Download Farm News, IA 11-30-07

Farm News, IA
11-30-07
Grain marketing a key topic at Farm News Ag Show
By KELLI BLOOMQUIST, Farm News news editor
FORT DODGE - Farmers attending the sixth annual Farm News Ag Show next
week will have a unique opportunity to improve their grain-marketing skills thanks
in part to two central Iowa experts.
Ed Kordick of the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation and Kelvin Leibold, Iowa State
University farm management field specialist are teaming up to present a
seminar titled “Lanch and land your post-harvest marketing plan: Winning the
game.”
According to Kordick, the workshop will examine six marketing plans and allow
participants to learn about marketing techniques including seasonal price
patterns, carrying charges and the risk of holding unpriced grain in storage.
“The workshop will challenge participants to write a marketing plan and execute it
in a realistic simulation game,” said Kordick.
“Iowa had a good crop and there are a lot of unpriced bushels out there at this
point,” added Leibold. “Producers need help in putting together a marketing plan.
A marketing plan is a proactive strategy to price your grain that considers
financial goals, cash flow needs, price objectives, storage capacity, crop
insurance coverage, anticipated production risk, and one’s own ability to deal
with risk.”
According to Kordick, “Winning the game” workshops are rated very high by past
farmer participants as a valuable way to learn marketing ideas. Participants see
the results of strategies in the same session.
“This practical workshop gives people tools that they can use immediately in their
farming operations,” said Kordick.
The workshop presented by Kordick and Leibold will be presented Dec. 6 from
9:15 a.m. to noon.
Leibold will also give a second presentation from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. on
managing risk in dealing with high rent and volatile markets.
“We will discuss decision tools that are available to look at crop budgeting and
crop rotation comparison such as economics of different nitrogen rates,
machinery economics, the use of flexible cash rent leases, crop marketing web
sites, the economics of grain storage, and tools to help evaluation crop insurance
decisions. Higher crop revenues have resulted in higher production costs. This
program will help producers look at some ways to try to keep more of this
increased revenue at home as they are faced with increased costs of inputs and
rents.”
Two additional workshops will be held on Dec. 7 as Terry Panbecker, Ben Rahe
and Larry Eekhoff, all of NEW Cooperative in Fort Dodge, will discuss the use of
technology and data for economical and efficient applications of seed, fertilizer
and chemicals. The workshop will begin at 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m..
Hoon Ge, fuel consultant and technical contractor for the National Biodiesel
Board, will also give an overview of biodiesel and its fuel properties covering
proper biodiesel blending and handling procedures, troubleshooting and the
benefits of biodiesel in 2007 engines. Ge will speak from 12:30 p.m. until 2 p.m.
on Dec. 7.
The sixth annual Farm News Ag Show will be held at the Career Education
Building on the Iowa Central Community College Fort Dodge campus.
Nearly 70 exhibitors from Iowa and surrounding states will also showcase their
latest technology in grain and livestock products, ag services, seed varieties and
farm toys.
Parking and admission to the Farm News Ag Show is free.
Kelli Bloomquist can be reached at [email protected]