Showtime
/
Partners,
We officially quit planting on June 14. Then the rains came again and covered a lot of our replant work with water again! Now this past weekend we received another 3+ inches of rain. The equipment getting the most use these days are the sump pumps and the job we are getting good at is putting up the “Road Closed” signs. We still have about 400 acres of corn to sidedress with NH3. Over half of the beans are needing sprayed with a second pass--the weeds are growing quite well. The nearby markets have reacted the most to the crop problems which is preventing many crop pricing opportunities for 2020 and beyond. The Illinois river has been closed for over 6 weeks now. This is going to back up old crop delivery into new crop harvest and will definitely cause some long lines at the river terminals. Marketing this crop and the next several years’ will have important implications on future profitability. We attended three marketing meetings this past week.
There is great concern in the livestock industry about adequate supplies of feed for the next year. There are estimates of between 7 and 10 million acres that will be taken for corn Prevent Plant. Hay harvest has been quite delayed and we have lost at least one cutting of hay—nationwide. Areas that were not able to plant at all will have trouble sourcing nearby corn for grain and corn for silage, and feed costs will be substantially higher. We must sustain the livestock industry through this time, or in the future we will have even less demand for our crops. The harvest rules for Prevent Plant acres have been eased as far as haying or grazing. Planting a crop that has a chance to be feed-worthy will be challenging with the continuing rains. There are reports that half of China's hog herd has been wiped out with Asian Swine Flu. And projections that next year’s corn-planted acres could be over 100 million add to concern that we will immediately overproduce and get into a supply glut again.
We will be watching with much anticipation the talks this week between President Trump and the Chinese Premier. We need to find level playing field rules and keep both countries on a path of economic stability.
Show season has begun. Dog obedience was last week and coming up are bucket calf and food items. Alison is learning a lot about doggie vacations for her internship at bringfido.com. And Grandpa is reminiscing and telling stories about the other years that were weather stressors like this one--74, 83, 88 and 93 are the ones that really stand out.
Fall Prices:
Corn 4.43
Soybeans 8.93
Questions and comments welcome!
Steve
