picassomcp
Member
I have been thinking about my grain marketing strategies and am just a bit unsure what way is best for me. I am looking for opinions and ideas here.
First of all, I'm a little guy in central MN, 85 acres soybeans and 55 acres corn to be sold for grain. Local elevator is 6 miles away. Twin Cities markets about 75 miles away. I have gravity boxes that I can haul grain with. I don't have a corn dryer. I do have a 2200 bushel bin with an air floor and 2 smaller bins 1500 bushel each just with a cement floor in these. I've only done a very limited amount of marketing in the past, so not much personal experience here. Lets just say my beans run 40 bushel to an acre and the corn 150 bushel to the acre.
I want to maximize my income from my grain, I'm open to a bit more work to maximize income but only if the gain is worth the extra trouble. The easiest option is to take the grain right to the elevator from the combine, but that has its negatives like waiting in line, slow harvest, lower price, etc.
I could harvest and dump into my bins, then haul to the elevator a little at a time on days that I can't harvest, but the negative here is no real price gain as it is still being sold at harvest time, but there would be extra work from moving the grain twice. Of course once harvest is complete, I could leave the bins full and sell over winter when the price MAY be higher. Is this extra work worth the messing around? A neighbor but up a $50,000 bin last year thinking it was gonna be a clear money maker for him. He held all his corn after harvest and says the price went down and he actually lost money due to holding the grain. This makes me wanna just haul my grain right to market straight from the combine. Many people say grain bins are the money makers on the farm, did my neighbor just put up his bin at the wrong time?
I guess I am just trying to make use of the bins that I have, but wanna make sure its worth the while. I know future grain prices are ALWAYS a guess and a gamble, but could it be said that grain prices are TYPICALLY lower at harvest time?
How would you recommend a little guy like me handle his grain marketing? All opinions appreciated
First of all, I'm a little guy in central MN, 85 acres soybeans and 55 acres corn to be sold for grain. Local elevator is 6 miles away. Twin Cities markets about 75 miles away. I have gravity boxes that I can haul grain with. I don't have a corn dryer. I do have a 2200 bushel bin with an air floor and 2 smaller bins 1500 bushel each just with a cement floor in these. I've only done a very limited amount of marketing in the past, so not much personal experience here. Lets just say my beans run 40 bushel to an acre and the corn 150 bushel to the acre.
I want to maximize my income from my grain, I'm open to a bit more work to maximize income but only if the gain is worth the extra trouble. The easiest option is to take the grain right to the elevator from the combine, but that has its negatives like waiting in line, slow harvest, lower price, etc.
I could harvest and dump into my bins, then haul to the elevator a little at a time on days that I can't harvest, but the negative here is no real price gain as it is still being sold at harvest time, but there would be extra work from moving the grain twice. Of course once harvest is complete, I could leave the bins full and sell over winter when the price MAY be higher. Is this extra work worth the messing around? A neighbor but up a $50,000 bin last year thinking it was gonna be a clear money maker for him. He held all his corn after harvest and says the price went down and he actually lost money due to holding the grain. This makes me wanna just haul my grain right to market straight from the combine. Many people say grain bins are the money makers on the farm, did my neighbor just put up his bin at the wrong time?
I guess I am just trying to make use of the bins that I have, but wanna make sure its worth the while. I know future grain prices are ALWAYS a guess and a gamble, but could it be said that grain prices are TYPICALLY lower at harvest time?
How would you recommend a little guy like me handle his grain marketing? All opinions appreciated