Marketing cattle is challenging this year given the high price of feed at the present time and sharply lower feed prices expected this fall. Cattle producers may be looking for tactics to use to protect the price of newborn calves, to protect yearlings headed to summer grazing, or price cattle to be placed on feed in the coming months. As producers weigh their marketing alternatives, a few tools may help from a seller’s perspective.
Ineffective management of employees on a farm, ranch, or a feedlot can impact an operation's bottom-line and the overall working environment for other employees. Wayne Fahsholtz, CEO and President of Padlock Ranch located north of Sheridan, WY, discussed this topic as one of the presenters at the 20th Anniversary of Cattlemen’s College in Tampa, FL.
Dealing with volatility in agricultural markets and how to access credit availability was one of the topics discussed at the 20th Anniversary of Cattlemen’s College held in conjunction with the 2013 National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Convention and Trade Show, Tampa, Fla., Feb 6 -9th. Bob Campbell, Senior Vice President with Farm Credit Services, Lincoln, Neb., was a member of a panel of financial specialists addressing this topic.
SDSU Extension is excited to announce that a second class of the beefSD program will begin soon; beefSD is an educational program for beginning beef producers designed to give participants an opportunity to expand their knowledge of the cattle industry as a whole, evaluate various production systems, and develop goals and management plans for their beef business.
Dave Specht, President of Advising Generations LLC, Connell, Washington was one of the presenters at the 20th Anniversary of Cattlemen’s College held in conjunction with the 2013 National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Convention and Trade Show, Tampa, Fla., Feb 6 -9.
Most farms and ranches lease a portion of the land they operate. Leasing capital assets is a method of lending or transferring capital while also sharing in some of the risk. Leasing breeding stock may be used to gradually transfer ownership of a herd, reduce labor while staying invested, and as an alternative to lender financing.
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.
The Chief Executive Officer of your operation should be able to answer these questions: Where do you want your business to go? How will you get there? How will you know when you've arrived? The drought has changed some of the “How will you get there?” responses, and a strategic plan needs to be in place for your operation to survive a second year of drought conditions in a sustainable fashion.
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.
The Crop Condition Index (CCI), is calculated to track the condition of a specific crop from week to week during the growing season. It is based on the crop condition ratings reported each week in USDA’s Crop Progress Report. South Dakota’s office of the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) surveys Extension Educators and others each week to determine crop progress and crop condition during the growing season. Information from this weekly survey is released each Monday afternoon.
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.
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.
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.
Reaction to USDA’s quarterly Stocks Report, released last Thursday, was decidedly bearish. As SDSU Extension Commodity Marketing Specialist Lisa Elliot discussed on iGrow last week, corn, soybean, and wheat stocks as of March 1 were well-above trade expectations, sending the corn market limit lower and soybean and wheat futures sharply lower as well.
The USDA grain stocks and prospective planting reports were released on Friday, March 28. Corn, soybeans, and wheat stocks were all above market analyst’s expectations for this quarter. Prospective planted acres for corn and wheat were in line with analysts’ expectations; however, soybean acres were 2% lower than expected. Sunflower acres are expected to be 12% lower than last year’s actual planted acres.
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.
Dealing with volatility in agricultural markets and how to access credit availability was one of the topics discussed at the 20th Anniversary of Cattlemen’s College held in conjunction with the 2013 National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Convention and Trade Show, Tampa, Fla., Feb 6 -9th. Bob Campbell, Senior Vice President with Farm Credit Services, Lincoln, Neb., was a member of a panel of financial specialists addressing this topic.
In challenging times such as drought, managers can’t let their emotions from the stress of the drought interfere with their daily management decisions. They must continue to manage wisely, said Burke Teichert, Orem, UT. Teichert is no stranger to the beef industry. He was employed for many years in a management role with AgReserves (which consisted of Dessert Ranches, Rex Ranch, and several other large ranching enterprises).
Dave Specht, President of Advising Generations LLC, Connell, Washington was one of the presenters at the 20th Anniversary of Cattlemen’s College held in conjunction with the 2013 National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Convention and Trade Show, Tampa, Fla., Feb 6 -9.
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.