I won’t be long and this year’s harvest will be in the bin. Then comes the difficult part…marketing. There will be plenty of pencil pushing, calling brokers and head scratching twit now and next Spring. So get out your calendar and mark Nov. 20.
The Lee, Carroll, Ogle and Whiteside County Farm Bureaus along with COUNTRY Financial will host a crop marketing outlook on the evening of Nov. 20; at the Days Inn, Rock Falls. “Managing Tight Crop Profit Margins” is a two-hour seminar designed specifically for producers to help them manage risk associated with the current commodity markets and identify market conditions to capture profit margins through this year into next.
Dr. Steve Johnson, Iowa State University Extension farm management specialist, will facilitate the program. Steve has served as the farm & ag business management specialist in Central Iowa for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach since 1999.
He specializes in topics related to government farm programs, crop insurance, crop marketing, grain contracts, farmland leasing and other crop risk management strategies. In the past year, he has conducted more than 120 meetings, workshops, seminars and conferences across the Corn Belt with nearly 15,000 in attendance.
Steve uses web sites such as ISU Ag Decision Maker and Polk County Extension Farm Management along with various print and electronic media. Annually he reaches more than 200,000 producers, landowners and other agribusiness professionals.
During the two-hour program producers will examine the following topics:
Global Supply/Demand & Crop Price Outlook; Utilizing Futures Price & Crop Insurance; Implications for US Elections & Farm Bill; Implementing a ’24-’25 Marketing Plan; Estimating ’24 Crop Profit Margins; and Feature 7 Strategies to Manage Tight Margins.
This presentation will assist producers in designing and implementing a marketing plan that is specific to their own operation. It will present producers with various options they can effectively utilize to capture market profits, manage market risks in this volatile market, minimize cost increases and make informed decisions on input pricing, storage options and position their marketing plan for profit protection. Market, global and recent economic factors will be examined and producers will learn to identify where profit opportunities and pitfalls lie for their farm operations.
Pre-registration is required. To register for the program call 815-732-2231 or email cfb@ogle.comcastbiz.net
Program begins at 7 p.m. on Nov. 20; Days Inn, Rock Falls.
Economic impact
With harvest halfway home I thought it might be of interest to look at the economic impact agriculture has in Ogle County. It’s not difficult to see from these numbers why our county land mass is 75% agriculture.
Indicated in total dollar output and percentage of total economic output:
Total Output: $4,872.4 million
Output from Agriculture: $1,136.1 million (23.3%)
Crops: $377.5 million (7.8%)
Livestock: $476.0 million (9.8%)
Other Agriculture: $282.6 million (5.8%)
Total Jobs: 22,931
Jobs from Agriculture: 3,284 (14.3%)
Crops: 1,046 (4.6%)
Livestock: 1,451 (6.3%)
Other Agriculture: 787 (3.4%)
Total Value-Added: $2,396.1 million
Value Added from Agriculture: $363.4 million (15.2%)
Crops: $137.5 million (5.7%)
Livestock: $110.8 million (4.6%)
Other Agriculture: $115.2 million (4.8%)
Total Household Income: $2,347.2 million
Household Income from Agriculture: $212.0 million (9.0%)
Crops: $92.0 million (3.9%)
Livestock: $74.9 million (3.2%)
Other Agriculture: $45.1 million (1.9%)
“Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can't hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.” -Henri Alain
Ron Kern is the manager of the Ogle County Farm Bureau.
