There are forecasts for a cooler and wetter-than-normal harvest across the U.S., posing a new round of challenges for producers. You’ve brought your crop this far; don’t risk it getting discounted for quality issues. What can you do to prepare your bins for new grain, keep it dry, and preserve its quality through delivery? We…
Keeping track of your business with different grain buyers can be overwhelming today. You have to maintain separate logins, match spreadsheets with sales tickets, and manually total transactions to see if you’re profitable. All tough to do on the fly when you need to make sound decisions fast. This is why ADM is fully embracing…
There’s a reason more farmers are selling portions of their new crop while it’s still in the field—or even before planting. Historical trends in the market make a good case for forward-selling. “Harvest is when the market has ample supplies of grain,” says ADM Grain Originator Cody Dust. “A farmer’s average price selling across the…
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, fall-applied fertilizer and anhydrous, final fall rent payments, and maybe some real estate taxes,” says Menke.…
“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 know you’re willing to sell some bushels at a firm price or a price range that…
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 unique. Combine the methods you’re comfortable with into a customized plan. Manage your risk by starting…
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 to spread risk; it also helps remove some of the emotions around marketing. “A time-stamped marketing…
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 thinking about crop insurance not just as an expense that rarely cashes in, but as an…
Some veterans in the ag industry are calling this spring a “100-year event.” Never in history has there been a year quite like this one. To complicate matters, the U.S.-China trade talks continue to struggle and tariffs have escalated once more, taking a toll on the markets. This rare triple-whammy (trade, markets, and weather) creates…
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 make some farm business decisions or manage the finances, and about 38% are the primary decision-maker.…
