$1.67 corn

[bigjohn513]

could someone explain to me how a man can grow corn for this with fuel at $3.00+ a gallon? I couldn't beleive my eyes when I seen that at the mill yesterday
It was $1.67 in 2.05 out glad I only grew 6 acres for feed

 

[Jake]

with enough bushels, the right marketing schemes and the right yields it's not horribly hard to make money. We lost a lot of export capacity when N.O. got hit. Shut down our major port for exporting grain. We're also dealing with record production in a few areas, and the corn crop is better than expected in the drought areas in Illinois and Eastern Iowa. There are quite a few places that were buying corn at $1.40 The best thing you can do is to build on the farm storage and have enough carry over to play the basis game and sell it on contract at a later date. We're buying corn to fill our 30,000 space.

 

[Arnold Ziffle]

I think you're right bigjohn --- need to have some awfully good corn land to have a chance with those prices. It will really be "interesting" (sad) to see what happens this next spring if fuel and fertilizer prices stay high and if commodity and/or gov't. support prices don't increase appreciably. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the farmers aren't able to get bank financing to put in a crop, especially since in many cases it just won't pencil out. Yields for most crops have certainly gone up in the last 30 or so years, but there sure are too many cases of producers getting 1970's prices for their product but with 2005 costs of production. And while many cattlemen sure appreciate the current prices, if we were to look back and see what we were getting for cattle a generation or two ago, in inflation adjusted dollars, I dare say we wouldn't feel nearly as good about current prices.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Some methods to make money with $1.50 corn:

Farm the goverment - - federal payments this year can be as high as $1.00 a bushel on top of the market price.

Make ethenol - - the oil companies are not the only ones making record profits right now.

Poor book keeping - - do not pay yor family for their work and never set money aside to replace your equipment.

Get your wife a good job in town to support some of your hobbies- - we call call someone who drives his wife to work and then picks her up later as a real "go get her"

Did I miss any methods?

 

[denoginnizer]

could someone explain to me how a man can grow corn for this with fuel at $3.00+ a gallon? I couldn't beleive my eyes when I seen that at the mill yesterday
It was $1.67 in 2.05 out glad I only grew 6 acres for feed

Government Commodity payment. They just limited it in my county to 80000 per person. I guess they figure a man can live off that.

 

[denoginnizer]

I heard there was a website that showed farms that took the Gov payment and how much. I have been unable to locate it as of yet.

 

[possumranch]

Is this what you are looking for?http://www.ewg.org/farm/index.php

 

[Crowderfarms]

Is this what you are looking for?http://www.ewg.org/farm/index.php

Possum ranch! Thanks a bunch for the site address. Boy do I know some folks that are gonna be PO'd that this is on the net. There's already a bunch around here that found out that Properties are all listed on a state website. They want it removed! Amen for the information age, on one hand it's good on the other hand, too much is out there about personal/ private info. what do yall' think?

 

[Larry Sansom]

"Mail box Money" is all most grain farmers live for. The other corn income is just payment for recreational tractor driving. Do you see any Gov handout for the cattle people? Knowledge of the big hogs at the trough is not a problem for me - I like to know where my tax $ are going.

 

[possumranch]

Your welcome Crowder. My family has never participated in the "program" because of religious convictions. I can't believe the amounts of money some farmers in my home county receive. The extra money would be nice but I couldn't take it with a clear conscience.

 

[A6gal]

http://www.ewg.org/farm/index.php

Wow, what an eye opener! Three of my neighbors are on that list! The one to the east plants every other year and then plows it under, you know when he's planting what's gonna happen in the end! I always thought he was taking out crop insurance or something because I just couldn't understand how he could afford to do what he does! I still don't understand how those subsidies are distributed, but I guess he calls his crop a "loss" due to drought or whatever and then gets a check from the goverment!

I don't know all the in's and out's of farm subsidies and I may be wrong, but it seems to me that it is just another form of welfare.

 

[ChrisB]

Our economy is built around cheap commodities. We need farmers to keep producing at high levels to ensure low food prices. People in the US and Canada spend a low percentage of their income on food compared to the rest of the world. If we had to start spending twice as much on groceries on the same income there just wouldn't be money left over for entertainment, toys, etc. The economy would totally fall apart.

Imagine if subsidies were eliminated and it forced 3/4 of the farmers out of business; small towns would totally shut down along with all the jobs in them. Livestock producers also benefit from cheap grain prices. If corn is $3.50/bu. do you think we would be getting $1.20 for feeder cattle?.

I'm not saying I don't want to see some type of limits and better monitoring of the system. But I hate to see it compared to welfare.

I'm obviously not an economist and a good case could be made that I don't know what I'm talking about, but this is my take on the subject.

 

[A6gal]

I'm not saying I don't want to see some type of limits and better monitoring of the system. But I hate to see it compared to welfare.

ChrisB,

I understand what you are saying and you are probably right, limits and better monitoring is what is needed.

My perspective comes from those I know on the list that are not farming to produce a crop, but to receive a goverment check. Of the 3 around me receiving subsidies, one plows every crop under, one is a rancher (not a farmer) who overgrazes and mismanages his land and receives a conservation subsidy and the other raises and shows horses, why he receives a subsidy of any kind is beyond me. I think abuse of the system may be the biggest problem.

 

[Jake]

Boys we are at the verge of mass use drough tolerant corn and beans, we've got all sorts of varieties out here now that are going to put great production at everybody's fingures. The majority of row crop farmers this year have more money than they know what to do with? This is the reason land prices are so high. It's not the hunters, CEOs, and other investors. It's the current farm bill that allows them to have this peak in the land value cycle. It is not hard for them to make a living off of these prices. They get enough from the crop to pay the fuel and equipment bills and the subsidies let them live like kings. Those with storage can lock up tens of thousands of dollars on these prices right now. Making money at this is all in your commodity trader skills. This farming gig isn't what it used to be. You have to have ample land and the brains to market and evaluate what you have and capitalize on it.

 

[bigbull338]

ranchers an farmers never make much money.the grain prices are going tobe low b/c of the hurracanes.the farm an ranch payscale is still in the 70s.while everything else goes up.an our prices stay the same.scott

 

[trollet69]

around here for feed corn cost more then most feed grains. its 6.59 for a 50 lb bag. and sweet feed is 5.25 a 50 lb bag. So when we raised our pigs they got the sweet feed. And it made the poo smell sweet lol
kimmie

 

[Crowderfarms]

around here for feed corn cost more then most feed grains. its 6.59 for a 50 lb bag. and sweet feed is 5.25 a 50 lb bag. So when we raised our pigs they got the sweet feed. And it made the poo smell sweet lol
kimmie

Give me your address, I'll send a grain truck your way tomorrow with corn @ say 10.00 a Hundred... It'll be a bargain. :lol:

 

[trollet69]

lol sure thing
Kimmie

 

[RainMan]

Wow! I have a better understanding why the farmers in my area are farmers. To say I was naive would be an understatement. Momma always said...If you can't say something good....but more people should be aware and I plan on doing my part. Thanks for posting.

 

[Stocker Steve]

The goverment subsides hurt us all in the long run by encouraging poor investments and inefficient operations. The biggest subsidies in this area are for beet sugar (Castro is still hanging on last time I checked) and corn ethanol (which uses Federally subsidzed corn and avoids some MN state taxes).

WHEN we move away from production subsides there will be alot of land go back into a grass & legume grazing rotation. Putting land into row crops year after year after year is a crime.

I bought most of my neighbor's corn for U$S 1.47 per bushel. He is very eager to finish so he can fill in the LDP subsidy paperwork, so I have to go outside now and unload some wagons.