much ahead for too many years and not locking in inputs at the same time.

Every year we see a different marketing pattern, but there are certain rules and concepts that you can use that will help you end up with a good average and, with normal yields, a profitable year farming. For most farmers, you have a long time window to make grain sales. You now have corn futures on the CBOT trading ahead all the way through December of 2011.

Photograph: Katie Thompson

The same for soybeans. You can buy or sell futures all the way ahead through November of 2011. Multiyear The big questions for farmers: Should you sell ahead? How much? When? At what price? grain sales So let’s examine the key variables you need to look at as a farmer, the key variables you need to look at in the industry, and my preliminary four-year projections for acreage,

Al Kluis, Kluis Commodities, stands on a heap of stored corn. Kluis says, just like grain yields, and usage through 2011. piling up in storage, decisons on how far out to market your crop can begin to pile up.

KEY BREAK-EVEN VARIABLES

Many farmers, as they prepare
There are advantages to did not sell ahead and stored too their budgets for 2009, are amazed at
marketing your crop years much inventory as the corn and the total dollars that it takes to grow
soybean markets moved lower into an acre of corn and acre of soybeans
in advance with caution the August-November time period next year. For many central Corn
By Alan Kluis each year. Belt farmers who are attempting to
The decision not to sell and just maximize yields, it will now take
wait and hope was the wrong move. over $850 to break even on corn and
Deciding whether it’s neces- In 2007 and 2008, some farmers $630 to break even on soybeans.
sary to make multiyear grain got into financial trouble by mak- Here are four key variables that
sales is only part of the issue. ing aggressive new-crop multiyear will impact your break-evens each
Knowing how much and when are sales. They thought that the pattern year:
the other considerations. of prices collapsing into the harvest 1. Land or cash rent costs

In 2005 and 2006, some farmers lows would work forever. They got 2. Fertilizer got into financial trouble by mak- into financial trouble by selling too 3. Seed ing poor marketing decisions. They 4. Chemicals

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