The Farmer's Advocate Market Advisory Communication
We communicate with our clients about their personal marketing decisions....
We communicate with clients by phone, TEXT, and email. Clients are encouraged to call me on the phone to discuss personal decisions. Market "alerts" are sent via TEXT. A market commentary is emailed nightly unless I’m in the country making visits. The weekly newsletter, "The Farmer’s Advocate", is emailed and/or mailed on Friday afternoon.
The purpose of the communication is much more than giving recommendations. A good decision is an informed decision. And good marketing decisions beget more good marketing decisions. Nobody can predict price action. Sales made today often look wrong by tomorrow. History clearly teaches that a plan to "sell at the top" is a plan to fail. However, it is wise to make sales based on good information about cash flow needs, price history, technical indicators, and sound fundamental forecasts. A wise sale is successful business management regardless of tomorrow’s price action . . . and success begets more success.
Most market commentaries come from the brokerage world. Brokers usually see the grain market differently than farmers. Their focus is naturally on futures, not on the flat price or on basis. This is not wrong or bad—but it effects their perspective of the market. There are many good hedge brokers who want to help grain producers successfully manage price risk. However, there are also commodity brokers whose goal is to churn commissions. This group purposely feeds emotions and encourages speculation.
Professional grain analysts also provide commentaries on the grain trade. Many are well written and informative. However, farmers may not benefit from complex market analysis that is presented in professional trade lingo. I love to write because it forces me to think. I love to write because it is a means to help people. The purpose of creative writing is to attract and hold the reader. A multitude of facts, charts, and statistics is meaningless if the reader checks out after the first paragraph.
The grain market was once an arena of burdensome inventories and small trading ranges. Relatively tight global stocks, billions of investment dollars in the commodity trade, and using grain to produce energy created a much more volatile environment. The price of grain is influenced daily by currency rates, energy prices, and Wall Street. Having a big picture understanding of the outside markets is important to successful grain marketing.
The very personal, one-on-one, model of our consulting program limits how many farm families we can work directly with. I am not a commodity broker. I am not a grain buyer. Clients pay for the service with an annual fee. Because my advice is not biased by commissions or price margins, I am "the farmer’s advocate" in the complex world of grain marketing.
