July 24, 2008
Get Prepared, In Case Forward Contracts Are Again Unavailable.
Most farmers were cheering on the bull market this spring until elevators quit accepting forward contracts because they could no long afford the multi-million dollar daily margin calls. Sobriety set in. What does a farmer do when the market climbs, he tries to price part of his crop, and the elevator manager says “Do it yourself at the Board of Trade and pay your own margin calls.”Posted by Stu Ellis at 12:51 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
July 23, 2008
Corn And Soybean Markets: Is There Demand, Where Is Support?
Yesterday was “turnaround Tuesday,” but for the corn market it was a terrible Tuesday as selling continued. Yesterday we tapped into the thought processes of Darrel Good at Illinois and Melvin Brees at Missouri to gain their insight into the grain market as it weakens. Today we’ll find two more marketing specialists to see if they have different perspectives.Posted by Stu Ellis at 12:46 AM | Comments (1) | Permalink
July 22, 2008
Up, Down, Up, Down, Down, Down, Will The Market Turn Around?
The wisdom of Sir Isaac Newton has manifested itself in the grain markets over the past several days. You know, “what goes up must come down;” and falling grain markets make one wonder whether the market is correcting itself or whether a significant top has been put into the market and those days are past. We’ll get the thoughts of some authorities.Posted by Stu Ellis at 12:27 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
July 21, 2008
As Corn Profits Rise, So Do Ethanol Profits, Or Do They?
The July 12th USDA Supply-Demand Report revised the 2008 estimate of corn used for ethanol production downward by 50 million bushels. And University of Illinois Marketing Specialist Darrel Good reported that the market was beginning to cast doubt on whether this year’s projection of 3.95 billion bushels of corn really would be refined into ethanol next year, since high corn prices have trimmed ethanol profit margins. Does that mean the bloom is off ethanol?Posted by Stu Ellis at 12:37 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
July 18, 2008
Extension Update
Extension Update is a weekly summary of news from Extension, government, and other attributable sources, focused on marketing, farm management, and other issues that are of interest to Midwestern farm owners and operators.Posted by Stu Ellis at 12:31 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
