Grain Marketing Guidance Archive

Get Cash While Preserving Upside

August 8, 2019

Many farming operations need cash in the fall and spring. According to ADM Grain Origination Specialist Glenn Menke, the trick is paying bills without surrendering market upside on the grain you deliver. “During harvest, you’ve got high fuel costs,

Get Offers Working

August 8, 2019

“The thing about farming,” says Matthew Kroes, ADM Origination Specialist in Indiana and Illinois, “is that there’s always something else to do—always something to take you away from selling your grain.” That’s where offers come in: letting a grain buyer

Grain Marketing Methods: A Guide from ADM

August 8, 2019

In the past, farmers had fewer choices. Now, there are dozens of grain marketing methods to work toward more profitable prices for your crops. Here, we’ve defined each category and their pros and cons. Every farm and producer is

Why Time-Stamp Your Grain Marketing?

August 8, 2019

When it comes to spreading risk and planning for profit, the calendar is your friend. Timing your grain marketing — that is, selling portions of your crop at intervals throughout the year — is not only a good way

How Crop Insurance Launches Marketing

August 8, 2019

Most years, pre-harvest sales make good sense. But the anxiety of committing grain you don’t have in your bins yet can deter this smart business decision. This is where crop insurance comes in. Mark Lipcaman, Regional Origination Manager, suggests

Double Duty: Marketing Your Old and New Crop

August 7, 2019

It’s mid-way through the growing season, with harvest around the corner. If you still have some bin bushels to clear out, you face marketing decisions on two crops—old and new. That’s a lot of risk to manage at one

How to Partner with Your Lender

July 3, 2019

These are challenging times in the ag sector, especially for farmers who didn’t get in a whole crop this spring. You may need to reapply for financing. Whether it’s getting an operating loan to put in the new crop,

Illinois Waterway Closure Scheduled for Next Year

July 1, 2019

It is anticipated that major maintenance and repairs will be performed at many lock and dams on the Illinois Waterway during 2020, impacting the way ADM and the grain industry does business on the river.

Women on the Rise as Farm Managers

June 12, 2019

Women farm managers are growing in number and rank. According to the most recent U.S. Census of Agriculture, female operators now make up 36% of farmers and work on 56% of all farms. Their role is growing, too. Most

Why the Optimism of Next-Generation Producers?

May 22, 2019

Results from the 2017 U.S. Census of Agriculture have been published, and the picture of farming is changing. There are over 321,000 producers under the age of 35, and that ratio is growing as older generations pass on management

Thinking About Tariffs — Kevin Van Trump

May 13, 2019

by Kevin Van Trump (with permission) May 13, 2019 From my perspective and many others, farmers have certainly taken the brunt of the hit associated with current trade negotiations. Yes, in the end farmers could be the biggest winner,

How to Farm with a Higher Business IQ

April 25, 2019

During the “commodity super-cycle” between 2007 and 2012, it wasn’t unusual for net farm income to top $125,000. But statistics show median farm income around $35,000 in 2017. Some would say we’re in a “winter of agriculture”—meaning a tougher