GRAIN RECAPS
It’s never too early
Pool planning starts well before planting
t
By Lindsey Bowers
he farmers are in the field, but our
2014 grain marketing year started
rolling long before planting started.
Commodity futures have recently rebounded
some and are trading at levels that should still
adequately lock in margin.
On January 10, the USDA annual production report was released, showing less
production and carryout stocks than initially
anticipated by the industry. However, this
news did little to sway the market.
Uncertainty with Chinese corn exports
have been a hot topic throughout the beginning of the year. Since November 2013,
Chinese authorities have rejected 30 million
bushels of corn claimed to contain a GMO
variety. This has caused some uncertainty in
the corn market, but not enough to make a
significant change.
Price spikes at the beginning of March
can be attributed to conditions in Russia
and Ukraine. Both countries represent more
than 18 percent of global corn exports, with
Ukraine responsible for the majority of this
percentage. The instability in that part of the
world will be a topic to keep an eye on.
The 2014 marketing pool began hedging
futures in August 2013. We currently have
an average futures price of $4.77, which we
estimate from looking at previous crop years
to be about 50 percent coverage.
Many of our producers also started
their marketing plans last fall and have
locked in futures on a percentage of their
2014 crop. Please feel free to contact the
grain department to discuss marketing
options and to begin or continue your
marketing plan.
Both the 2013 corn and milo marketing
pools have been closed, and final progress
payments have been distributed. The pool
10
Both the 2013 corn and milo marketing
pools have been closed, and final progress
payments have been distributed. The corn
marketing pool netted $5.53/bushel and the
milo marketing pool netted $9.51/cwt.
began marketing this crop in November
2012 and achieved a good average futures
price. The corn marketing pool netted $5.53/
bushel and the milo marketing pool netted
$9.51/cwt.
The grain department has been working to
make improvements and enhancements to
the new software. Last year, we had hoped to
be able to e-mail scale tickets and contracts
out. This will be a reality this year. Everyone
who delivered grain last year should have
received a form with the option to upload
their e-mail to receive both contracts and
scale tickets. If you did not and are interested
in receiving them via e-mail, please contact
the grain department.
We are also working to improve the efficiency of our dispatch program. We will be
personally contacting members who used
this service last year to begin updating and
uploading farm information and maps to the
software. There are numerous other
changes that are occurring that you may not
specifically see, but will generate greater efficiencies throughout the entire process.
We will be sending out planted acres
surveys in late March/early April. With the
added uncertainty in the market conditions
and weather this year, we decided to delay
sending surveys in hopes that when we did
there would be a higher level of confidence
in the acres reported. Surveys are crucial to
the grain department. They allow us to set up
customers and farms ahead of harvest so that
the scales run smoothly, are used to market
both pool and non-pool grain, and allow us
to adequately leverage our storage.
The grain department is ready and willing
to assist with any questions you may have.
Here is hoping for ideal planting and growing
conditions.
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