Harvest has begun!

Partners,

It really began a little over 2 weeks ago with the acre of pumpkins we are raising for the Boy Scouts in Macomb. It is a lot of work to hand pick several hundred and load them onto trailers to get to sales spots! We had lots of good help along the way and there should be plenty of jack-o-lanterns this Halloween. We started on corn two weeks ago today with our non-gmo field as to not risk contamination by regular trained hybrids. And just this past Thursday started beans by harvesting our seed beans we raise for Becks. So far harvest is progressing smoothly with just few minor startup hiccups. Yields of all crops are above average.

The big news in agriculture is the sale of Monsanto to Bayer. This follows the Chem-China acquisition of Syngenta this past summer. As this global economy continues to consolidate we seem to have fewer choices of suppliers as we march forward. Most of our fertilizer options are limited to 3-4 global players. Seed supply has 3-4 trait suppliers. Herbicide options are the same way. Equipment manufacturers are down to 3 major players worldwide. And the choices of markets for us to market to are dwindling all the time. This is the world as we know it!

Family is busy with school back in full swing. Alison is studying hard and playing lots of volleyball. Phyllis is helping out with childcare, office responsibilities, and field work as needed. All things are easier as weather continues to be relatively clear allowing for bit more relaxed harvest situation.

Prices today at Havana(river terminal)

Corn--3.11

SB--9.44

Keep in touch--remember there is an extra seat in the combine!

Steve