Profit Center
-
Don’t Miss a Marketing Opportunity
Since the June crop report came out, wheat has rallied over a $1 per bushel, corn is up about 50 cents and soybeans have rallied also. Now, it appears that the world wheat supply is looking at drought issues around the world (except for our hemisphere it seems) and this is continuing to help wheat […]
-
Health Care Credit Limits Posted by IRS
The large health care act passed earlier this year had an up to 35% credit available to farmers who paid for health insurance for their employees. The credit is based upon the percentage amount of health insurance that a farmer pays times 35%. As long as you pay at least 50% of the premiums for […]
-
Minnesota Farmers See 63% Reduction in Net Income for 2009
Of the 2,401 Minnesota farms included in the “FINBIN” survey for 2009, the median farm saw a 63% decrease in net income from $91,242 to $33,417. Each year, the Center for Farm Financial Management performs a survey of Minnesota farmers. Their response for 2009 represented about 3% of overall farms and about 10% of the […]
-
Lots of Corn – But We Need It
The USDA released their June acreage report today and the corn and wheat market rallied substantially based upon this report. The actual amount of expected corn acreage came in about 1.6 million acres less than the trade expected and the amount of corn on hand was about 300 million bushels less than expected. Backing into […]
-
Working Capital – Lifeblood of a Farm
Dave Kohl is an ag economist who writes the Road Warrior of Agriculture for Corn and Soybeans Digest. His columns are usually very insightful regarding economic issues related to agriculture. Back in March, he had an article regarding working capital being the financial shock absorber for farms and business. Working capital is the excess of […]
-
Foreign Banks Continue to Expand into US Agriculture Lending
TierOne Bank of Lincoln, Nebraska was closed by the FDIC on June 4, 2010 and then sold to Great Western Bank of Sioux Falls, South Dakato which is a subsidiary of National Australia Bank, a large agricultural lender that has expanded its farm-based lending in the United States and appears ready to continue to expand […]
-
Russia is Going for Dominance in Wheat
I had a post from about two weeks ago about the USDA predicting that Russia would become a larger exporter of wheat than the US by about 2019. Bloomberg Businessweek just wrote an article on how Russia is fighting for World Dominance – in Wheat!. The article recaps that Russia is able to sell their […]
-
You Can Use an IRA Too – Maybe!
My post from yesterday resulted in several comments and questions that I would like to respond to. One comment is that code section 4975 deals with prohibited transactions regarding you and your pension plan or IRA. There are severe penalties for not obeying the rules regarding these transactions. However, if you obey the rules, the […]
-
Tap Your 401(k) to Start Your Farm Business
I know that many of our readers currently have jobs not related to farming, however, you would like to leave that job and start farming on a full-time basis. One of the major drawbacks to doing this is the lack of capital. However, many of you could have a substantial asset that you could tap […]
-
The Law of Diminishing Returns
In my post yesterday, I indicated that maximizing your net return per acre was more important than the most yield per acre. One of our readers wrote a great comment regarding how their operation tries to maximize their yield to achieve the most net revenue per acre. My post should have stressed that your farm operation […]