Management Time

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Partners,

Into the new year! The last few weeks, work-wise, have not been too intense due to holidays and personal time. We have most of our crop inputs ordered for the 2017 crop year: seed, fertilizer, and herbicide. For the most part seed prices and herbicide are steady from last year and fertilizer is down 20-25%. We tried some different herbicide products in 2016 to reduce costs and are looking at more generic products this year. We're also considering ordering some products direct from distributors to cut out middlemen. We have evaluated our equipment situation and are planning very little tweaking to our current lineup. We are replacing a few worn out items—auger and backhoe—but will inspect and repair all other items and put a few more dollars in the repair and maintenance budget. We have come up with a list of some surplus items, mostly livestock stuff, that we are marketing on several sites. We are also planning on raising our bean acreage; due to the increasing prices in the bean market, soy is getting more competitive with corn, especially if we can keep increasing yields. Our labor force is remaining stable although we feel for Marcus being the only employee under 60 on the full-time payroll. 

As for the ag economy, it is interesting that the president elect is waiting to choose a candidate for Secretary of Agriculture till the end of his nomination process. With a new farm bill on the list of legislation in the next two years, the background of the pick will probably play huge into the favored crop legislation process. But with the tighter budget constraints expected, the hope for larger ag subsidies are bleak. We keep in mind that over 60% of the agriculture budget is for the SNAP food assistance program.

On the home front we celebrated a great holiday season. Our whole family was together the day after Christmas. I had a new right knee put in on December 13—recovery going as expected. Marcus and Shanna celebrated a 10 year anniversary with a trip to a warmer climate for a week. The Lord has truly blessed us! 

Hope everyone is having a great 2017—we hope this year is your best ever! 

Steve   

Giving Thanks

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Partners,

We are taking some time this week to pause and give thanks for all the Lord has blessed us with. As we reflect on the past year we truly feel like a blessed people with our family, our community, our business, this nation, and this wonderful creation we are so privileged to live in. We hope you are able to spend time with loved ones and special friends and strengthen and enrich relationships with the people close to you this season. We plan to have all our children and grandchildren in one place on Thanksgiving Day - something we truly cherish - maybe because as we get closer to the finish line we can appreciate the things that will outlive us.

Even now in the midst of tough economic times and the everyday challenges we deal with (like leaking water lines and leaking fuel pumps and adverse weather conditions), I feel so blessed that the second farmers in this country (Native Americans were the first) chose to leave a place of safety and strike out for a place where they could be free to worship the God of their choosing and engage in pursuits that were of their choosing. May we have the courage today to stand up for what we believe and take action to preserve our God-given rights.

Steve