Farm Profitability

Hit a Homerun Using the 4 Components of Farm Profitability

If you’re a baseball fan….you know that the only way to score is by rounding the bases.  You need to rely on your coaches and work as a team.  Farm profitability is very similar.

4 Components of Farm Profitability

  1. Let’s say you are up to bat at home base….we’ll consider that production.  It all starts here….where you have the most control….focused on preparing the field, planting the right seed at the correct depth and nurturing it through the growing season.
  2. Let’s compare first base to crop insurance….protecting your investment to secure revenue and provide peace of mind.
  3. Now you’re heading for second.  We’ll call that grain marketing.  The most difficult job a grower faces.  Utilize Corn Capital Innovations experts to help you get the competitive advantage in the changing market.
  4. Third base is financial management and analysis, whether to buy a new combine or expand your acreage.  We help you figure out your profit margins, manage labor and set up a business plan.

Hit a Homerun with CCI

Visiting the field - NEPSRounding third and heading for home is putting all 4 components of farm profitability together for your unique needs.  That’s where CCI becomes a truly educational hub of information and a great hand in farming.

Let us be part of your winning team! Contact us at (320) 523-2252.

Future of Farming – Recap of 2015 Water Street EDGE Event

Water Street AttendeesFarming is changing…how do you develop your Edge? Water Street EDGE farm seminar attendees at the Willmar, MN event on February 16th & 17, 2015, learned the skills needed to lead and manage their farm operations in the future. They were engaged in interactive educational sessions, participated in 1-on-1 conversations, and took advantage of networking opportunities.

We value farming as a business and understand how vital education is for future success and advancing technologies. Therefore, we were honored to have the opportunity to co-sponsor the Water Street Edge event with Water Street Solutions. We wanted to ensure that farm businesses and families in south-central Minnesota and surrounding areas had this educational opportunity available to them.

For those of you who were unable to attend, we wanted to share some seminar highlights with you, and what better way to do that than by using technology. Social media is other technology that is fast becoming a part of the future of farming.

Water Street EDGE Tweets

During the event we used the #WaterStreetEDGE to tweet important take-home tidbits from each speaker and session. Here’s some highlights.

Follow us on Twitter @corncapital for more educational information, photos from the field and tweets from the tractor!

Photo Gallery

Here’s a visual tour of the event. We had a great time connecting with all of the farmers, both new and familiar faces! Take a look.

Thank You from Corn Capital Innovations

Most importantly, we want to give a big thank you to all the speakers, panelists, attendees and coordinators of this event! It’s wonderful to be part of a group of agricultural leaders who support ag education and contribute to the future of farming.

Attendees – Do you have any take home tidbits to add to our list? How have you started incorporating what you learned into your farm business?

Water Street EDGE Farm Business Seminar – Willmar, MN on Feb. 16th-17th, 2015

Can you believe that it’s 2015 already! With a new year brings new changes and challenges in farming. The Water Street EDGE Farm Business Seminar provides educational sessions that will teach you the skills needed to successfully manage your farm operation in 2015 and beyond. Take a look at the two-day seminar schedule listed below.

Day One

  • 12:00-1:00 PM – Registration
  • 1:00-2:00 PM – Market Sense for a High-Frequency World
    Arlan Suderman, Senior Market Analyst at Water Street Solutions will build your understanding of the key drivers in today’s markets and help you consider how to approach market volatility – in such a wayFarm Business Seminar that your plan makes sense with the long-term goals of your operation.
  • 2:30-3:30 PM & 4:00-5:00 PM – Rebooting Farm Leadership
    Richard Hadden, CSP will provide current and future farm leaders with real-world applications of key leadership practices – as well as revealing the skills farm leaders will need to lead in a changing world.
  • 5:30-7:30 PM – Reception & Dinner
  • 7:30-8:30 PM- Keynote: It’s a Jungle Out There! Blazing New Trails for Agriculture
    Jolene Brown, CSP will explore the four major influencers that affect decision-making for ourselves and our customers. With lots of laughter, you’ll learn how to build important bridges for a joy-filled journey in today’s agricultural ‘jungle’!

Day Two

  • 8:00-10:00 AM – Straight Talk, Straight Actions: Agriculture in a Changing Economy
    Dr. David Kohl, Professor Emeritus of Ag Economics at Virginia Tech will help you consider what it will take to run your farm business successfully in the shifting ag economy.
  • 10:30-11:30 AM – Farm-Level Financials: Key Foundations for Decision-Making
    Mike Gustafson, Chief Operating Officer at Water Street Solutions will focus on farm financials and how you’re making decisions for your operation. Through a case study approach, this workshop-style session will apply concepts from Dr. Kohl’s economic view at the individual farm level.
  • 11:30-1:00 PM – Table Topics Lunch
    Back by popular demand, we’ll host Table Topics, a chance to sit and discuss topics of your choice in a small group setting.
  • 1:00-2:00 PM – Cultivating Communication: Grow Your Skills, Grow Your Edge
    Darren Frye, President and CEO at Water Street Solutions will share four core skills to use as you communicate each day with family members, non-family employees, vendors, advisors, landlords and lenders.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FULL PROGRAM AGENDA (PDF)

Corn Capital Co-Sponsoring

Corn Capital Innovations is proud to be co-sponsoring this event along with Water Street Solutions at the Best Western Plus in Willmar, MN. We are firm believers in the importance of continuing education to achieve future farm success. We encourage all farmers in our area to attend.

Develop Your EDGE

Develop your EDGE! Attend the Water Street EDGE Farm Business Seminar on February 16th-17th, 2015. Time is running out, register today!

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

 

Are you attending Water Street EDGE? What learning sessions are you most looking forward to?

Bird’s Eye View of Harvest From the CCI Drone

Back in October, I was flying high after purchasing a drone for use at Corn Capital Innovations. Just like a kid on Christmas, I was excited to play with my new toy! But our drone is much more than just something shiny to fly around, it serves two important purposes to our business.

  1. It’s a great tool for use during our agronomy work.
  2. It’s another set of eyes for us to see what is going on in our customer’s fields.

View of Harvest Using the CCI Drone

Watch this video of our drone in action during the 2014 corn harvest.

Benefits of Drone Farming

Interest in using drones in agriculture is growing. Here are some benefits of using a drone for farm operations.

  • Having a bird’s eye view of your fields is the Drone Farmingquickest way to see and interpret if you need to take action in your production strategies.”
  • Using drones for crop surveillance can drastically increase farm crop yields while minimizing the cost of walking the fields or airplane fly-over filming.
  • Checking on your plants’ progress and determining if they need more attention is quicker and easier using a drone.
  • Using a drone effectively can save you time and money.

Potential Drone Uses

The use of drones in agriculture is still in its early stages. Here are some promising future uses for drones on your farm.

  • Crop Scouting
  • Precision Spraying
  • Disease Monitoring
  • Livestock Tracking

Additional Resources

Please take a few minutes to read these additional resourses and further educate yourself about the use of drones for agriculture.

Contact Corn Capital Innovations

Let our experienced team help you determine if you need to take action in your production strategies using cutting edge technology like drones. Please contact us at (320) 523-2252!

Have you considered using a drone in your operation? Do you have any questions we could answer about the use of drones?

Observations From the Combine – 2014 Year In Review

What observations did you make from your combine or tractor this year? Steve and I asked ourselves this very question. After some thought, we wrote this year in review highlighting the factors that we felt had the most influence on the 2014 growing season and the importance of starting a cropping plan for 2015.

Challenging Planting Season

2014 CCI ReviewThe 2014 planting season was challenging to say the least. Farmers had a limited number of days to get this year’s crop planted due to spring rains and cool weather. The majority of corn fields in our area were planted between May 16th to May 19th and from May 22nd to May 26th. Soil conditions during planting season continue to be the number one factor to producing a top crop.

This later than normal planting window left little time for corn plants to establish their roots before the soil was inundated with heavy rain fall in June. In many parts of our growing area this was the highest rainfall amounts farmers have seen since 1993.

After the rains finally stopped, farmers carried through late June and early July with soils so saturated that many weren’t able to get spraying applications completed before the corn was too tall. While the temperature remained moderate, the majority of the corn was pollinated during the last week of July into the first week of August. After pollination, several areas went some time without receiving any additional rain; leaving poorly developed roots unable to establish nutrient movement and feed the plant adequately. Areas that missed the heavy rains in June, or received rains in August, fared much better.

Heavy Rainfall & Stressed Crops

The higher than average amount of rainfall area farmers received in June, caused the crop’s nutrient demands to be out of reach for the plant’s roots. Soil nitrate samples taken in mid-July showed that this year’s crop had little to no nitrogen left in the rooting zone, while the corn plants were still calling for 50% of their nitrogen needs.

Difficult conditions continued when several fields were hit with a widespread frost on Sept 13th. Initially, it was not categorized as a yield affecting frost. Later, it was discovered that this frost may have affected the crop to a much larger degree.

In low lying areas of fields, where corn plants were fighting all year with saturated roots, there was a delayed development of these plants. These already stressed plants were then hit with a frost event that created a double whammy, depriving bushels in areas of the fields that are usually the highest producing areas on the farm.

Yield Results & Staying Positive

What we have witnessed this fall is 1000 variables created by one major element in crop production that being excessive rainfall. As farmers look back at the 2014 Harvest, it is obvious that yields were directly correlated to the production capabilities of each piece of ground and how that piece handled excessive water and stressful conditions. Having a good risk strategy made all the difference in agronomic decisions this growing season.

After a challenging 2014, it is important for farmers to focus on the positives; the successes of their operations this year, and capitalize on those successes in 2015. When you make production decisions in low yield environments, the opposite tends to occur the next year. Don’t be reactive, be proactive!

2015 Planning Starts Now!

Now’s the time to focus on farm planning for 2015. Next year will be different, with lower prices; farmers must focus on increased crop production to lower break evens. When presented production challenges tied to adverse market prices, a written plan and a positive attitude will minimize the emotions of making poor decisions. Contact the Corn Capital Innovation Team; we have the knowledge and resources needed to help you plan to achieve a successful farming operation in 2015.

Do you have any additional thoughts on 2014? Have you started planning for 2015?
« Previous Page
Next Page »