April 2019
Upcoming Events
Every Saturday morning “Insights into Insurance” radio show KATE 1450AM 8:45am
May 27 Happy Memorial Day -Office Closed
June 6 Wells Summer in the City
July 4 & 5 Happy 4th of July – Office Closed
July 15 Crop Insurance Acreage Report Deadline
Farm Insurance Highlights
When it pertains to Farm Insurance each insured should know and review with their agent what form is attached to each of his/her Home, Buildings and Equipment. In this article I will explain the 3 main policy forms that are normally attached to these items. As you will see it is a step-up process that in each form as you go you get increased coverage...
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Crop Insurance
Crop Insurance Wins Wide Support on Capital Hill and In Countryside
Federal crop insurance and the critical role it serves as part of the farm safety net unexpectedly took center stage at a recent Senate Finance hearing with the United States Trade Representative, Robert Lighthizer...
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Grain Marketing
Setting the Table for 2019
It’s hard to believe that we’re nearly ¼ of the way into the new year. The focus of everyone in ag world, from producers to grain companies to suppliers, is the ongoing trade war with China. And certainly this trade battle may be our #1 risk that we face in managing potential revenue in 2019. But while everyone is looking in one direction, there are quite a few other directions that deserve at least a long glance. Here are some of those.
1) Manage Funds. February was an ugly month in the ag world, and much of that was driven by fund selling. As the prospects for a trade deal began looking bleaker, and as Brazil began to make progress in harvest, these funds became more aggressive at establishing short positions. The chart above shows the net combined position of these funds, which currently stand near record-short (black line) for this week. What I would point out is that in every year between 2013 and 2018 this group hit its peak combined long position between March and July. So it would seem the odds are good that at some point they’ll be back as buyers.
2) Weather. I hesitate to bring this topic up. But it’s awfully wet in many areas of the country, and the north lands have more snowpack than in many years. This doesn’t scream early spring, and early planting has been given credit for some recent record US soybean yields. And we’re not even thinking about summer yet.
3) Storage & Logistics. I mentioned excessive moisture, which is impacting shipping on the river system. But thinking ahead – we’ll carry a record amount of soybeans into next harvest, and corn & cotton acres/production are expected to be higher this spring. Where will we put it all this fall, assuming we have a good crop? Do we need to add storage? Does my gin have enough capacity?
Risks associated with the items above are all risks that can be managed to some extent, either with revenue insurance or with various marketing tools.
Financial
ANALYZE REPAYMENT CAPACITY
When applying for a loan, the most critical calculation lenders consider is repayment capacity.
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Insights to Insurance
Are you receiving any ARC -CO payments in for 2018? Farm Doc has created Maps for all of United States to show estimates.