Risk management

Being a farmer has never involved more risk than it does today. From pricing to purchasing to marketing to production, the risks abound. Here’s information from professionals you can trust that can help you manage the risks you take on your operation.

May 15, 2012

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The Rule of Ten

The lead-in to this topic came from a farmer who had heard me speak about the Rule of 10 a number of years ago, and had experienced it in his own business. The gentleman is over 50, and has operated the farm for more than 30 years. Let’s explain the rule....More
May 15, 2012

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May 10 USDA Reports Bring Mixed Results

The USDA Crop Production and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WADSE) reports released May 10 were regarded as bearish for the corn market and bullish for the soybean market in the coming months. Corn stocks are expected to double by the end of the 2012-2013 crop marketing year, while the ending soybean stocks are expected to be at the tightest level on record by the end of the 2012-2013 marketing year, which runs from Sept. 1, 2012 to Aug. 31, 2013....More
May 15, 2012

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3 Things to Watch After May USDA Reports: Corn Yield, Soybean Acreage, Corn Feed/Residual Use

USDA reports frequently move markets and last week’s first supply/demand for the 2012 grain and oilseed crops was no exception. The day of the report, July corn closed down 20¢/bu. and cotton down 4¢/lb., while July beans closed 25¢/bu. higher and wheat 1¢ higher. Despite the immediate market reaction to the numbers, some aspects of the reports are debatable. Here are a few numbers Brock analysts expect to change....More
May 15, 2012

Article

U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement Goes Into Effect May 15

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made the following statement about the U.S-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement, or Colombia TPA, which enters into force today."Beginning today, U.S. agricultural exporters receive duty-free access on more than half of the products we currently export to Colombia, and virtually all remaining tariffs will be eliminated within 15 years."...More
May 14, 2012

Article

Corn Market Direction Unfolding; Magnitude Still Uncertain

The USDA’s projections of U.S. and world corn and feed grain supply-and-demand conditions presented in the May World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report set the benchmark by which the corn market will judge unfolding events. According to Darrel Good, a University of Illinois agricultural economist, those events are continually unfolding, with some of the more important ones to be revealed this summer....More
May 11, 2012

Article

Markets Plead for Soybeans; Farmers Have Time to Respond

Much has happened since early March that could sway farmers to take advantage of an increasing market for soybeans and plant more of the crop – a change that could help improve projections of decades-low supplies, says Chris Hurt, a Purdue University Extension agricultural economist....More
May 10, 2012

Article

May 2012 WASDE: 14.8-Billion-Bushel Corn Crop

USDA blew the cobwebs off its calculators and forecast a 14.8-billion-bushel corn crop for 2012, helped by a 5.1-million-acre increase in corn and a record 166-bu. yield average. With increased demand for corn all around, there will still be a 1.9-billion-bushel carryout at the end of the marketing year in August 2013. For the new crop, total use will be up 9% from the old crop, based on higher use for feed and exports, along with sweeteners and starches....More
May 8, 2012

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Student Loan Dilemma

The other day my road warrior travels took me to New England to a pre-wedding party for my son and his fiancée. After meeting everyone (boy, do they talk funny up there), a young man at the party struck up a conversation with me. He currently lives in New York City and graduated from a university three years ago....More
May 2, 2012

Article

Nation's 100 Largest Ag Co-ops Post Near-Record Sales, Margins

The nation's 100 largest agriculture cooperatives reported near-record revenue of $118 billion in 2010, USDA Rural Development Under Secretary Dallas Tonsager has announced. This was an increase of 4% over 2009 figures. Net income for the 100 top agriculture co-ops was also up more than 10% in 2010, reaching $2.39 billion, up from $2.16 billion in 2009....More
May 1, 2012

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Perspectives From Canada

My road warrior travels recently took me north of the border to Canada. It is amazing how many Americans know so little about our biggest ally to the North. I laugh when U.S. weather maps stop at the U.S./Canadian border like Canada does not exist. The 10 Percent Rule applies to Canada as compared to the U.S.: the Canadian population is 10% of the U.S. population; the Canadian economy is 10% of the U.S. economy; and farm and ranch numbers and agriculture are about 10% of U.S. agriculture....More