FARM JOURNAL EVENTS

Fall Management Checklist For Any Farmer

Wed, 23 Jul 2025 13:54:16 GMT

As farmers are scouting, spraying fungicides and preparing for harvest, Ag View Solutions consultant Shay Foulk says now is a great time to run through a fall management checklist.

1. It all starts with production.

“As you get into early to late August and then into September, do your final scouting and put together what you think your yields are going to be,” he says.

From the lower yielding to the higher yielding ends of the spectrum, Foulk says it’s foundational to know if you have excess bushels or if you have a downfall of bushels to nail down the moving target of cost of production. With a defined cost of production, Foulk says you can hit the target easier with your marketing.

2. Develop your marketing strategy

The second step is evaluating current fall sales and any over run bushels. Bushels grown above your historic averages open windows for marketing opportunities.

“Some quote cost of production of $4.18 to $4.25, and some of our clients are somewhere around $4.65 to $4.68,” Foulk says. “If you have a yield history of 220 bushels, but this year you have 250 bushels, your cost of production decreases to down around $4.10.”
The additional bushels give the opportunity to market with improved profitability.

“If you got good bushels you might have an opportunity to be marketing at a profit right now. You got to pull the trigger on some of that,” he says.

You can learn more from Foulk at the first-ever Farm Journal Yield Academy

3. Basis levels and harvest timing.

“In middle of July—two things that you have at play that we know historically happen every year, is you have a move in basis, typically as you head into harvest, particularly with a big crop that’s sitting out there. So, with that big move in basis are you capitalizing on that right now,” Foulk says.

4. Assess your storage and logistics.

From a recent poll on X and conversations with farmer clients, Foulk says he estimates about 75% of people are less than 25% sold on 2025 crop.

“There’s a lot of bushels out there that need to move,” he says. “The reality of the situation is if you got bushels, you’ve got to deal with them. If you have excess bushels coming in, you’ve got to deal with them. So make a decision, because no decision is still a decision and you’re probably not going to like outcome.”

He advocates farmers know the real cost of money and acknowledge there is still a cost associated to put and keep the crop in the bin.

“Bins are a harvest tool. Not a marketing tool,” Foulk says. “A farm operation with 500 acres of corn, 500 acres of beans, the cost of holding that at today’s levels on corn is $4,000 a month, if you store your entire crop for five months. And it’s $2,600 a month on soybeans. So if you think you’re going to hold those crops for a year that’s going to cost you $50,000 to $70,000. Do you think that you’re going to capture enough carry?”

5. Think about cash flow needs

He points to the excess priority bushels—which some call gambling bushels—and pairing those with your cash flow.
“There’s some opportunities as we head into the next month, looking at prepay. So as you start thinking about purchasing fuel, purchasing nitrogen, looking ahead to the 2026 crop, there’s considerations there,” he says.

6. Insurance and government payments should be applied to your cost of production thought process

Foulk advises farmers to apply any indemnity payments or program payments back to the cost of production per bushel.

“You might be looking at a crop that is costing you $4.58 a bushel, but you’re getting 30 cents or 40 cents per bushel as a result of crop insurance indemnity payments or any of these other government programs,” he says. “You need to tie that back into your marketing. That’s what the programs are designed for. And sometimes we’re guilty of just saying, hey great there’s a check, let’s use it to prepay,’ but you’re not tying back to your marketing.”

7. Look at the world as it is.

Foulk says it’s important to apply a realistic view on every step of the checklist. And he advises to be on top of how to apply crop insurance.

“The 220-bushel average production history for a farm operation in Iowa or Illinois has a cost of production maybe around $4.51. If you drop that to the 85% insurance level on yield that’s 187 bushels an acre, their cost of production goes up to $5.26. That’s a big stretch, that’s 75 cents that needs to be made up in indemnity payments in order to protect that at 85% level of coverage,” he says. “The opposite end is when you have a farmer that has fantastic yields out there, and they’re looking at, 250 or 253 as their farm production history, your cost of production plummets down to $4.08. Now, you’re profitable at today’s levels.”

Foulks says there are three related and free tools from Ag View Solutions:

crop indemnity calculator
excess bushel calculator
cash flow marketing tool

If you are falling short on bushels, Foulk says there are necessary conversations to have right now. Along with those options, he also gives insights on how to account for forecasted 2026 production costs in this episode of AgriTalk:

The Tax Man Cometh To The Farm

Wed, 19 Feb 2025 15:47:09 GMT

Everyone can benefit from a practical reminder from time-to-time. In this case, Paul Neiffer wants to remind farmers that the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is set to expire at the end of 2025.

“We’ve had these tax cuts for eight years now, but farmers may not be thinking about this and what it could mean for them,” said Neiffer, principal of FarmCPAReport.com and a Top Producer columnist.

Neiffer addressed the topic of what farmers need to know now and address from a tax standpoint during the 2025 Top Producer Summit in Kansas City.

“Certainly, farmers are aware of the lifetime estate tax exemption dropping in half after this year. But I think a lot of these other provisions that would hit them, they’re probably not quite as aware of them,” he said.

Neiffer highlighted three provisions he believes U.S. farmers are likely most interested in seeing extended or made permanent. They include:

1. The 100% Bonus Depreciation. Neiffer said he believes the 100% provision will be made permanent, though it’s currently only 40%.

“We think that will come back to farmers,” he said. “The practical benefit is when they purchase equipment or farm buildings they’ll be able to deduct 100% of that item in the year of purchase. Also, there is a chance that trade-in of farm equipment will be similar to the old rules and non-taxable in most situations.”

2. The increase in the lifetime exemption for estates. If the current law is left unchanged, as of Jan 1, 2026, the present lifetime estate and gift tax exemption will be cut approximately in half. It currently is almost $14 million.

Neiffer is optimistic about the exemption. “I think the likelihood on the estate exemption is very good. I think that’ll stay at least at the current level,” he said.

3. The Section 199A Cap. This provision allows individuals, trusts and estates with pass-through business income to deduct up to 20% of qualified business income (QBI) from taxable ordinary income. Schedule F farmers are also granted the 20% deduction.

While Neiffer said there is some bipartisan support in Congress for extending the Section 199A deduction beyond 2025, he is ambivalent about that happening. “With that 20%, it would be a lot more costly to enact,” he noted.

Practical Next Steps Farmers Can Take
Looking ahead, Neiffer said he believes the likelihood of having a major tax bill before the end of 2025 is slim. At best, the bill would be ready by November or December.

For that reason, Neiffer’s recommendation to farmers is for them to plan on pushing income into 2026 but to have the flexibility to bring that income back into 2025.

“The reason is if the tax cuts don’t get extended that means 2026 tax brackets are going to be a lot higher,” Neiffer explained. “So, we would want to bring income into 2025. Now, farmers have the ability to do that using deferred payment contracts and some other elections that they can make – but only if they plan ahead accordingly. They definitely want to make sure they do that,” he added.

Your next read: It’s Tax Time: Your Guide To Calculate Farm Income

2025 Top Producer Award Finalists and Winners Announced

Fri, 10 Jan 2025 23:43:19 GMT

Farm Journal’s annual Top Producer Summit, agriculture’s premier educational and networking event for forward-thinking farmers and ranchers, is set for F eb. 17-19, 2025, at the Loews Hotel in Kansas City.

“The Top Producer Summit program is geared for the farmers, ranchers and growers that have the attitude and aptitude it takes to build elite farming operations,” says Margy Eckelkamp, brand leader of Top Producer. “The speakers and workshops we have planned are foundational to the Top Producer experience, but attendees always tell us the networking and relationships they build with other like-minded farmers is what keeps them coming back every year.”

Some of the nation’s most outstanding farming operations will be recognized at the event. Finalists for the 2025 Top Producer of the Year Award include:

Marc Arnusch, Marc Arnusch Farms, Keenesburg, Colo.
Mark Hanna, Hanna Farms, Joice, Iowa
Chase Larson, Bestifor Farms, Belleville, Kan.

Two additional producers will be recognized for their leadership of successful farming operations at the event. Kimberly Ratcliff, Caney Creek Ranch, Oakwood, Texas, will be recognized as the 2025 Women in Ag award winner and Dalton Dilldine, Dilldine Farms, Blytheville, Ark., is the 2025 Next Gen Award winner.

Mixing business with fun, the 2025 Top Producer Summit will feature industry-leading speakers on finance, innovative management practices, human resources, technology and succession planning. All attendees will enjoy a night out and live music at the PBR Bar in Kansas City’s vibrant Power and Light District.

Agenda highlights for the event include:

The Future of Farming with technologist and entrepreneur Byron Reese.
Outlook for the ag economy with KC Federal Reserve economist Nate Kauffman and other leading economists
How 2025’s weather forecast will shape the growing season with Eric Snodgrass
Need-to-know farm input pricing trends with Stone X’s Josh Linville and Rabobank’s Sam Taylor
Hot topics panel with Upstream Ag Insights’ Shane Thomas, RealAgriculture’s Shaun Haney, and CHS’ Ken Zuckerberg
Developing creative leaders to overcome challenges with Zach Arend

On Monday, Feb. 17, attendees have the opportunity to attend a pre-conference workshop on “How to Win in Turbulent Times” to sharpen their business management skills; or experience an off-site tour of Kansas City including stops at Arrowhead Stadium for a behind-the scenes look at the home of the Kansas City Chiefs, lunch at locally-owned Gates Bar-B-Q and a tour and tasting at Boulevard Brewing Co.

Top Producer Summit is supported by platinum sponsors BASF and Rabo Agrifinance.

Silver sponsors for the event include AGCO/FENDT, EarthOptics and New Leaf.

Bronze sponsors are CLA, Corteva Agriscience, Golden Harvest, Nutrien, Ostara, Taranis, Total Acre and Tracer Minnerals

The deadline to make reservations at the Loews Hotel at the discounted conference rate is Monday, Jan. 21. To learn more or register for Top Producer Summit, go to tpsummit.com.

Farm Journal Field Days

Wed, 05 Oct 2022 18:44:12 GMT

August 25-27, 2020.

View the Farm Journal Field Days tentative agenda HERE

Register Now for Farm Journal Field Days

The interactive Farm Journal Field Days includes a three-day Virtual Pavilion that runs concurrent with full-day on-farm demonstrations and programming. The on-farm sessions will be hosted Aug. 25 at Blue Diamond Farming Company in Jesup, Iowa, and Aug. 27 at Newcomer Farm in Bryan, Ohio.

Up to one hundred Top Producers will be voluntarily selected to participate in person on each farm with beyond-recommended social distancing rules, but in a highly personal, interactive experience.

The first annual Farm Journal Field Days will encompass equipment, crops, livestock and technology with a focus on bringing buyers and sellers together in different and unique ways. The format will include one-on-one and group settings to observe innovations in practice, as well as interactive educational and sales methods.

The on-farm programs and Virtual Pavilion will be promoted and shared with tens of thousands of farmers across Farm Journal’s massive digital and broadcast footprints centered around AgWeb.com, AgDay TV, U.S. Farm Report TV and AgriTalk Radio; plus websites and other online offerings including Drovers, Pork, Dairy Herd Management and The Packer. Programming will begin Aug. 24, the day before the Farm Journal Field Days, and continue online all year.

Farm Journal Field Days offers exhibitors multiple tiers of customizable selling experiences designed to provide maximum visibility and brand interaction, highly cost-effective lead generation and robust data collection—a formula that portends to be how farm shows thrive from this point going forward.

View the Farm Journal Field Days tentative agenda HERE

For more information about Farm Journal Field Days programming and exhibitor opportunities, contact your Farm Journal national account representative or Stephanie Gable at sgable@farmjournal.com .