How have you all...

[Palouser]

I'm sort of a fair weather fan I'm afraid. Didn't go to school there but have a lot of friends associated with WSU.

[llakmf]

Two things I have come across, first markets are like magicians , while you cncentrate on one hand then the other hand comes in and takes everything away. The second is to listen and read this stuff, then let it go in one ear and out the other. After that. you can make a decision.

[crophugger]

First of all get yourself a sheet of paper and a calculator write down every expense you can think of seed fert. Living exp. Doesn't matter the exp.has to come of the bottom line. There is no two farms the same. Then you'll have yoirself a breakeven and go from there. I like to keep exp. below ins. guarantees if possible but not likely. Then you can eithrt do cash sales, hta and set basis contracts or build some bins. If you want to play in the shark infested waters of the CBOT be careful and start small they are there to take every penny they can from you. Much more to it than this but a overview. Good luck.

[highyields]

 When I was at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln back in the lat 90's they had a marketing course that you could take off of video in those days, I'm not for sure if they still do that or not, but what I found out is no takes care of your money like you do.  That class taught me the basics and the rest I learned from hard knocks.   

http://agecon.unl.edu/                     this is the link for the ag econ department at UNL,

Heres the link to the undergraduate marketing web page:   http://fabiomattos.weebly.com/  Like I said I'm not for sure if they offer that course online or something anymore or not.   

you can make your own decisions but I feel more comfortable doing what I think is best then doing what someone else tells me to do, 

If you want to play with the options and futures and have never done that then I'd go to a full market advisor that sells those products as well.  Cause you can get caught in the wrong way of a market and you can lose EVERYTHING.   it won't be the first time a farm had to be sold due to margin calls from a board position.    Using futures isn't for the faint of heart.    When you make money you think your at the top of the world,,,,,,when you lose money,,,well hell you lost money.......  You have to have the right mindset for using futures,,options are a little different, options cost more but you don't have the margin calls.   once again it depends on what you feel comfortable doing.   

[sw363535]

rusty,

I think marketing is a very wide and interest area.  But marketing for each of us is "in fact" a very local issue.

Get a firm understanding on the strengths and weaknesses of marketing in your region. 

These underlying facts make it hard for those of us that contribute often to understand each other at times.

Do we have good access to end users?  How many?  How far?

Are we located reasonably close to an export terminal?  Or a distribution terminal?

Do we have a comparably strong basis in relation to others?

Do you understand the seasonal changes of basis in your local area?  Does it differ from the corn belt region(chicago expectation)?

Can you make connections to a local market?  Bypass the local middle man?

Locally, at what points in the season does supply get short or basis strengthen?

Is there a local marketing group of experienced to visit with?  Or better yet a good local marketer with several years of experience to learn from?

You may not be able market direct to the port, but it is beneficial to know what is going on at the port.  When they are building inventory, raising basis, shipping out, etc.  As you negotiate with your local storage facility.

Palouser and rayh. are good contributors to this site from that area----and not everything they say fits all of us, but it all helps to gather the bigger picture of trends and supply/demand ratios.