This year there have been a lot of game time marketing decisions made. If I said I was proud of that, I’d be lying to you. Usually, harvest “game time” decision making is not a place you want to be. Rather, it tends to mean you’re taking a reactive instead of a proactive approach to…
Category: Cash Grain Marketing
Why you should stop asking “What’s the market going to do?”
Let me take you back to my days of buying corn and soybeans and calling on a customer list of farmers. I’d stop on the first farm of the day and I’d be almost immediately met with the following question, “So where’s this market headed?” Once I’d finish my meeting, I’d leave that farm and…
Are you planning to use commercial storage out of price stubbornness, or are you going to use a more strategic marketing option this harvest?
If you don’t have enough (or, perhaps, any) on farm storage, it may seem like a fairly good idea to pay for commercial storage at your local elevator. You’re simply paying a fee (typically $.03 – $.05 per bushel, per month) to use infrastructure you don’t have, in hopes that price rallies and you capture…
“Spot” Contract vs. “Forward” Contract
What’s the difference between a ‘spot’ contract and a ‘forward’ cash contract? You may have heard these terms before, or, they may be totally unfamiliar to you. In either case, we’re going to make sure that by the end of this post you feel comfortable with both of them! Consider this potential scenario: Throughout the…
Why is Grain Marketing so Emotional? (+ 3 ways to remove some of the emotion)
I’ve been there. You’re listening to the noon market update on the radio and hear corn is up $.10 cents. Your local elevator is paying $3.95. Do you sell?Is it going higher?What if you sell now and the market recovers in a month and you miss out?What if you don’t sell today and the market…
Basis is strong right now–How do you take advantage?
Corn basis in our area is reaching levels we haven’t seen in a long time. What does that mean? Well, we almost always see basis with a negative sign in front of it. To turn the table upside down and have grain buyers posting a positive basis doesn’t happen often. To give you a feel…
3 Things to do…when you don’t know what to do with the Markets
Last week I stood in my house, which needed a SERIOUS deep cleaning in virtually every room, and felt as though I couldn’t move an inch. My friends were coming over the following evening, so there was an urgency behind me needing to start doing something. But instead, there I stood. Excited to host, yet…
How using Offers to Sell Grain is similar to Accessory Shopping…
I’m a bargain shopper, and I’d be willing to bet money that you are too. Why am I so confident? Because you’re a farmer, and farmers live for a bargain and wheel and deal like it’s their job (which, it kind of is). The other day I was on the hunt for a new purse…
When is the BEST time to Sell CORN?
When’s the best time to sell a boat? Answer…right before summer when everyone wants to go boating When’s the best time to sell ski pants?Answer…right before winter when everyone wants to go skiing When’s the best time to sell sweet corn?Answer…right before the rest of the sweet corn producers when everyone is craving their first…
The 4 Pieces of Information you need to Successfully Contract with a Grain Buyer!
Has your farmer ever asked you a question similar to this: I need to get some corn sold, and the price at the elevator is the highest it’s been in the past couple of months–can you call and make a cash sale for 20,000 bushels? What was your reaction? Depending on whether you’ve been asked…