Ag News for America
Farmers visiting the Wyffels exhibit at Commodity Classic told Matt Barnard, Skill development and recruitment manager for Wyffels Hybrids, that they are anxious to get in the field. Weather and seed availability is a concern they voiced. Barnard said at Wyffels, they partner with their farmer customers and try to keep an open line of communication.
Barnard said farmers expressed their appreciation and excitement that a family owned independent seed company is competitive in the seed industry.
Propane equipment is much more efficient today than it was just a few years ago. The Propane Education and Research Council (PERC) exhibited at Commodity Classic to talk to farmers about some new grain dryer technology and irrigation technology powered by propane.
Mark Leitman, Director of Business Development and Marketing for PERC told Brownfield, “We’re doing a lot to develop new technologies with manufacturers that are more efficient and save the farmers money.”
Russ Berndt, Product Manager for Inoculants told farmers stocking by the Becker Underwood exhibit at Commodity Classic to treat their soybeans right by treating them with an advanced biological innoculant like VAULT HP which can give them a better return on investment of genetic value and the fungicide and insecticide value they are putting on their seed.
With over 3 years of testing with VAULT HP, Berndt told Brownfield, they have seen consistently a 3 to 3 1/2 bushel advantage over untreated seed and an advantage of about a bushel advantage over the nearest competitor’s product.
In areas that experienced extreme heat and lack of moisture or excessive moisture, the use of a product like VAULT HP is extremely important to replenish the soil after a year like 2011.
Koch Fertilizer, LLC, and its subsidiaries are collectively one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of fertilizers. The company owns or has interests in fertilizer plants in the United States, Canada, and Trinidad and Tobago. Its distribution network covers global demand through state-of-the-art terminals in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, France and the United Kingdom.
Koch Fertilizer’s expanded product portfolio includes ammonia, urea, UAN, phosphate, potash, and sulfur-based products, in addition to a variety of high-performance fertilizers including AGROTAIN® nitrogen stabilizer, AGROTAIN® PLUS nitrogen stabilizer, SuperU® nitrogen stabilized fertilizer, Nitamin® and Nitamin Nfusion® slow-release fertilizers, blended fertilizers from J&H Bunn, and Koch Advanced Nitrogen™ fertilizer.
A scant year ago, once the corn market hit $4.40 a bushel, farmers could make a profit. This year, steep input costs have jacked up the break-even price to $5.20. “We have a shrinking margin this year,” said Darren Frye, president and CEO of Water Street Solutions, referring specifically to corn. “What farmers are going to have to do is to sell their grain in a shrinking margin time frame, which they haven’t been wanting to do in the last couple of years because they haven’t had to,” Frye told Brownfield Ag News, at his booth at the Commodity Classic. Farmers, added Frye, will have to increase margins through crop insurance or increased production.
Jeff Morgan, Marketing Director with Stoller USA told Brownfield that most farmers today are going further than NPK when it comes to caring for their crops. He said farmers are making a significant investment in seed and are working to manage their crop through its entire lifetime.
Foreign grain buyers can often use some instruction on the ways of buying grain from the United States. Enter Carlos Compabadal with the Kansas State University International Grains Program. He was at the Commodity Classic talking about the consulting work, much of it sponsored by farmer supported checkoff organizations, provided to those who are in the market for what U.S. farmers produce. Compabadal is among the people who teach foreign buyers about grain storage, flour milling, feed manufacturing and grain marketing at the International Grains Program. The more efficiently foreign customers process U.S. grains into flour, Compabadal told Brownfield Ag News, the more additional ingredients they’ll need.
MachineryLink has exibited at Commodity Classic since 2001. Mark Gabrick, Director of Marketing, tells Brownfield this is an important event for the company.
The overall attitude of farmers visiting the MachineryLink exhibit was positive. Gabrick said most of them are looking at ways to do things better and smarter. He said many farmers want to stabilize their operations, so they can withstand the volatility in the business.
Soybean growers can contribute to hunger relief be pledging their income from an acre of soybeans to the World Soy Foundation. Executive Director Nathan Ruby says the Acre Challenge is a way that farmers can help. The foundation supplies desk-top sized soy cows that with water, soybeans and twenty minutes, will produce soy milk. “The Soy Foundation output is humanitarian,” says Ruby. “Our output is reducing malnutrition through the power of soy.”
Bob Metz has seen much of the world and meets many of the customers who buy U.S. soybeans, but he comes to the Commodity Classic to see “really good friends from all over the United States and some international folks that we know.” The South Dakota grower serves on the United Soybean Board’s International Marketing Committee. “We’re shortly going to approach two-thirds of [the soybeans] we raise in the United States” being exported, he tells Brownfield Ag News, referring to the importance of overseas markets to U.S. soybean growers.
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