Marketing – What can we be doing?

Well, the 2012 harvest is either gone or in the bin now.  This is a great time to consider some calculations on appropriate marketing tools to get our remaining grain committed. My main concerns are “What price am I looking for?”, and “When should I be sold out?” If you can answer these two questions you are well on your way to getting the most out of stored grains. I like to develop more-or-less final marketing decisions soon after harvest so we can devote full attention to marketing our next harvest.

Remember, when we look at 20 years of grain price movement in Pennsylvania we see advantage to pre-harvest pricing some portion of expected harvest. Buyers are most at risk during the winter months. They start to get concerned we will not produce enough inputs for their plants. To encourage that adequate acres get planted, prices tend to be at their highest seasonal levels before the next year’s crops are in the ground. I believe we should be using the winter months by looking for any profit opportunities. We can then relax a little knowing we have a portion of our next year’s farm revenue assured.

In an effort to enhance grain producers marketing skills, Penn State Extension is offering several educational opportunities in the coming months. This is a partial schedule:

Winning the Game: Real-Life Marketing Decisions

This post-harvest program simulates real-life grain marketing decisions. Participants get a greater understanding of the seasonality of post-harvest grain prices, explore marketing tools available to capture post-harvest “carry” premiums and evaluate the risk of holding unpriced grain in storage. Participants use a fast-paced market simulation game to practice exit strategies.

December 6, Coudersport

December 13, Kittanning

December 14, Mercer

Monthly Grain Marketing Discussion Group

Small group discussion led by extension educators provide timely information, work to build participants’ confidence and understanding of the complex nature of grain markets and support use and implementation of available price risk management tools.

Lehigh/Berks, 2nd Tuesday, Lehigh County Ag Center, Allentown

Chester/Lancaster, 2nd Wednesday, Dutch Way Restaurant, Christiana

Cumberland, 2nd Thursday, Hoss’s Restaurant, Carlisle

*If you are interested in attending any of these activities, or have questions on marketing, don’t hesitate to contact me by email or phone: John Berry, 610-391 9840. Click here for additional resources.

As a reminder in this final 2012 Field Crop News, we send along the following information sources:

For national, regional and state grain price reporting I regularly check with the federal government’s main farm markets web site as I try to gauge what might happen next.

USDA, Ag Marketing Service: On the left hand side choose “Market News.” This is where weekly updates on the regional grain bids in Pennsylvania in listed.

To generate questions to talk with my crop insurance sale agent I use the USDA, Risk Management Agency web site.

USDA, Risk Management Agency:
It’s sometimes amazing how much I can find there that needs clarification so I can feel comfortable making significant risk management decisions.