The Latest from Aurora Grain
Be sure to check back here for regular updates from the Grain team at the Aurora Cooperative.
Grain Market & Outlook Meetings
Ryan Sherwood will be putting on several Grain Marketing and Outlook meetings within the next few weeks. Please click on the above link for places and times.
Grain Bag Storage System
Information on the grain bag storage system and who to contact for more information.
Grain Update – 4/26/2012
Farmers,
While you are spending your days in the tractor doing spring field work, call your Aurora Cooperative Grain Division to get current on-farm picked-up bids or bids for direct ship grain into Aurora Cooperative or processor locations. You can also place offers to sell grain in order to take the greatest advantage of pricing opportunities.
New contracts available to help you market your grain are:
- No Basis Established
- Basis Only
- Minimum Price
- Put-Cash
Call and visit with your Aurora Cooperative Grain representative to discuss what will work best for your farm and let us know if there are other contract opportunities you would like for us to consider offering.
Senate Ag Committee Speeds Up Schedule for Farm Bill Consideration-March 5, 2012
Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., has expedited the committee’s consideration of a new farm bill, with the goal of completing the measure before Congress begins a two-week spring recess on April 2.
Stabenow has moved up the hearing schedule for the bill by a week, with hearings on the farm bill’s nutrition and commodity/risk management (crop insurance) sections now scheduled for March 7 and 14, respectively. She did say any bill emerging from the committee will be a new five-year measure, not a short-term extension of the 2008 farm law. But she also noted that the chances of developing a bill before the end of March were iffy, as there will be a need for members of the committee to “negotiate” and reach consensus after the hearings conclude.
Meanwhile, House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, R-Okla., announced his committee will conduct four farm bill field hearings, starting March 9 in Saranac Lake, N.Y. Other sessions are scheduled for March 23 in Galesburg, Ill., March 30 in State University, Ark., and April 20 in Dodge City, Kan. Last year, the committee conducted 11 so-called “audit hearings” on agricultural programs in preparation for the farm bill. The schedule and specific locations of the House Agriculture Committee field hearings may be accessed by clicking here.
Another prerequisite awaiting the House and Senate Agriculture Committees before formulating a farm bill is the amount of federal funds that will be allocated. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is to issue by mid-March its so-called budget “baseline” of costs associated with the current farm law. And the House Budget Committee is to designate a funding cap later in the month. While the secret bill submitted last year as part of the federal deficit-reduction Supercommittee’s work reportedly would have reduced agricultural spending by $23 billion over 10 years, the proposed draft being circulated by the House Budget Committee calls for $40 billion in cuts over the next decade from the agriculture account.
Senate Ag Hearing on Farm Bill Conservation Provisions: During a Feb. 28 Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on the farm bill’s conservation provisions, Stabenow quizzed USDA Farm Service Agency Administrator Bruce Nelson about the need for CRP reform in light of historically robust land values and commodity prices. “In a word,” Nelson said, “we need to increase our targeting to the most environmentally sensitive lands.”
During USDA’s Outlook Forum conducted the preceding week, USDA Chief Economist Joe Glauber noted a record number of acres were enrolled in USDA’s various conservation programs in 2011. He projected that about 30 million acres would remain in the CRP – 6.8 million acres less than at its peak enrollment in 2007/08. Glauber said conservation will remain a focus of USDA, but many programs will be consolidated to prevent double-dipping. Approximately 29.7 million acres were enrolled in the CRP as of Jan. 2012. This year, CRP will have a historically high 6.5 million acres of contracts expire on Sept. 15.
A look at corn, soybean and wheat markets
(March/April2011) Aurora Grain provides a brief overview of market conditions for corn, soybeans and wheat.
Loaded 110 white corn cars
Started loading at 3:30 am
Finished loading by 2:30 pm
Grain Shuttle Trains
The grain handling industry has certainly seen its fair share of changes over the past 10 to 15 years. In order for railroads to meet challenges of avoiding congestion and efficiently move products to their destinations, shuttle programs have been created to move the bulk of available grain in 100 (or more) car shuttle trains.