It is a shame

[Mike central IA]

It is a shame that Ishmael and the LG ads have run everybody off. This was, at one time, a happening place. I sure hope they get the ship "righted" before it is too late. I personally enjoyed most of the off topic stuff. In a round a bout way it did have something to do with marketing. There is more to marketing than just dry talk about charts and export/production figures. Points on a chart don't wow me too much, either. Sometimes a few opinions and local reports can provide quite a bit of insight as to what is REALLY going on in the trenches.

[IronBob]

I don't comment much, but I am here nearly every day. The more interaction there is the better. Maybe as harvest gets underway we will have more participation. If it somehow relates to marketing I will read it.

Bob

[OKdon]

I don't think they run people off. They merely want to promote some degree of decorem. I think it's time we stop blaming the government or the FSA. It is what it is and if folks think the government wants low prices then explain what would be their motivations and who would gain from that? If you were an ag department official what would be your motivation to drive prices down? Are big grain companies buying the numbers they want?

Marketing is not easy and mistakes will be made, but blaming your success or failures on the USDA is merely making excuses for you guessing wrong. I'm not without blame here because I have made more than my share of blunders. But i don't blame my errors of the usda, the govermint or Obama.

BTW. my cousin says our corn crop looks far better than any crop with in his memory. He is 85 an has seen many corn crops. Wright county Iowa. I hope he is right

[jec22]

Don, 

So at 85, how good is his memory? 

Iowa will have plenty of great corn.  It will be a while before it can be determined how big of crop Iowa will have.  There are many great areas, but also many fields that died early from disease.  I don't remember disease hitting the 2004 and 2009 record corn crops, but my memory probably isn't as good as your 85 year old cousin's.

Of course, it doesn't matter what it yields, it just matters what USDA says it yields.  LOL.

In my travels of the state in the last month, Central Ia in many locations look to do quite well.  I thought there was more disease north and west, haven't been northeast.  Didn't see the top northern counties, so can't comment on them either. I think Iowa can hit `184 as long as northern Iowa is as good as they say it is. Heck, if the disease and N isn't the factor I think it is, maybe new record. The caution flag is all the fields that ran out of N, which caused early plant death, and disease pressure and management of that disease.  I do remember that for IL to hit a 200 state average last year there were many yields 250+, and I don't remember very many bad yields for them in 2014.  But, becareful, you know, trusting my memory.

Wasn't really impressed with beans north of highway 30, but maybe that is normal for that area and they still yield.

Bean harvest has started, many fields will be ready next week to 10 days.  Still have corn fields not black layered.  But usually by the times beans are out, the corn is ready.  With the warm Sept. it will probably dry quickly.

Side note,  with Firefox and adblock plus, I never see the LG ad.  Can that program be loaded on a smart phone?

[roarintiger1]

There have been quite a few posts during this growing season that have left me scratching my head.  Especially for a site that promotes successful farming.  I really have to question whether there really can be that much negative news in American agriculture.

[nitefarm]

Have been north to Warsaw Indiana from Western Ky., our trucks have hauled wheat almost to Effingham Ill., lots of really bad or prevent plant acres between here and both places.

[Jim Meade / Iowa City]

Those of us who have been around for a long time know that this forum has been slowly crumbling for a long time, way before any issues with ads or moderators.

Mike McGhinnis holds this forum together, along with a couple of excellent foreign posters.  If it wasnt' for his lead and deft touch, I dont' know where we'd be.

Many excellent commentators have left or cut down on posts.  Roy Smith, Ray Jenkins, Palouser, and many more.  Why?  Where did they go?  They did not leave because some ads got in the way or because cussing, personal attacks and off-target posts are being finally acted on.

It may be that one doesn't want to ask a question if one is not sure of the answer.  If it is not the ads and moderator, what is the reason some perceive this forum is having trouble.

[Shaggy98]

Several reasons why I've reduced my frequent visits of several per day down to 1 or 2 per month. Pop up ads People posting material that is pie in the sky (market related but merely one's wish list) Pop up ads Admin moving and in some cases completely deleting a post without an explaination of why Pop up ads Admin not answering forum/site questions as they once did Pop up ads The above is an abreviated list but I'm sure you get the hint. As the old saying goes, "All good things must come to an end", this site has nearly reached that point and sadly the only one's who have the ability to change the direction it is moving (Admin) seem to care very little or at least don't feel the importance to explain their reasoning to the one's who at one time made this forum great (Contributors).

[BA Deere]

There`s alot of reasons the marketing page is "dead" now, farmers are busy, just wait until the doldrums of January, it`ll pick up then.  Also with prices this low, many of us aren`t that thrilled to talk about it.

I think what happens to some posters, they hit a few homeruns and get a big ego, and that comes with a big target on their back.  So, when they are wrong and eventually they will be wrong, those that went for years on the opposite side with salt poured daily in their wounds are ready to lash out when the "guru in his own mind" does finally fall from the pedestal.  Why they don`t come back, well many times that big ego comes along with thin skin, all it takes is one person to say the wrong thing and off they go.  The thing with posting, it`s hard to inflect emotion, if they knew the offender it`d be obvious that he was just kidding.

But say what you will about the infamous "forum", new threads are started every day and alot of activity.  I don`t know what the forum once was, but politics is a hot button issue and as the country became more polarized so too have chatrooms.

The big thing is the way  internet disscussions are changing. Email is obsolete and too is sitting at a PC desk computer. I checked my email yesterday and kid you not, it was July since I last checked it. I text to communicate..I`ll read news on the desktop and end up makes posts at that time because it`s easier.  To post on here with your phone is darn near immpossible, the pop ups cover what you`re writing, so you`re using the key pad and the damned popups cover the rest of the screen, you have to click away from the keyboard to see what you typed.  Then 'auto correct" messes it all up and to fix it, it`s hit and miss because of the pop ups.

Make the format of the site compatable with the Droid and IPhone and watch the increased participation.

[sw363535]

I don't disagree with the anoyance of having to cancel a popup ad. to see the screen.... I find it much easier to skip advertising in the magazine where it stays in its place... But it will stop or at least slow with cheaper grain prices.  They will eventually "lay off" advertising as well.

I think there might be some actual problems in the perception of the "marketing" forum...  especially for myself....  

Jim, 

Successful farming is the name, and Agriculture.com is the internet location.

Marketing is "the action or business of promoting and selling products or services, including market research and advertising."

Yet I find the "marketing" forum spends most of it's time guessing what the futures prices of grains will do today.  And takes a break each month to glorify the usda report, which I have yet to see marketing any grain.  And frankly I was in a combine friday and I guarantee you my yield monitor did not change as the release time came and went.  And my field size did not change.... Although I could use more acres to harvest.. 🙂

Maybe it is just that we don't know what to say in a down market. after all "marketing" is easy when grain prices are $1.50 over expenses.  

We just have a huge disconnect.  I like to reference COP, it helps a producer find comfort selling his product at prices lower than in prior years.  But I often get answered by "the market doesn't care what your cost of production is".  Wrong, the futures price doesn't care but the marketing of my crop cares very much..

The "market doesn't care" stuff comes from non producers who may not be marketing anything, or loose track of the reason we are here.

The number of bushels marketed in 2015 will not be significantly smaller than those marketed in 2014.  You couldn't tell that from the marketing forum.  

And maybe it is just the distance and disconnect between production ag and the public ----

Other than this distinction.  I can't answer the question, Jim.   But I cannot ignore your knowledge of why they did not go and posing of the question of why they did.   The insinuation is what?  

BA,  Very good point.  I lost the ability to post from my iphone ... now i type in a comment and I get a "welcome sw" page and my comment is lost.  I have to start over and try again.  I don't have the time to play the games...