What a difference a couple of weeks make. We’ve gone from corn costing over $6.50/bu to local bids under $5.50/bu. The hog market continues to avoid a traditional fall price decline and crop harvest is in full swing across the … Continue reading
In the past couple of months I’ve had discussions with several producers in the upper Midwest regarding their swine operation. The producers were very traditional in that they owned a fair amount of crop land growing corn and soybeans in … Continue reading
Yesterday I was involved in a ventilation workshop at Adams, MN, located just east of Austin. Crops in the region were hit to a varying degree by the early morning freeze/frost, the impact of which remains to be sorted out … Continue reading
This week’s travels let me see quite a bit of southern Minnesota and Northern and Eastern Iowa. While Waseca, MN had the 4th driest August on record, much of this region has had very timely rains. For many, unless the … Continue reading
When producers sell pigs to slaughter, we all talk about selling to ‘packers’. USDA even has a Packers and Stockyards division to monitor payments, etc. As the food industry has evolved, we need to recognize that we now sell out … Continue reading
In the past 2 weeks we’ve been hearing reports of the battle for the remainder of this year’s corn crop. On July 25 I wrote about the battle for the available supplies using local basis bids versus historic bids to … Continue reading
Yesterday I worked with 2 producers who were negotiating contracts to sell some/all of their swine manure from their grow-finish facilities. In one case a neighbor approached the producer about buying manure from a producer who had some fields receiving … Continue reading
I have an 8 year data series of Iowa/Southern Minnesota barrow and gilt live weight at slaughter as reported by USDA. Live weights in the past two weeks declined 5.7 pounds, the largest 2 week decline in my data set. … Continue reading
Another day in southern Minnesota with a heat index above 100F and dew points in the mid 70’s. The impact of this extended heat on livestock have been many and will shadow us into next year. This past week I … Continue reading
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the difficulties of sourcing corn for diets in late August and September. The problem continues to grow. The Farmers Coop Society in Sioux Center, IA is now bidding +$0.30 for August delivery … Continue reading