View from the Cab: Plenty of opportunity

By: Kent Casson

Producers should be looking at selling grain if they haven’t already.

This is the belief of a couple of guests I interviewed recently for my radio programming on the Central Illinois Farm Network. Steve Feeney of Prairie Central Cooperative and Brian Basting of Advance Trading recommend having a marketing strategy in place to capture the higher prices.

“If you are making money and these are your worst sales, how bad can it be?” asked Feeney.

Farmers have a tremendous opportunity here in 2021 to defend their balance sheet with good margins. Seed and fertilizer products were purchased last fall at much lower prices and crop prices continued to rise after that.

“You really have to be diligent about your marketing and be disciplined,” said Basting.

It can be tough, but Basting hopes everyone avoids the emotional highs and lows that come with marketing. He feels options are really something to look at as they allow plenty of flexibility.

“The key advantage is the flexibility they provide,” Basting noted.

If you don’t have an options account with a broker, you can do a minimum price contract with the grain elevator where cash grain is sold and a call is bought to back it up.

“That way, you have confidence that if the market does run up, you are still able to capture some of that market movement,” advises Feeney.

Thanks to both Feeney and Basting for visiting with me outside on the front porch recently during our Casson Media “Longest Friday” celebration on the farm. That wasn’t the only work I did outside that day, as I took my early morning show to the porch along with the Friday Afternoon Oldies Get-Together program on WGCY. Rain and broadcast equipment don’t often go well together, but luckily the heavy showers held off and our guests enjoyed a day of fun, games, food, live music and information.

Hard to believe the Fourth of July is coming right up this weekend. Where does the time go? It will be nice to have most of the area parades and celebrations back this year after the COVID shutdown of 2020. Our family will likely make the traditional trips to Chenoa, Towanda and Sibley for the various festivities.