

With soybean planting just around the corner for farmers, now is a great time to download and delve into the Extreme Beans app. The app not only offers great information from a study from multiple universities about soybean management practices, it has two calculators to help you determine what's best for your farm....More

Richard Brock

Richard Brock, Corn & Soybean Digest's marketing editor, is president of Brock Associates, a farm market advisory firm, and publisher of The Brock Report.

Farmers’ Share of Losses

With the farm bill in what could be the final stages before vote, there’s still some talk of cutting crop insurance subsidies. This led Tom Zacharias, president of National Crop Insurance Services to point out that before farmers received a dime in crop insurance indemnity payments, they had shouldered $12.7 billion in losses as part of....More

Kristopher Hauswirth

Kristopher is a Sr. Credit Analyst with Great Western Bank, who specializes in Agriculture and Commercial Lending.  Prior to working in banking, he was a tax preparer with McGladrey specializing in tax compliance and planning for the agriculture, construction, and financial institution...

Tax Tips for Farmers: The Case for NOT Prepaying Expenses

It’s standard practice for farmers, who are cash basis taxpayers, to accelerate expenses at year-end. Paying fertilizer, seed and chemical bills prior to Dec. 31 can create a paper loss and reduce your current year taxable income to near zero or below. The sister practice is to defer income into the following year by holding a portion....More

David Kohl

Dave Kohl, Corn & Soybean Digest trends editor, is an ag economist specializing in business management and ag finance. He recently retired from Virginia Tech, but continues to conduct applied research and travel extensively in the U.S. and Canada, teaching ag and banking seminars...

in Road Warrior May. 21, 2013

Perspectives on U.S. Farm Debt

There is considerable discussion among agricultural economists and lenders concerning the status and trends of U.S. farm debt. Let’s dig deeper into the subject and provide perspective....More

Greg Lamp

Greg grew up on a diversified crop and cattle operation in South Dakota, and has 22 years of experience covering the farming and livestock business. A graduate of South Dakota State University, he served as managing editor of BEEF magazine for five years, previously working for Farm Journal,...

in CSD Blogs and Opinions Oct. 4, 2010

Sugar Is Sugar

  High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is center stage and getting a bad rap – again. How much longer can the confusion continue? Why can’t consumers get it? Sugar is sugar. The American Medical Association says: “Because the composition of HFCS and sucrose are so similar, particularly on absorption by the body,....More

Kent Thiesse

Kent Thiesse is a former University of Minnesota Extension educator and now is Vice President of MinnStar Bank, Lake Crystal, MN. You can contact him at 507-726-2137 or via e-mail at kent.thiesse@minnstarbank.com.

in Focus on Ag May. 21, 2013

Corn Planting Progress Mixed

If you ask someone, “How much corn is planted, or how much spring fieldwork has occurred in your area?” the response is likely to be quite different. A major snowfall event in early May, followed by frequent rainfall events throughout most of May, in the eastern half of southern Minnesota, as well as areas of northern Iowa, has caused....More

Kevin Van Trump

Kevin is a leading expert in Agricultural marketing and analysis, he also produces an award-winning and world-recognized daily industry Ag wire called "The Van Trump Report." With over 20 years of experience trading professionally at the CME, CBOT and KCBOT, Kevin is able to '...

May. 20, 2013

Soybeans Are Down But Not Out Yet!

South American supplies will NOT be able to help overall shortages in both U.S. corn and soybeans....More
in Bottom Line May. 16, 2013

How Do You Define Success?

Some define success as the long-term succession of your kids at the farm. Albert Schweitzer defined success as loving what you do. How you treat others, from family to strangers, is Barbara Bush's definition of success....More

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