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Farm Profitability

Farming Profitability is like taking Vitamins vs Aspirin

December 13, 2012 by Steve

Vitamins are used to ensure adequate nutrients and taken daily will ensure overall health for years to come.  While aspirin is used as an analgesic (painkiller) to relieve minor aches and pains temporarily.

With the New Year just around the corner, resolutions and goal setting traditions are coming fast.  Have you thought about what you want to accomplish in 2013? Have you set a goal to lose weight (the quick fix- aspirin) or to set a goal of overall health (long term – vitamin).

Today is the day to start looking at the things that are going to make a small difference over the years to come; like taking vitamins for overall health.   If you need to take aspirin, it may be solving the short term problem, but you will probably have to keep addressing the same issue.

Any good health plan can apply to your farm operation as well!  As you design and/or reanalyze your operation’s business plan for next year, using the right tools can make all the difference. If you are spending a lot of time being reactive and addressing many issues that came up last year, it’s time to look at things that you can do in 2013 to be proactive and incorporate pieces to your farm that contribute to the overall health, instead of just feeding the “pains” of the operation.

If the goal is to have a “healthy” operation, start giving it vitamins today to reduce having to use aspirin later in the year.

Vitamins can include:

It’s when you don’t have these things in place that you will find yourself needing to take more aspirin; that ends up being a reactive approach and ultimately can hurt your operation. When we have the right things in place from the beginning and maintain them through the year (acting as vitamins), we have less “illnesses” that strike from year to year. For most of us, big goals are overwhelming, so sit down and consider the easy mini-steps that you can take to get to where you want to be.

When we take the vitamin approach, we are able to have a more consistent operation with steady growth; which in turn, makes the long term goals for our operation more attainable. Once we start reaching those small milestones, we get much closer to that ideal big picture we are reaching for.

Sure there will be times that we may need a little aspirin; we just don’t want to rely on it on a regular basis.

Do you have ways to stay your “healthiest, most profitable” throughout the year not mentioned above?  Tell usin the comments below!

Categories: Mindset | Tags: , , , ,

How Did You Make Your 2012 Decisions?

October 26, 2012 by Steve

The last 40 days have been a flurry of reaping the harvest.  Now is the time to review the decisions you made along with finalizing your 2013 cropping plans.

How did your yields respond this season on your ground and your growing environments? Did it match what you anticipated it to be at the beginning of the season? Sometimes we are all quick to react when the reality of the year did not meet our expectations or when final yields exceed our expectations?  The questions you must ask yourself is am I making decisions on concreted evidence for the next growing season that coincide with your 3-5 year yield goals, or are you reacting in the face of emotion? The two must be separated to make beneficial decisions.

We have analyzed the numbers on 200 different combines based on variables such as:

  • Different planting dates
  • Nitrogen
  • Seed selection
  • Residue from previous year
  • Plant population
  • Tillage
  • Fungicide application
  • Soil environment
  • Rain fall amounts

We ride combines each fall to gain the knowledge on how each specific field fared throughout the year and what type of environment was provided in each field to obtain the results that will determine your profitability. As we have received a large array of performances, what we are seeing is that it still comes down to dividing total bushels by acres to come up with realistic yield information. By reviewing the results of specific field APHs you’ll be better able to gauge if the yields are coinciding with where you need to go to increase yield levels across the entire operation.

Because we were faced with so many variables this year we found that it’s highly important to use good concrete yield data, versus 19th century production strategies of using weigh wagons to dictate your success.  The weigh wagon’s inaccuracies were proven in a year with so much variability within each field as well as variability across field locations.

It turns out that 2012 was not as bad as expected as some acres produced average and some above average yields just miles from each other.  The weather events played an obvious role in the variability of the 2012 crop. Based off of timing of the rain, wind, etc. some yields came in below expectations. The key factor to look at was that the challenges didn’t stop with just one event.

With 2012 behind us we need to be proactive for the upcoming year. Instead of looking back at what could have been, look at what we can control next year in the face of adversity. The year started out with the potential of above average yields and had Mother Nature cooperated, yields would have been even better.  Remember, we can’t control Mother Nature; we can only minimize the extent of the variables that she throws at us.

Now is the time to put together your cropping plan for 2013.   We will work with you to lay out a step-by-step plan specifically for your operation.  A solid plan will assist you for 2013 and beyond.  Let us help walk you through the variables you can control!  Contact us today at 320-523-2252.

Categories: General, Mindset | Tags: , , ,

Farming into 2013

September 5, 2012 by Steve

Everyone is familiar with the phrase “Houston, we had a problem.”  With the recent passing of Neil Armstrong, we are reminded of some of the many great successes and challenges we’ve seen in the space program as Americans.

Apollo 13 launched on April 11, 1970 and was intended to be the third craft to land on the moon. The 3 astronauts aboard (Jim Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise) were prepared to do further exploration following the great achievements of Apollo 11 and 12. Unfortunately two days after launching, an oxygen tank failure was caused by an unlikely chain of events and Mission Control Manager Gene Krenz was responsible for coming up with a solution for the astronaut crew to get them home safely. This being the 1st time Mission Control had experienced any real problems; it created a large amount of shock for those behind the scenes. Gene stepped up to the plate and wasn’t about to give up on his team and made it clear that Failure was not an option.

I can’t help but compare this event to what we are seeing across the nation in agriculture today. With things set up so perfectly this spring, and everyone prepared for a successful year in farming, there was a sense of excitement as we planted into the nearly perfect soil conditions. But after an unlikely chain of events, with what seemed to be an impossible 2nd year drought and storms like we’ve never seen before, it changed the outlook of our mission quite quickly.

What amazed me about the Apollo 13 astronauts is how calm they are in the videos that replay this event. They are well trained professionals and are aware that their emotions have to take a back seat to the problem at hand so they can act rationally to make it through this unforeseen adventure. This was certainly a test of the trust in their team and leadership behind the project.

While we look at our own crops and those across the country, I am sure that famous phrase “Houston, we had a problem” can be appropriately used here. The question that comes into play is how prepared were we for protecting ourselves for the unforeseen? With so many aspects of farming being more volatile than ever, are you putting your emotions aside to make rational decisions moving forward? We all know the importance our crops have on the rest of the world, so it is vital that we do everything we can to protect it and continue to make strides forward as failure is not an option when it comes to feeding our nation.

As JFK talked about the missions of the NASA program, he reminded Americans that we chose to go the moon not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard. So often the greatest feats we go through in life are the hardest ones. Undoubtedly this is one the toughest years American farmers have been faced with, but with planning ahead, the right resources behind you and the right attitude success will come.  You are responsible for being the leader in your farming operation and stepping up to complete the mission, even though the expected end result has changed. So what you do next is your decision- do you move forward and learn from what happened throughout this growing season or do you stay focused on the past and continue to farm in fear?

Categories: Farm Profitability | Tags:

How to Stop Worrying about Hitting the Highs and Lows of Farming

August 17, 2012 by Summer

We wanted to share this great story from Colleen, a farming friend originally from near Clarkfield, MN who now lives in the Redwood Falls, MN area.

Growing up on a family farm was a wonderful experience and my Dad made an excellent investment by buying land, and as he would say, “making a living off the land”.  Farming was in his blood as he came from a long line of farmers.

We had a quarter section and it was enough with the size of equipment that he had.  There was no GPS or automation at that time.  Some say the good old days and I have to agree!   However, he was always with the times and understood the changes that made sound sense.  He would store grain and wait for the market to go up.  Us kids were not really informed of the “financials or the marketing” that the old man did.  That was kept for Mom and him to worry about.  When the 80’s hit I don’t think that I realized just what a bad situation we were in; farming at that time.  But, the evolution of time changes it all.  The land that he bought for just over $200 an acre (a lot of money in the 60’s) is now selling for around $6,500 an acre.  Depending on your location, land could be selling for a whole lot more!

Dad would listen to the radio and get the news on corn and soybean prices; that was the old style of grain marketing. Don’t get me wrong, we still listen to the radio, but now we have an organization like Corn Capital Innovation that is the pioneers in the field of providing a total farm business solution.

They boast the phrase “we change farmer’s lives forever” and it is true!  I wonder how things would have been different ‘back in the day’ if we had this resource to turn too?!

So take advantage what we have now and contact Corn Capital Innovation for assistance with Production, Crop Insurance, Marketing and Financial Management.

Grain Marketing is the most difficult job every grower will face.

Working with Corn Capital Innovation’s assistance you will:

  • Achieve goals faster
  • Adjust to market changes
  • Gain a competitive advantage
  • Rest easier

The most successful farmers utilize grain marketing specialist to help them make decisions.

Check what you already have in place:

__I know how to tie grain marketing with crop insurance

__I know how to use storage in my profitability strategies

__I know what financial changes I need to make in my operation each year

__ I know my break-evens

__ I know my working capital percentage and how to increase it

__ I understand market carry and how to apply it

__ I understand and know how to manage profitability and basis

Stop worrying about hitting the highs and lows… Increase profitability more than you ever thought possible!  Do this with the assistance of Corn Capital Innovation.

Contact Us today and we’ll help you put the four components of farm profitability to work!

Categories: Crop Insurance, Farm Profitability, General, Production | Tags: , , , , , ,

Production: Farming, Crop and Bushels Per Acre

May 25, 2012 by Summer

What is Production?  The dictionary says:

1. The act or process of producing.

2. Something produced; product. 3. The total number of products; output,

1 = Farming   2= Crop   3= Bushels per Acre

Farmers are probably the most unique businessmen there are.  They need to understand more than the average corporate business person.  They need to comprehend the science of seed and soil.  They need to be accountants, purchasers, mechanics and welders.  They have to be a weather forecaster, and depending on their farm operation, may also have to be nutritionists and a veterinarian.  With all that said, they still need to “farm”.  A farmer needs to protect and nurture their crop from planting to harvest.

I remember hearing “the farmer only works two months out of the year: May & October” which is absolutely not the case!  It is all that can be done in between those seasons that will help to maximize bushels per acre and revenue per acre.  Starting with the right seed for your soil conditions is only the beginning. As you know, you can’t control Mother Nature.  How you handle what she gives us is the one thing you can control!

The weather will determine how you will nurture your crop.  A great example is feeding a diabetic; they do best when fed small meals all day long.  The same idea applies with farming; nurture your crop by applying multiple applications of fertilizer and routinely apply fungicides in combination with other pesticides.  Farmers who follow this philosophy will reap the benefit of higher yields as the plants will be healthier all season long.

What factors are keeping you from consistently producing maximum bushels?

Check the ones you already have in place:

__A 3 year goal and plan to reach higher yields

__Control over my production and yield strategy

__The right people in place to help me reach my goals

__Completed cropping plans prior to harvest each year

__Confidence in which seed and technologies to purchase

__Expertise in the latest agronomic practices to achieve my goals

__ Proficiency in advanced tillage practices

98% of Corn Capital Innovations growers raise yields to new levels and significantly lower their per unit production costs!  The 2% that don’t do this, do not follow our program.

Other factors to consider include protecting your investment with Crop Insurance, increasing profitability with Grain Marketing and generating revenue using Financial Management.

Contact us to help you increase your production as you nurture your field this growing season!

 

Categories: General, Production | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

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