Who Is Responsible For Your Marketing?

[Jim Meade / Iowa City]

I have a simple question.  Who is the party or parties responsible for making your marketing decisions?  That is, who says "sell"?  You may choose as many as you like and are encouraged to add more.  I'm trying to get a feel for the complexity of the marketing situation on the farm.

Banker

Spouse

Broker

CO-OP

Grain Elevator

Marketing Club

Market Analyst

Grain Buyer

Other?

[unlgrad]

Banker puts pressure, but it is still myself

[BA Deere]

Me, myself and I   🙂

[hardnox]

Me and me alone.

I'm adamant in my belief that trading/marketing is not a team sport. A corrollary to that is what I always say about taking multiple advisories- save your money because all you're going to do is choose the one that happens to agree with what your gut/fear/greed is telling you to do.

And as a friend used to say, when I get to the point where my banker is telling me where to sell then I need to have a sale. Now if the long term result has been unsatisfactory to the bank's interests, that's a different story.

An awful lot of "good" farmers hate marketing and I don't blame anyone for deciding to farm it out. But the same applies- if you just bounce around from advisor to advisor you're probably just as likely to be double wrong. They all have better and worse years, regardless what they claim.

[sw363535]

Oh so we dream...........

I'll join the chorus.... I do .................................but at this stage it is the cash flow.  When bills need paid...a little gets sold...orrr a lot.....

[sw363535]

Truth is Jim. I don't want anybody else to take the blame for such a difficult choice.

[elcheapo]

Nobody

[Jim Meade / Iowa City]

It looks like we are in general a group who accepts and perhaps even embraces marketing responsiblity.  I do mine, also.  Of course, like all of us, I look for input from various sources, even including this forum, but when it comes to planning sales and pullting the trigger I talk to no one- not banker, not wife.  I will talk wtih the broker on tactics for a futures trade, such as the exact price or timing because I don't follow the market as closely as he does but I decide what and when.  I don't talk to anyone on cash sales.