From the Fields: Planning ahead

We had a nice little rally this week and we ended up taking full advantage of it. We were able to secure $9 cash price at Bunge on some old crop beans we still had in the bin at home. We hauled it all off and cleaned the bin out making room for new crop here in a month or so. We are going to try and sell some more new crop beans before fall and have our fingers crossed that this little bump in the markets will hang around next week and create a selling point for us to unload some. We have an outstanding-looking bean crop coming on.

I know we all would love to see corn go higher to get a price locked in for fall or even into the new year. I think there’s a lot that can happen still before harvest, like the derecho that hit Iowa, Illinois and a few surrounding states. Things like this and drought-like conditions in some areas may have more of an effect on our national average than we think. We won’t know the true loss until the combines are done, but my heart goes out to all the farmers and ag-related businesses affected by the storms last week. I can’t imagine how frustrating, sad and painful the aftermath the storms left behind. Please keep all those people in your prayers and thoughts as we move closer to harvest. We need to pay attention to how these markets react to these conditions and see what it’s telling us about how the futures will look come closer to the end of the 2020 season.

It’s no secret that even though we haven’t ran a single bushel yet, guys still think, or should think, about a game plan on what hybrids and acres they will plant for next year. It’s seems ridiculous to try and plan a whole crop for the next year when we aren’t done with this one. I totally understand why some might think that, and here’s why your mindset should change and maybe think about things earlier this year: we have more trait options than ever and we have a more volatile market place that we need to be prepared for.

We like to always get guys to try and order some early or look at some prices to try and see how that will affect the bottom line for end of year 2020 or beginning 2021 season. Seed companies offer good cash incentives for early orders and even financiers offer good rates or even zero percent to lock in that seed for the next year now. It also allows you to select hybrids and traits you want now so later on you won’t have to worry about it being sold out or unavailable to you. If things change and you want to switch up acres or even hybrids, it’s still easier to use that money you’ve already put down than to go in and hope you can switch to another product you’d prefer over another.

Seed is the most important input we as farmers buy. I always want to encourage people to really look at those hybrids performance not only on your farm, but in other areas to see how it handles stress, weather and even soil type changes. We have hybrids that work for us, but maybe the next county over wouldn’t fit because of such a big swing in soil types. Find out what’s working for you and your neighbors and see how you can come up with a better approach to selecting hybrids instead of just seeing what won this plot or what’s on the cover of a magazine.

Hope, Ind.