Farm Managers and Marketing

[charliep]

I am working on a project and am looking for your thoughts.

1) What is the biggest marketing challenge facing farm managers?

2) What are farm managers strengths and weaknesses in facing this challenge?

3) What support should goverment and industry provide in assisting farm managers with marketing decisions?

4) Any thoughts on improving communication up and down the value chain from the consumer down to the farm and vice versa? Some of this should be better price/an improved product that meets consumer needs better.

[rodbradshaw]

Charlie
The biggest problem that farm managers have today is differentiating our product from the rest. We can no longer just take and produce some product that meets some minimum standard that was exceptable 100 years ago.

I guess it goes back to the defenders of the CWB arguement that we can't all get on a plane and market to Korea or Japan. We have to be able to interface with potential customers and understand their needs and what they might need in the future. Our biggest weakness is the feedback that we get, there has to be more to it than basis spreads and contract calls.

I don't know what governments role should be in this whole issue as it is a no win situation. The minute you provide a certain level of information it takes the advantage away from those who had the ability to gather it on their own.

We definitely need better information flow in the vaule chain and going back to your question 3, maybe that is where the government initiative should be in working with all parties to realize the value of a value chain.Having done a certain amount of work over the last 15 years to establish a value chain it is not the easiest thing to sell if it is easier to do the same old thing.

[ianben]

Perhaps the biggest problem is deciding what to grow when most products seem over supplied.

Even when an obvious opertunity presents itself every other farmer in the world sees it too and its gone.

Not growing is not an option for an individual as we must try to have the product which is in short supply next year. Without a crystal ball how do you decide?

I don't go with the idea that we do not produce what the market wants we just produce more than the market can afford.

What will the Argentinian crisis do to the markets if they have to pay that dollar debt?

Hunger at home and cheap ag products on the world markets?

How do I as an individual react to a guy who must sell at any price to pay a debt?

I think your big neighbour has a lot to answer for or is it farmers for allowing prices to fall so low?

[TOM4CWB]

Charlie,

The biggest marketing challenge will be production risk... causing grain producers to freeze up.

How do Grain farm managers take advantage of what would normally be considered profitable grain prices, when production is so uncertain because of poor moisture conditions!

I am waiting for Crop Insurance pricing $/t info for 2002, understand there is a problem with wheat prices...

Will farmers take crop insurance?

Will farmers be able to afford pricing using futures options that cost more than twice what they did last year?

This production year will test the risk management and capacity of every farm in western Canada..., how will our family management structures hold out under this stress?

Knowing cost of production will be near impossible to figure out early in the cropping season (because of lack of moisture), until rain or lack thereof in/by mid July nails this down further.

Fear of production failure will drive markets higher, when and how do we manage these opportunities?

[Steve]

Stay as close to your crop rotation as possible and don’t keep chasing the market.

A small mount of the basic crops is always better then the wrong big one.

Think positive, farmers know this is a next year business and don’t delay your seeding because rain makes the crops grow not snow.

Regards Steve.

[TOM4CWB]

Steve,

You are right, faith that it will rain, and good preperation to grow as much as possible in a dry environment should work.

Will grain producers that had little rain and now have higher fertility banked wait and do more top dressing after/if moisture arrives post seeding?

[Steve]

Tom4

I think your right about all the fertilizer was not used up last year in the very dry areas, so farmers should do soil tests in the springtime to confirm this. Also reduce the seeding rates per acre, and the top dressing is a good management idea.