Whatever the financial reform bill was created to do about reining in Wall Street, it’s not going to change the way you market your production. The recent legislative wrangling was a sideshow. When it comes to farm marketing, it’s up to you—not government— to take control. You can! It requires embracing the many marketing tools you have at your disposal.

Put, calls, out-of-the-money options—and a whole host of other marketing terms—have an important parallel to words like the buttonhook, cover 2 and dime coverage. They’re all tactics employed when strategically planning for success. The one football tactic you never want to use in your marketing is the Hail Mary. Instead, do as one client described: Chip away, chip away, chip away.

Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Among his many other talents, he was also a farmer. I thought it fitting as we come up on this Independence Day weekend to recognize independent farmers in America today, as Jefferson so vigorously did more than 200 years ago.

Guest blogger Jacquie Voeks, a Stewart-Peterson senior market advisor, answers the age-old question “Why is it so hard to sell my crop?” with the insight only a woman can provide.

People will write that there are lots of lessons to be learned from British Petroleum’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. One lesson BP should have learned and applied a long time ago? Scenario planning. Scenario planning was implemented by an oil company 40 years ago, saving it from the financially devastating effects of the 1973 OPEC oil embargo. Scenario planning can save producers from the financially painful whims of market moves.

In a bull market, when you make a sale, do you later second-guess it? Enthusiasm, greed, indifference and contempt—to name a few—are emotions that lead to poor decision-making and Monday Morning Quarterbacking. Think big picture when making sales in a rising market. Judge decisions under the light of time, and remember that your goal should be to achieve the highest possible average price over the long haul.

If you’ve ever tried to change a person’s mind about something, you know it’s not easy, especially if that person’s beliefs are strong. The better approach is to offer a good reason to experience your point of view. As they say, doing is believing. When it comes to almost any product or service, including marketing, you have to try something different before you can believe something different.

Is $7 corn unthinkable? What about at $2? Certain market scenarios make both prices a possibility. One factor that could influence price is the high level of index fund open interest in corn futures that we’re seeing right now. The index funds are currently net long the same number of futures contracts as when corn was at $8. This gives us the potential for serious market volatility. What steps have you taken to position yourself? Are you prepared for whatever scenario unfolds?

Looking at the big picture, making decisions in advance, preparing for any number of variables . . . this describes the effort that goes into planning field operations. Why not take the same approach with your marketing? You’ll be more satisfied.

A poster last month wrote that disruption in Iraq’s oil supply years ago cost everyone a lot of money. I agree with his assessment and have some suggestions on how to deal with that sort of thing. Producers have to be prepared for the opportunities the market gives them.

In response to my blog on Feb 5, in which I wondered about the anger of Linda Smith’s “prices, brokers and lies,” one poster said producers are “held hostage” by farm programs and suggested producers might blame themselves for the overproduction that hurts their profits. I would encourage producers to re-focus their energies.

What gets producers angry? No need to answer that question, as it’s been made clear that the USDA report on corn yields is one thing that does. For some, the numbers are wildly inaccurate. Perhaps one remedy is for producers to put energies elsewhere.

Many readers responded last week to what I said about comments to Linda Smith’s “prices, brokers and lies.” Good points were raised, and I appreciate the opportunity to address them. One reader wrote that large-acreage farmers are pushing smaller operations out and seemed to suggest that marketing has a hand in it. Today’s blog is my reaction to that. Next, I’ll address those anger-inspiring USDA reports, the thought that oil costs producers money, and the notion that there’s simply too much production.