Minding Ag's Business

Lessons About Erasing a Lifetime of Equity

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:50:00 GMT

Mike Salisbury, of Lookout Ridge Consulting with offices across the upper Midwest and Plains states, has been an agriculture consultant for over 30 years. But based on the debt workouts he's managing for clients these days, the crisis in the pork and dairy industries dwarfs anything that has gone on in the past, Salisbury told DTN's Elizabeth Williams this week.

Jilted Fertilizer Dealers

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:53:00 GMT

A year ago, farmers and fertilizer dealers were locked in a heated impasse over prices. Some relationships will never be the same. Maybe now's a good time to take stock of the year that shook the input world and how that's impacting the retail chain now.

Insurance Gives Reprieve for Late Harvest

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 23:00:00 GMT

For the first time in memory, even the Risk Management Agency concedes that harvest may not finish in time for its Dec. 10 End of Insurance Period, the normal settlement date for most spring planted crops.

Game of Wait and See on Insurance

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 18:03:00 GMT

Last year, crop revenue insurance passed the acid test for protecting against price declines. This year's question is how well it will compensate for quality losses. It's a first-time consideration for much of the Corn Belt and an issue so widespread that the Risk Management Agency is expected to announce a clarification on quality protocols in the next few days.

Lonely Crop Insurance Agents Await Claims

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:36:00 GMT

With all the news reports of crop quality issues in 2009, you'd think phones would be ringing off the wall at crop insurance agencies. Mississippi might be a special case, but agents I've interviewed in Iowa, Indiana and Alabama the last few days feel more like the old Maytag repairman: lonely.

Crop Insurers on Harvest: Get 'Er Done

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:31:00 GMT

The slowest crop harvest in 30 years has many Corn Belt growers playing high-stakes poker: If they harvest a wet crop now with more than 30 percent moisture, they're socked with drying costs than can run 60 cents per bu.

Judgment Day for Livestock Loans

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:17:00 GMT

Ask a major-league pork producer what's on his mind after several years of losses and the question will likely be, when are banks and the Farm Credit System going to write down their livestock loans? Why haven't lenders helped to prod the necessary cutback in pork production numbers?

What Went Wrong with ACRE?

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:33:00 GMT

Final signup for Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) frustrated land grant economists who spent months trying to explain the farm program's optional risk management program to producers. One complained he couldn't convince his own father to enroll.

Interest Rates on Hold

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:00:00 GMT

Inflation fears have vanished for the time being, meaning farmers can likely look for continued low interest rates for operating funds and even relative bargains in longer-term rates at least through year-end, according to a recent report from Farm Credit Services of Mid-America, the nation's largest Farm Credit Association.

Quality Gaps in Crop Insurance

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:08:00 GMT

Mold and other quality losses are rarely severe enough to trigger crop insurance claims, as I found out when reporting today's news story on how growers will be compensated for their sub-par crops. Kernel damage and low test weights must meet thresholds before insurance adjustments trigger.

Crop Insurance Quandries on Quality Loss

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 21:05:00 GMT

Let's face it: Crop insurance does a better job of protecting yield than it does quality or disease problems. Aflatoxin has caused all kinds of angst in Texas over the years. Now income losses from Diplodia Ear Rot (white mold) on corn in parts of Illinois and Indiana may result in dockage of up to 60 to 80 cents per bushel, DTN Agronomist Dan Davidson reports.

Ag's Cinderella Moment May Be Over

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:20:00 GMT

"The Party's Over," concludes a new Purdue University publication on ag's profitability. The team of economists reporting in their most recent outlook for Indiana agriculture in 2010 say "the long arm of recession has extended to almost all major farm enterprises," with large losses projected to continue into early 2010 for pork and dairy.

What Do We Owe the Kids?

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 18:59:00 GMT

Omaha billionaire Warren Buffett once told Fortune magazine a very rich man "should leave his kids enough to do anything but not enough to do nothing." What a parent owes his children is an education, both in school and at home, Buffett emphasized, not a blank check.

Opinions Differ on Land Value Drop

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:41:00 GMT

The trend for most farm real estate values is down, but expert opinions vary on the degree. By one count, Iowa land values Sept. 1 had plunged about 10 percent compared to a year ago, a survey of several hundred realtors and appraisers by the Iowa chapter of the Realtors Land Institute concluded earlier this week.

Iowa Land Hits Reverse

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 17:24:00 GMT

Being a native Iowan, I get alarmed when my home state's farmland values take a dive, like they have in recent land surveys. After all, those central Iowa soils are the gold standard of the world and a barometer of U.S.