Market News 

Richard Brock

Weather Forecasts Stir Futures Prices
Hotter, drier forecasts for the Midwest helped wake up weather bulls...

Is Bigger Better? 

By Moe Russell

Farmers continually tell me they have to farm more acres to be more efficient and profitable. The financial data we've gathered the past two years would...

Market News 

Richard Brock

No Surprises In USDA S/D Report
There were no real surprises for the grain markets...

USDA Crop Forecasts Studied 

Source: University of Illinois

While USDA crop production forecasts have performed reasonably well over a 36-year period, there is room for improvement, according to two University of Illinois professors in a recent study....

Making Decisions In Volatile Times 

By Richard Brock

Profit margins in grain production have become razor thin. The competition among producers to acquire land, either through purchase or renting, has never...

Option For Price Protection 

By Larry Stalcup

Sometimes you need to spend money to make money. Wouldn't it be worth spending $18,000 to generate an additional $25,000-plus return from a 500-acre corn...

Market News  

Richard Brock

Wheat Crop Cut More Than Expected
The USDA surprised the wheat market on Friday by lowering its estimate of the 2005 U.S. wheat crop by 3.2%, putting production below all trade estimates....

Lock In Prices 

By Larry Stalcup

Learning how to grow a new crop is difficult. Learning how to market it can be an even bigger challenge. New cotton growers in northwest Texas are taking...

Long-Term Bottom Coming Soon 

By Richard Brock

While we're usually more concerned about what's going to happen to next week's grain prices than we are five years or more down the road, it's interesting...

Market News  

Richard Brock

Crude Oil Prices Surge On Katrina
Crude oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange were trading more than $2/barrel higher at more than $68 on Monday morning...