While you put away your farm show clothes, pull on the overalls, and grab the grease gun, here’s the refreshing, never-requiring-maintenance pint-size newsletter! Cause, ready or not, here comes spring!
Oh Shoot I forgot that was broken
– Joseph Billett
So, in two days, the Billetts are heading down to Disneyland! My 11 year old daughter Hannah knows about it, but my 5 year boy Samuel and 6 year old Truett are completely oblivious! All they know so far is we’re going camping, which elicits pretty much the same response and considering they have no clue what a Disneyland is, we’re still under the radar.
We will be pulling down our travel trailer and connecting with my brother-in-law and his family on the way. All that to say, it’s been a small taste perhaps of what farmers go through every spring.
It’s exciting and terrifying in our home right now, as my wife Amy has piles of clothes and snacks throughout the house waiting for the arrival of the trailer to load it into. This is all done covertly by my wife, while the boys are completely oblivious to the piles of preparation, they just think that mommy has finally figured out how to properly organize her toys. I on the other hand am in charge of getting the truck and trailer ready for this epic journey. Now, I totally concede that by pure scale my truck and trailer pale in comparison to a 9620R John Deere pulling an air cart, with a 84 foot drill behind it. But, to me, there’s still a lot of preparation, and the occasional “shoot! I forgot that was broken last time I used it”, and last time I used it saying, “no problem! I’ll fix it next time.”
Therein lies the rub. We all do this. We are always behind the proverbial eight ball. One thing that I’ve been trying to do moving forward is: if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. But when it breaks fix it now! I’ve only been deploying this thinking for a year or so, but I’m pretty sure it’s saved my butt a few times already. Now, my rule doesn’t take accidents and unplanned issues out of the equation, but it definitely puts your mind at ease on some issues.
I know for myself, and likely you as well, I’d rather be enjoying the journey and the process than worrying about what I missed and what’s broken. Another way to go about it is to have the right people in the right positions. So for that grain you’ve been planning to market or the pricing you’ve been meaning to get, we’d be happy to put your mind at ease and help carry the load this spring!
– @JosephBillett
What we’re hearing in Agriculture:
If the USDA is right, I guess that means we’re neutral…..
U.S. corn ending stocks running at 2.13 Bill/bu was quite a bit lower then the average estimate of 2.3 Bill/bu and considered bullish. World corn 2017-18 ending stocks predicted at 268.90 MMT and was 2.7 MMT above trade speculations and seen as bearish.
The soybean 2017-18 ending stocks of 555 Mill/bu was 26 Mill/bu which was above average trade estimates.
U.S. wheat ending stocks were figured at 94.4 MMT, which was 1.1MMT under the average estimate and slightly bullish. 2017 -18 global wheat ending stocks were estimated at 268 MMT was very close to the 0.6 MMT that was predicted and is viewed as neutral.
Remember that time your uncle said “I’ll take you out for ice cream” and didn’t? You’re probably feeling the same way now ….
CN Rail exec promising to speed up grain shipments for March. CN has been outlying steps to increase their grain movement as quickly as possible for Saskatchewan farmers. The companies director of grain marketing, David Przednowek, says “February was a rather poor month for grain movement, averaging just 3400 hopper cars per week.” Classic understatement, but he insists that additional engines and staff have been added to increase grain shipments to 5000 hoppers by the tale end of March. “That includes temporarily restricting the flow of rail cars of commodities,” said Przednowek. “Except grain into the Edmonton-Winnipeg corridor.” Guess we’ll see.
If you’re looking for the loonie and crude oil their behind the woodshed getting walloped…..
Comments for the Bank of Canada suggest that no rate hike will be seen in the immediate future, which in turn triggered heavy Cdn dollar pressure. The June loonie dropped 70 points to a low of 77.38 cents U.S. (Just what a Dad wants to hear before going to Disneyland!)April crude fell toward $60 per barrel based on increasing U.S. oil inventories. If WTI crude continues to break below $60 per barrel, uncertainties loom on the horizon for the Canadian economy and Cdn dollar heading into spring.
We don’t just put out amazing newsletters you know….
Want to know more about Agfinity and the people who work here?
