- Modest Fuel-Price Increases This Year
A half-percentage point upward revision in economic growth for 2010 means increased crude oil and gasoline demand, reports the Energy Information Administration. (3/10/2010)
- Farm Entity Structure Lessens Tax Burden
Many farmers who structure their operation simply as a sole proprietor may be losing several thousand dollars each year. (3/2/2010)
- Farmers Can Save Money on Crop Insurance Premiums
Rule for Enterprise Units and 20/20 in Crop Insurance Change for 2010 (2/25/2010)
- Financial Homefront Better for Farms
Farm households are in far better shape compared to the general population. (2/25/2010)
- Manage the Tighter Margins
Uncertainty in almost all ag markets is making business decisions tough for many farmers. (2/11/2010)
- Three Qualities of a Good Marketer
Bob Utterback, Farm Journal economist and president of Utterback Marketing, provides the key characteristics of a high-quality marketer. (2/11/2010)
- Farm Assets Outpace Debt
Farm debt levels have been steadily rising since the 1980s, but asset levels have outpaced debt despite a recent fall in land prices, and equity has more than doubled for farm businesses, according to a recent USDA report, “The Debt Finance Landscape for U.S. Farming and Farm Businesses.” (2/11/2010)
- Unprecedented Resurvey Effort
The process of bringing in and sizing the record 2009 corn and soybean crop may not be over for a while yet. (2/11/2010)
- Farmer Should Think Like A Carbon Manager
(1/14/2010)
- Critical Mistakes When Buying Land
At The Executive Program for Agricultural Producers (TEPAP) this week in Austin, Texas, ag economist David Kohl outlines critical mistakes farmers make when buying property.
(1/14/2010)
- Make Proper Tax Planning a New Year’s Resolution
2009 may be almost behind us, but 2010 stretches ahead (12/30/2009)
- Early-Pricing Peace of Mind
Although the revenue products basically act as a put option, that doesn’t mean you should ignore marketing. (12/30/2009)
- Brazilian Infrastructure Will Boost Production
Several factors have recently limited Brazilian soybean expansion. (12/17/2009)
- Management Skills Count Again
You didn’t have to have the best management skills in 2008 to make a reasonable income. (12/17/2009)
- Commodity Price Skeptics
Even as investors pour money into commodities as an inflation hedge, the economists at IHS Global are not convinced the gamble will pay off, at least in the short term (12/17/2009)
- Batten the Hatches
Serious problems that developed in the agricultural credit situation in 2009 could escalate in 2010–2011. (12/17/2009)
- Why Natural Gas Won’t Soar
Petroleum’s price recovery into the $70/barrel area has brought ethanol back and biodiesel production back into the black. (12/11/2009)
- Doha Round Conclusion Near?
After nearly a decade, the Doha round of trade talks for the World Trade Organization (WTO) may finally reach a conclusion. (12/3/2009)
- Will Your Harvest by Done by Dec. 10?
Most spring-planted crops have a Dec. 10 deadline for “End of the Insurance Period” (EOIP) for crop insurance. If you are unable to harvest by then due to extreme wet or snowy conditions, contact your crop insurance company to request an extension. (12/3/2009)
- Tighter Margins = Fewer Acres in 2010
Stewart Ramsey of IHS Global Insight expects tighter margins next year. Although fertilizer prices will be lower than 2009, seed prices continue to rise, he reports. (12/3/2009)
- Fertilizer Helps the Bottom Line in 2010
Lower fertilizer prices could slash per-acre nutrient outlays by a third, says Purdue University Economist Bruce Erickson. (11/19/2009)
- Top Producer Seminar Speakers Announced
With tumultuous times in our nation’s economy, continued market volatility and an ever-changing policy and regulatory landscape, keeping up to date on business trends has never been more important. The power-house line up of speakers for the 2010 Top Producer Seminar will help you meet these challenges head on and improve your ability to compete. (11/18/2009)
- Guidelines on Pay
Many farm operations don’t really treat management and labor as defined expenses—the owner “pays” himself whatever is left over. Here some guidelines to help you calculate where you stand. (11/18/2009)
- The Bottom-Dragging Greenback
A weak dollar affects ag around the world. (11/18/2009)
- Budget Squeeze Continues
Net farm income fell $33.2 billion in 2009 to $9 billion below the previous 10-year average, USDA reports. (11/18/2009)
- Winter Fuels Outlook
You should pay less for heating this year, reports the Energy Information Administration. (11/18/2009)
- Elevators Win, Farmers Lose on Dock
Millions of dollars will disappear out of farmers’ pockets into those of elevators this fall. (11/5/2009)
- Test Your Grain in the Field
Late planting combined with a number of other weather trials this summer resulted in some quality issues such as cob rot, agronomists report. (11/5/2009)
- Don’t Bring Your Grain Here
Over the past three weeks, a growing number of elevators have been forced to turn away high-moisture loads. (11/5/2009)
- Resources to Get You through Harvest
An incredibly slow harvest, excessive moisture, high potential for diseases and other crop quality issues have created many obstacles for your corn’s path from field to bin or elevator. To help overcome these difficulties, here are six of the best harvest information sources. (11/5/2009)
- Contract Feeders: Consider Realities Before Legal Action
The pork industry is going through a massive transition and it’s leaving a lot of integrators questioning their business models and the contracts they have made with their feeders. (10/21/2009)
- Dollar Weakness Supporting Commodities
Weakness in the dollar is likely causing new speculative money to move into commodities, leading to price improvement, says Ann Duignan of JP Morgan. (10/21/2009)
- Rates Pressured Higher Right Now
There’s little prospect for higher interest rates in the next few years, says Vince Malanga of LaSalle Economics. (10/21/2009)
- Media Watch: The Omnivore’s Delusion: Against the Agri-intellectuals
Farming has always been messy and painful, and bloody and dirty. It still is. (10/8/2009)
- Register Now for the Marketing Rally
Registration has officially opened for the event. (10/8/2009)
- Cost of Production to Rise 9% in 2010
In its estimates of operating costs, USDA’s Economic Research Service pegs variable cost of production for both corn and soybeans up 9% next year and cotton, 8%. (10/8/2009)
- Corn Loses its Luster
Corn is like the Tiger Woods of field crops. When Tiger misses a tournament cut, he’s still the story. Meanwhile, soybeans and cotton are in Sunday’s final group and the gallery is missing. (10/8/2009)
- Deferring Crop Insurance Income
Under Treasury Regulation 1.451-6(a)(2), crop producers who typically don’t sell—and claim income—from their crops until the year after production typically can also wait to declare crop insurance indemnity payments. (10/8/2009)
- Challenges Young Farmers are Facing
What are the top concerns of young farmers today? On the Top Producer Young Farmer Network, we asked just this question. Read the top concerns. (10/8/2009)
- Market Guru Still Favors Commodities
On CNBC, Oct. 1, investor Jim Rogers (see “Why Investors are Hot on Commodities,” Top Producer, September 2006) told the world he still sees commodities as the place to invest. (10/8/2009)
- Four Steps to Expansion
Growth opportunities exist if you’re ready (9/24/2009)
- Don't Delay! Win a Trip to Agritechnica
You could win a free trip for two. (9/24/2009)
- Virtual Farming
A friend of mine has found a new way to profit. Her dog is listed as a farm owner so she can farm more ground. No, this is not a new loophole for the farm program. It’s farming in the Internet age, and boy is it easy. (9/24/2009)
- Global Farmland Values Robust
Farmland values will stay robust during the global recession, according to a report by Savills. (9/24/2009)
- Attention Young Farmers: Join a Network Just for You
The Top Producer editors are excited to offer you a new networking tool, http://tpyoungfarmers.ning.com, to connect with fellow young farmers across the country. (9/24/2009)
- Top Producer Seminar: Win in the New Economy
The 2010 Top Producer Seminar will be held Jan. 27-29, 2010 at the Hotel Intercontinental in Chicago, Ill. You don’t want to miss it. Read the highlights. (9/24/2009)
- Choose Your Battles
Farming has always been a gamble. (9/9/2009)
- Land Market: Which Way?
The land market is more fraught with uncertainty than any other time in the past two decades, according to Charles Gilliland, a research economist at Texas A&M. (8/27/2009)
- Interest Rates Will Never Be Lower
Interest has nowhere to go but up. But how high, and how will that impact your operating loans? (8/27/2009)
- On-Farm Leadership Critical to Success
Lack of leadership may be the single biggest void in today’s agricultural operations, says Kevin Spafford, Farm Journal columnist and founder of Legacy by Design, a farm succession planning firm. (8/27/2009)
- Land Use Change Tricky to Measure
A leading agricultural economist says it is nearly impossible to verify the reasons for why farmers around the world change their land use, much less to blame it on biofuels production in the U.S. (8/27/2009)
- Frost Protection
Buy call options now if you want to have protection in case of an early frost, recommends Jim Bower of Bower Trading. (8/27/2009)
- Short-Term Weather Protection
Top Producer has reported exchange-traded “Weather Contracts” when they were first announced. This year’s delayed planting and immature crops give them new attraction. (8/27/2009)
- Don't Ignore ACRE
You can’t be sure whether it will pay you more to go with the new Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) or stick with the traditional farm programs, says Carl Zulauf, Ohio State University Extension economist. (8/13/2009)
- Don’t Miss This Marketing Event
Plan to attend the Marketing Rally, an upcoming historic event! Ag’s top commodity market analysts are coming together for the first time—to present a melting pot of information never available in one spot. (8/13/2009)
- Become the 2010 Top Producer of the Year
The Top Producer of the Year Award recognizes producers who demonstrate excellence in the business of farming, including marketing, farm finance, family and employee relations, technology and environmental stewardship. (8/13/2009)
- One Day With Ken Ferrie
Don''t miss out on the experience 400 other farmers took advantage of earlier this summer. (8/13/2009)
- Silver Lining for Farmers
Basis has improved through much of the Corn Belt, reports Kevin McNew, president of CashGrainBids.com. (8/13/2009)
- Threat to Livestock in Buckeye State
The Human Society of the United States (HSUS) is threatening to support legislation in Ohio that bans the use of modern production practices for livestock and egg producers. (8/13/2009)
- 6 Steps to a Plan
Think through your sales strategy then adjust as needed (8/13/2009)
- Why Investors Are Eyeing Ag
“We are headed for a recession that will last a decade,” declares Peter Schiff, president and chief global strategist of Euro Pacific Capital. (7/23/2009)
- Farmer Confidence Slips
Last September, a Top Producer survey found that readers’ attitudes toward the general farm economy had slipped from 54% positive last spring to 39% in September. (7/23/2009)
- Banking Pendulum Swings Conservative
Farmers are no strangers to cycles—production and prices of everything you produce swing from too much to too little and back, almost yearly. (7/23/2009)
- Keeping Your Farming Employees Pays
Drive down employee turnover rates (7/23/2009)
- Harvest-Time Basis Prospects Look Promising
Basis for grain shipments could be considerably less costly this fall. (7/23/2009)
- Fantasy Grain Trading on GrainClass.com
Program uses real-life modeled games for farmers to practice trading (7/22/2009)
- Hedge Your Operating Loans
Everywhere we turn, we hear of impending inflation and rising interest rates. (7/9/2009)
- Early Entry Deadline for Corn Yield Contest: July 10
If you think your corn yields could be record-breaking this year, be sure to enter the National Corn Growers Association’s National Corn Yield Contest. (7/9/2009)
- East–West Crop Divide
Iowa’s soybean yields may be above trend and the average of the past three years, while those in the Eastern Corn Belt are more likely to fall below. (7/9/2009)
- Farmer Development Opportunity
Farmers have the chance to sharpen their business skills, learn about new technologies and network with other farmers, ag leaders and experts at Purdue University’s annual Top Farmer Crop Workshop. (7/9/2009)
- Will CFTC Change Ag Futures?
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is holding trading limit hearings to determine needed changes in reporting and classification of traders, especially in the energy markets, but agriculture “and other physically delivered commodities” also “deserve thoughtful review. (7/9/2009)
- Credit Tight for Rural America
Take steps to protect your farm during the credit crunch (6/25/2009)
- Climate Change Compromise
A major step for the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 was made yesterday as House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn. and Energy Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif. reached an agreement. (6/25/2009)
- How Many Hogs Will Be Liquidated?
Hog herds predicted to be down (6/25/2009)
- New Panama Canal Project Will Affect Grain Shipments
A new project widening the Panama Canal will allow bigger cargo vessels to pass through it. (6/25/2009)
- Rules of the Road
Global farmland investors share their "must dos" when investing here or abroad (6/25/2009)
- On the Global Ag Bandwagon
Investors convene to share global farmland strategies (6/25/2009)
- House Ag Chairman: EPA Stay Out of Agriculture
The Environmental Protection Agency needs to stay out of farm policy, says House Ag Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.). Without that concession in the final draft of any climate change bill, he will not support it, Peterson said in an exclusive interview with Top Producer on Wednesday morning. (6/11/2009)
- Study Shows Cap-and-Trade Not Favorable for Farmers
Farmers’ incomes could take a big hit if cap-and-trade legislation passes, according to a study released by the Heritage Foundation. The study outlines the impact a cap-and-trade system would have on the agricultural community. (6/11/2009)
- Savings are Hard to Come By
Livestock producers were first hit by high feed costs and now by the weakening U.S. and world economy. (6/11/2009)
- More Than You’d Think
Knowing that the average age of farmers is in the mid-50s, you might be surprised to learn that using USDA’s definition of a beginning farmer/rancher (in business for 10 years or less), they make up about a quarter of operators. (6/11/2009)
- Summer Ride Up?
In at the least the short term, grain prices may be headed higher, believes Craig Haugaard, grain origination manager with South Dakota Wheat Growers. (6/11/2009)
- Farm Income Prospects Deteriorate
The farm income outlook for 2009 has deteriorated significantly because of lower commodity prices and cash receipts, reports John Kruse, an economist at IHS Global Insight. (6/11/2009)
- East-West Crop Disparity
This week, USDA reported corn planting up 20 percentage points--to 82% complete, compared with the 5-year average of 93%. (5/28/2009)
- Ag Credit Demand Stays Strong
Farmers and ranchers are still expanding and investing in their businesses, according to the results of ABA Center for Agricultural & Rural Banking’s annual “Farm Bank Performance” report. (5/28/2009)
- Check Pests from Your Computer
With spring planting in full swing, you might be worried what’s crawling around in your planted fields. Well, don’t stress because with a few clicks you and check your pest threats. (5/28/2009)
- Positive Signs in the Country
A monthly poll covering components of the Rural Mainstreet Index are finally pointing positive. (5/28/2009)
- Recession Hits Cotton Hardest
The recession is a mixed bag for consumer demand for ag commodities, according to economists at Rabobank. (5/28/2009)
- SURE Deadline Approaches
Monday, May 18, is the drop-dead date for SURE (Supplemental Revenue). (5/14/2009)
- Energy Prices Weaker in 2009
Energy prices rose in early May following reports suggesting that the U.S. economy may have reached a turning point in the current recession, at least in some sectors, reports the Energy Information Administration. (5/14/2009)
- County Cash Rent Data Now Available
Want to know how much farmers in your county are paying for cash rent? The answer is only a click away. (5/14/2009)
- EPA Rule Could Wreck Biofuel Competition
The biofuels industry has had a lot to say about the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lately, and not much of it is nice. (5/14/2009)
- Guard Against Troubled Banks
Stories from the Denver Post this month tell of a grim reality for struggling banks, and their customers, across the country. (4/30/2009)
- ACRE Program Clarifications
On March 31, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced registration for farm programs, including the Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE) Program, are extended to Aug. 14. (4/30/2009)
- World Economic Situation Affecting Many Facets of Agriculture
During Informa Economics’ recent Grain and Oilseed Transportation Conference in Memphis, Tenn., the world economic situation was a hot topic. (4/30/2009)
- Media Watch: H1N1 Flu Virus Coverage
Swine Flu is the hot topic of the day, even if it is inappropriately named. (4/30/2009)
- Threat to Ag Trucking
Most commercial truckers are limited to 11 hours of driving time, followed by 10 hours off duty. Agriculture is exempted when driving within 100 miles, allowing shuttling of both inputs and production, under a 2005 law known as SAFETEA-LU. (4/30/2009)
- U.S. Farmers Today
Check out these numbers that describe today''s farmers. (4/15/2009)
- Hedges Back in Favor
Unlike last year, when futures hedges resulted in major deductions from market value for the advisers in our track records, several now have positive values. (4/15/2009)
- Natural Gas (and Fertilizer?) Could Head Up
A technical trading company, VantagePoint, provided the chart shown here. When the blue line (forecast) crossed below the black line (actual), they predicted the market would trend down. (4/15/2009)
- Will Volcano Eruption Affect U.S. Weather?
That’s a question we received from one forward thinking farmer following Alaska’s Mt. Redoubt eruption. (4/15/2009)
- Retire On Grain
In the March 2009 issue of Top Producer, tax consultant Lance Fulton with Kennedy & Coe offered a unique plan for building a retirement fund with grain while also reducing the burden of paying self-employment tax on that grain in the article Pay Less at Tax Time. (4/2/2009)
- Weather Forecast for Spring Planting
With severe flooding in the Red River Valley and Upper Missouri River Valley, farmers are casting a weary eye to the weather for the upcoming 2009 planting season. (4/2/2009)
- Long-Term Grain Demand Looks Strong
Population growth and increasing per capita consumption should push grain demand over the next decade and a half, says Rich Pottorff, Doane Agricultural Services chief economist. (4/2/2009)
- Lower Transportation Costs Support Basis Prices
The low costs you’ve been seeing at the gas station are helping your corn and soybean basis prices. JC Hoyt, director of risk management services for Cash Grain Bids, says lower fuel costs across the U.S. are supporting strong basis gains this year. (4/2/2009)
- Break the Downward Vortex
Usually, the economy is self-stabilizing, Larry Summers, director of the National Economic Council told USDA’s Ag Outlook Forum. (4/2/2009)
- Media Watch: Death on a Factory Farm
Watch segments and learn more HBO’s recent documentary, Death on a Factory Farm, featuring undercover reporting on a hog farm in Ohio. Does it accurately portray livestock operations? (3/19/2009)
- Wet Spring, Normal Summer?
We reported in our February magazine that odds favor wetter than or normal precipitation in April-June. It still looks that way, says Allen Motew of QT Weather. (3/19/2009)
- Financial Stress Will Increase
Agribusiness professionals expect financial stress to increase, according to a recent survey released by the Center for Farm Financial Management at the University of Minnesota. (3/19/2009)
- See What’s New at www.TopProducer-Online.com
Watch and learn about the site’s expanded features as Sara Muri, Top Producer business and crops online editor, navigates through the site. (3/19/2009)
- Optimistic Outlook for Global Agriculture
Global demand is not slowing down, says John Kruse, managing director of agriculture services for IHS Global Insight. He says there will be some slowdown for the next few years, but his firm is optimistic about the future of world agricultural growth. (3/19/2009)
