Summer means one thing...it’s fair season!
Growing up in Springfield our farm was about a mile west of the State Fairgrounds. From our back porch you could see the grandstand, and of course at night you heard the blare from the grandstand shows, always followed by fireworks. And on the weekend you could hear the roar from the sprint car and stock car races. State Fair week was a big deal.
Mom and dad would take the family to the fair for an evening to enjoy the rides, carnival, livestock barns and the midway shows. During racing weekend dad took my brothers and myself to the races.
Of course there was the fair fare(always wanted to write that). Cozy dogs, foot-long hot dogs, frozen chocolate bananas on a stick, lemonade shakeups, saltwater taffy and anything to could possibly shove in a deep fryer. All the stuff nutritionists swear by!
So fair season is upon us and the Ogle County Fair if rapidly closing in. This year’s edition starts on Wednesday, July 31 and runs through Sunday, Aug. 4. There’s plenty to keep you and your family entertained.
Ticket prices this year make the Ogle County Fair the best value around. Kids under the age of four get in free. One-day entry passes and one-day grandstand passes are $10. A five-day pass is $40 and kids can purchase unlimited carnival rides for discount prices. Advanced tickets can be purchased at Casey’s in Oregon or you can purchase online at https://www.etix.com/ticket/v/33163/ogle-county-fair
Besides all the scheduled shows and such there are daily shows on the grounds including the Flores Circus Thrill Show, KidBucks Game Show, Act the Robot and Chainsaw Artist Carving.
Wednesday kicks-off the fair with the Fair Queen Contest, Antique tractor parade and the Illini Stock and tractor pulls.
Thursday features the tractor pulls and the Sheez-It’s Band.
Friday has a magic show by Brian Holt, Big Hat Rodeo and the Killer Bs Band.
Saturday brings in the livestock auction, kiddie pedal pull, Ogle County Pork Producers Pork Chop Dinner, and the always popular Demolition Derby.
Of course the carnival will be running each and every day of the fair and you can usually find a livestock show going on somewhere.
So, if you are looking for some great family fun plan your day at the fair; it won’t disappoint!
Supply and demand
USDA’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report offers a look at the new crop year’s supply and demand balance sheets.
For the domestic 2024/25 crop supply projections for most crops are based on farmer planting decisions.
For corn the 2024/25 marketing year, USDA projects U.S. corn ending stocks at 2.102 billion bushels, up four percent (80 million bushels) from 2023/24. The current new crop corn projection came in below industry expectations and almost 17% below estimations. With the loosening domestic market, USDA projects the average market price to fall to $4.40/bushel, down 5.4% from 2023/24. Globally, we can expect corn ending stocks to hold steady in 2024/25.
Overall, the corn market in 2024/25 is looking less bearish than it did when farmers were making planting decisions a few months ago. USDA raised both old crop and new crop corn demand by 100 million bushels each. Projections for total use in the 2024/2025 marketing year of 14.8 billion bushels represent a 1.1 billion bushel increase over 2022/2023, bouncing back to near-record levels set in 2021/2022 at 14.9 billion bushels.
While the 2024/25 corn market is looking less bearish, the opposite is true for soybeans. In the upcoming marketing year, U.S. soybean ending stocks are projected at 445 million bushels, higher than both trade expectations and the estimates in February. As compared to the current 2023/2024 marketing year, this represents a whopping 30.8% increase. Due to this large projected increase, USDA projects prices to fall to $11.20 per bushel, a year-over-year decrease of 10.8%.
Globally, there is a similar but more muted situation for soybean ending stocks, with a year-over-year projected increase of 15%, rising up to 128.5 million metric tons (MMT). Brazilian production is projected to increase 15 MMT (9.7%) to 169 MMT in 2024/25, and Brazilian exports are projected to increase three MMT (2.9%) to 105 MMT.
The estimations for soybeans are heavily reliant on continued growth in soybean use, with an estimated 125-million-bushel increase in both crushings and exports, representing increases of 5.4% and 7.4%, respectively. If demand does not hold firm for soybeans, it could turn more bearish very quickly.
These numbers represent USDA’s initial forecast as the growing year progresses expect to see these numbers vary.
“The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.” -John Galbraith
Ron Kern is the manager of the Ogle County Farm Bureau.
