Market Advisory Fees

[farmaholic]

How in God's name could anyone pay for marketing advice from a grain co? Could you find a grain co marketing rep that isn't biased to the company who pays their salary? I could see someone paying for advice from an unaffiliated unbiased marketing service only with no skin in the game selling you inputs or buying your grain......to each their own!

[SASKFARMER3]

I forgot my favourite one Grain Shark he recommends sales and where you should be 60% old crop canola zero new is example.

Sticks his neck out and is close.

[wakopa]

There are some pretty good elevator agents , they aren't all crooks .

[farmaholic]

So there are some?

[JDGreen]

Seven Deadly Sins of Grain Marketing

Lust: Wanting the highs. Every crop year needs to be approached independently of what happened the previous year. Marketing plans should reflect that.

Gluttony: Wanting more than needed for your target ROI. WHAT IS YOUR TARGET ROI??. Once you hit your projected or actual ROI you should be selling to reduce risk and lock in profit.

Greed: Wanting the best price, not looking at profitability. Greed is the biggest problem in farm marketing plans. Wanting a little bit more often ends up costing the most.

Sloth: Being a lazy marketer. In the long run a proactive, disciplined marketing plan will always pay off compared to not having a plan and being reactive.

Wrath: Being angry about your marketing decisions. Once you make a marketing decision, carry on and focus what you have left to sell. Don't berate yourself if prices go higher.

Envy: Coveting what you hear from your neighbors. Don't make your measure of success what your neighbors tell you they've done. Every farm is different; no two situations are the same.

Pride: Thinking you have to do everything yourself. Run your farm like a business because it is. Outsource things you can't or don't like doing and focus on what you are good at.

[Jay-mo]

Wild Oats newsletter is a good resource. They email a weekly analysis and commentary, along with selling recommendations. Been subscribing for a few years now, very solid info.

[Partners]

So you guys paying fees for info..are you hitting the market highs all the time?
We sell when dollars are required..usually a few months ahead..Guys wanting 12 dollar canola are still waiting here..
Most market changes have nothing to do with supply..demand..

[malleefarmer]

I wonder about you guys at times or things are different there, ive got a great relationship with Cargill and LD buyers here.

There basically not allowed to let farmers know when there in and out of the market.

I get cryptic message from from a lovely lady at cargills sometimes in the afternoon "I will be in for a short while in morning but will be out in the afternoon if you want contact me"

That actually a marketing message.......

Used it once this year for malt barley got absolute top of the dec market in SA and they pulled there bid within 15 minutes of me commiting 1500 tonne. Shipping short and couldn't fill with stock swaps from other companies. Was up $16 on day before.

Just there big grain cos there not the enemy in my opinion.

[malleefarmer]

on the above post all farmers have access to shipping schedules and commodity and grade its all in the auction system for shipping slots.

grain market advisors keep there eye on things and ear to the ground

it really is a different marketing world here as I'm working out from you guys via chuck chuck and blackpowder and sask3 farmaholic and others.

are we better off or not that's not for me to decide are we better organized who knows but reckon we have more options anyway and we live with new system and don't bemoan the past its gone the old sayin "if life gives you lemons make lemonade" well I disagree "if life gives you lemons get a taste for em princess"

[farming101]

Mallee, we can only dream of having the information you guys get

[URL="http://www.viterra.com.au/uploads/PDFs/Ports%20And%20Shipping/Shipping%20Stem/Shipping_Stem.pdf"]http://www.viterra.com.au/uploads/PDFs/Ports%20And%20Shipping/Shipping%20Stem/Shipping_Stem.pdf[/URL]

There is no information publicly available for farmers in Canada that looks even remotely like this

[Guest]

So you guys paying fees for info..are you hitting the market highs all the time?
We sell when dollars are required..usually a few months ahead..Guys wanting 12 dollar canola are still waiting here..
Most market changes have nothing to do with supply..demand..

no not us , lol . but I think we probably are in the top third . our lowest canola was a couple loads from the combine for $10.60 and $10.90 . a lot went for $11.35-$11.70 . highest was $11.88 at bunge , to del in July . have some new crop , bunge , dec del for $11. have about 25% old crop to price yet . nexera we averaged about $12.90 and some new crop priced for $12.49 sept-nov. del to bunge with AOG. 320 ac hear canola priced new crop for $14 full AOG total production .old crop hear was $13 flat , it's gone , not much of it after floods. we weren't smart enough to take the $7 viterra tisdale had for #1 wheat half the winter , did sell half though . had one load of canary priced at 25 cents , rest sitting in bin . sold feed barley for $3-$3.10 , vomi was good . too chitted for malt . got lucky , carried flax over from 2015 and a seed buyer bought it for $14 . , $13.70 net to us after trucking . had priced 3000 bu 2016 flax at $12 with AOG , That's about all we grew and they took it for that . can't find anyone that wants to pay anything decent for alfalfa seed , not much of it , guess it will have some birthdays . peas somehow miraculously turned out good and averaged about $8.75 for them . oats probably averaged $2.90 . no new crop oats or peas priced yet , may have missed the boat there also
what I like about it is he tells you what percentage you should be sold and it seems to be the boot in the ass we need to make the call. and sends bulletins to sell from time to time .

[Kinger]

Doesn't anyone have a concern paying for marketing advice from someone like Cargill who might be involved in input supply as well as purchasing farmers crops and also potentially importing the same crops from competing countries? Would you be confident they really have YOUR best interests at heart?

That's a question that goes both ways though, yeah they do handle supply in most of the world but that also gives them better insight into what is happening in those markets than the other advisor who is trying to translate Brazilian weather data to make an estimate. I went to a talk were the head Canada Wheat merchant for Cargill was there and he talks all the time with the Aussie, American, and Black sea merchants to see what is going on down there. That info is forwarded to the analysts and advisors.

The advisors are also separate from the buyers, they talk sure again to see what is going on locally. Alot of them also have contacts at other elevators as it isn't a sell to Cargill Marketing Service. It's Advisory, you decide where to sell and when these guys just try and help you get the best prices by using tools like puts and calls. If you want to sell to Viterra and they are better priced you won't hear an advisor complain.

I also believe there are several laws in place to prevent that sorta thing.