With harvest underway, hopefully your 2018 grain marketing plan is still in place, guiding you on whether to sell or store the extra bushels in this large harvest. Successful businesses continually review their wins and losses so they can move forward with a better plan. We take up the challenge of evaluating your grain marketing…
No matter the year, crop-input cost decisions will play a huge role in determining your profit outcomes. To help you succeed in your plans for next year’s crop, consider our top 5 input-purchase strategies: #1 Pair Grain Sales with Fertilizer Purchases Plan to formulate a crop marketing strategy that pairs grain sales with your costliest…
Welcome to 2017! We hope you’ve had a restful holiday season, and that you’re sticking to your New Year’s resolutions. Did you resolve to be more strategic in your grain marketing? It might be a good one to add to your list. Let’s admit it. Record harvests and supplies have created markets that are less…
It’s a key time of year for your grain marketing. Your bins may be full and you’d prefer to sell before spring fieldwork has you completely occupied. It may also be a good time to contract some 2017 bushels. You’re in full gear-up mode transitioning your farm from one crop year to the next. Wouldn’t…
Grain markets have become terrifically complex over the past 20 years. It’s not just U.S. weather driving prices anymore; it’s a web of fluctuating data points like export demand, ethanol consumption, global crop outlooks, even politics. Add the movement of huge investment funds in and out of most markets, and you get rapid price swings…
Name a crop you can market through ADM that’s been around forever, takes fewer inputs to grow, and makes a nice addition to a crop rotation. The answer is grain sorghum – aka milo. Milo is considered an “ancient grain,” which the Oldways Whole Grains Council defines as being largely unchanged over several hundred years.…
Measurement is the key to performance evaluation, and targeted benchmarks will provide a built-in pathway to knowing whether you’re meeting, exceeding, or falling short of your goals. So, what are the main ways to successfully analyze farm performance? Consider these top-five steps: 1) Establish and track profit per acre and/or breakeven production Among the key…
What’s a common characteristic of winning sports teams? Ed Usset, a professor at the University of Minnesota’s Center For Farm Financial Management frequently asks farmers, ag students, and now listeners of the ADM In the Driver’s Seat podcast.
