How much sorghum will be planted in South Dakota this year? The preseason intentions were estimated to be 230,000 acres, which is 80,000 and 30,000 more acres than 2011 and 2012, respectively.
Late planting period starts this weekend (May 25th) for corn in Northern counties of South Dakota. South Dakota producers routinely purchase crop insurance on corn, soybeans, wheat and sunflowers. The most commonly used insurance products have provisions for prevented planting, late planting, replanting, and planting of a second crop. In addition to agronomic considerations for how well a crop may recover or how late a crop could be planted with a reasonable chance of success, several dates are important from an insurance standpoint.
SDSU Extension publishes the South Dakota Pest & Crop Newsletter each week to provide growers, producers, crop consultants, and others involved in crop production with timely news pertinent to management of pests, diseases, and weeds in South Dakota.
The World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) Report on Friday, May 10th, showed the projections for the 2013-2014 U.S. crops. Few adjustments were made to the 2012-2013 supply and demand estimates.
Are you concerned about the late start of the corn planting season this spring and wondering where we are at in comparison to previous years? This week’s “Corn Concept” is to get each corn plant off to the same start.
As we prepare for the busy spring planting season, something that is often overlooked is farm. The season brings long hours and often includes moving machinery after dark. Here are a few things to check now to assure you are safe in the busy spring.
Spring wheat can be insured in all counties in South Dakota. In 2012 there were 2.2 million acres of wheat insured in South Dakota across classes at a cost of $32 million to growers and landowners. The most common type of insurance was Revenue Protection, which covers against yield and price risk.
The planting season is starting to sneak up on us already, and it is now less than 2 months away for crops like spring wheat. Let me assume that you still have not selected or made 100% of your seed purchases for all your crops, or that your intended acres for each crop may change due to weather conditions. I think most farmers will agree that they want to buy the variety that returns the highest profit per acre.
Ag states throughout the nation, but especially across the Midwest, have been tagged “fly-over states.” Nationwide, people often consider this area someplace to cross as fast as possible, and many of us don’t think we have much in common with the states on the coasts either. Ag states do, however, have a huge impact on the economy and food production worldwide. Now is your chance to voice your opinions and to influence policy design.
Agriculture and its related industries provided a $21.408 billion dollar impact on the economy of South Dakota in 2010. Dr. Gary Taylor describes the impact agriculture production and processing has on the economy of South Dakota in the November 26, 2012 edition of the SDSU Economics Commentator.
Puzzling Placements: Last Friday, USDA released its May Cattle on Feed report. And, like the previous month’s report, placements last month were much higher than a year ago. USDA estimated April placements at 1.75 million head, 15% higher than in April 2012. Interestingly, this was only slightly higher than the average pre-release expectation, but those expectations varied widely.
Cash prices are separated by region and a simple cash average price is then calculated for each specific region. The basis is calculated by subtracting the closing futures price of the nearby futures contract from the average cash price of grain in each of the six regions.
USDA’s May World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, released last Friday, was the first to include forecasts of corn production and use for the upcoming 2013/14 marketing year (beginning September 1, 2013). While the February Outlook Forum and March Prospective Plantings numbers provided the foundation for the projections for next year, this was also the first opportunity USDA had to revise production numbers to reflect this year’s late planting caused by cold and wet conditions. Still, the report didn’t provide the market any bullish surprises and corn prices fell over a dime last Friday as the market traded a more favorable planting weather forecast for next week.
Corn Sellers: Do you remember that sinking feeling you had on March 28 when USDA released its quarterly Grain Stocks Report that showed larger-than-expected stocks and corn futures closed limit lower? Before the reports’ release that day, July CME Group corn futures were trading around $7.15/bu (Figure 1). They closed the day locked limit lower at $6.76/bu. The next week, July futures had worked down to lows around $6.17/bu and, after a brief short covering rally, found new lows at $6.14/bu in the third week of April. So, in about a one week time period, corn price dropped about $1/bu, leaving many with unpriced old crop bushels and few sales made for the 2013 new crop.
Wet, cold and slow planting conditions fueled a move higher in the corn market. Planting progress in the past week was less than anticipated at 5% complete up just 1% for the week and well behind the 5 year average of 31%. Rain and cold forecast for this week could continue the slow pace. The late planting may mean that the tight old crop stocks will have to be stretched out longer before the 2013 crop is ready.
Decline In Northern Plains Placements: As discussed in last week’s Cattle & Corn Comments, March placements were 6% higher than a year ago, surpassing most analysts’ expectations. However, most of the increase in placements was in Texas and Kansas while placements in the Northern Plains fell sharply, particularly in South Dakota. This week, we’ll further investigate this geographic divergence in placements.
March Feedlot Placements Rebound, But Not In South Dakota: The average trend across the United States is for cattle feeders to place about 130,000 more head in feedyards in March than in February. Data from USDA’s April Cattle on Feed report, though, revealed cattle feeders placed 417,000 head more in March than in February this year.
South Dakota hay prices have been at high levels throughout the 2012 marketing year. The March price for alfalfa from NASS, at $230 per ton, has been steady for several months. The March price for other hay reached a record high of $170 per ton. Usually, such high prices result in a shift in production and use. However, other commodity prices and input costs are higher too.
Beef Cow Slaughter Increasing: There were 29.3 million beef cows in the U.S. on January 1, 2013, 2.9% less than a year ago and more than 10% lower than the most recent peak in 2006. In fact, beef cow numbers have declined for fifteen of the last seventeen years, generating significant focus on emerging signs of growth.
Did lower corn prices improve cattle feeding profits? Cash corn prices have dropped a full dollar per bushel since USDA released its Grain Stocks and Prospective Plantings reports on March 28. While unwelcomed news for corn growers, it provided the price relief cattle feeders and other corn buyers needed.
Timely rainfall is more critical than normal this growing season. Only the northeast corner of South Dakota has been removed from the drought designation, though it is still abnormally dry. Only 28% of subsoil moisture in the state is rated adequate to surplus in the latest USDA-NASS crop progress and condition report. Growers abandoning winter wheat and seeding a spring crop may want to consider the answers to these questions: 1) Are some crops thriftier with water and 2) did some crops in 2012 deplete soil moisture more than others?
The family business must balance withdrawals and rate of investment in the business. One method to monitor the balance is to compare the withdrawals to the total sum available for business investment. The total sum available can be measured as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). The family withdrawals should not surpass 25% to 35% of EBITDA , given the family business is profitable.
The past few years have been beneficial to farm incomes. It is during these successful times that it is crucial to stay sharp with management skills. Many farm families are unaware of the negative effects a failure to plan financial necessities sufficiently can have on the family and farm business.
The reasons for disappearance of legal and financial documents are as varied as the type and kind of document. Some reasons documents cannot be located may include misfiling, accidentally throwing them away, theft, or destruction in some type of natural disaster such as a fire, tornado or flood.
Agriculture and its related industries provided a $21.408 billion dollar impact on the economy of South Dakota in 2010. Dr. Gary Taylor describes the impact agriculture production and processing has on the economy of South Dakota in the November 26, 2012 edition of the SDSU Economics Commentator.
For every job on the farm and ranch there are many tools available. This is as true for Estate Planning and Farm Transition as it is for welding the combine head. Knowing what tools are in the estate planning tool box is one thing, but knowing how to use them and maybe when not to use them is also important.
Potential disaster aid from USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) will hinge on the records you keep now. FSA recently announced that good records will be essential if any disaster aid packages are released for livestock producers that faced loses of livestock or had to purchase feed due to natural disaster, including drought and heat.
As the drought continues across SD and the majority of the Corn Belt producers need to start looking at their operations more analytically than they have in the past. Analyze your inventories. Inventories of feed and livestock are very important. If producers know how much feed they have on hand and also the nutrient analysis of that feed, they can begin to determine how to best meet the requirements of the livestock they’re considering feeding this winter.
The South Dakota Center for Farm/Ranch Management recently released the 2011 Annual Report. Operating profit margins for 2011 range from 11.9% to 37.4%, while the rate of return on assets range from 3.2% to 13.6%. These and additional crop/livestock enterprise costs and return measures are available in the 2011 report.
The capital requirements to operate and grow a family farm have increased dramatically over the last decade. An ownership transition of the family business gives rise to the natural conflict of the need to “harvest” the investment (remove cash) and “planting” for growth (reinvestment for long term growth). It is necessary to think about liquidity and capital (TLC). Financing the transition requires “TLC”.