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2 min read

Is Deferred Price the Answer?

A big drop in prices has farmers understandably reluctant to sell, but the grain industry still needs to grind, process, ship, and otherwise do what it does with grain every day, and grain handlers still need to manage logistics, grain quality, and...

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wheat calculator money

4 min read

Rockefeller's Roadmap for Profitable Grain Merchandising

Leveraging wisdom from tycoon John D. Rockefeller can translate to sustained success for grain elevators

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3 min read

Overview of Minimum Price Contracts

Understanding the Idea of Minimum Price Contracts

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4 min read

5 Actions to Take Before Harvest

Take advantage of this transition period to reflect, strategize, and prepare for the upcoming season. Summertime in the grain business is both a time...

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thumbs up at producer meeting

1 min read

Attitude Is Important to Grain Buying

I was recently talking to someone who buys 90% of the grain that crosses the scales; some spot and some forward contracted. The approach is nothing...

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1 min read

Steering Clear of Common Pitfalls for Grain Cooperative Boards

The vitality of Feed & Grain Cooperative Boards is intrinsically linked to their ability to avoid common blunders and implement effective solutions....

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1 min read

Keep Your Long Futures in the Nearby and Your Short Futures in the Deferred

Old Advice for Current Times I first heard this maxim about 25 years ago, and it wasn't new then. The person who shared it with me learned from an...

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3 min read

3 Ideas Grain Merchandisers Can Plant This Spring

Spring is a chance to create a firm foundation for the coming year.

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2 min read

How's Your Merchandising Scorecard Looking?

Preparing monthly financial statements is typically done so you can get the proper financing for your merchandising activities; but there are also...

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3 min read

5 Tips for Merchandising Success in a No-Carry Year

Grain companies can still see profitability in a tough economic environment.

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winter scene

2 min read

Winterizing Your Marketing Conversations

Winter is in many ways the middle of the marketing process for producers. Sales to make space at harvest and generate necessary cash flow have...

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normal to new normal image

3 min read

Use Old Skills and a New Approach to Navigate Volatile Markets

The volatility in production, futures prices, basis, and spreads of the last few years have caused many of us to abandon the idea of a “normal”...

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1 min read

5 Keys for Survival in a Flat or Inverted Spread Environment

Most merchandisers don’t enjoy trading markets with small carries and/or inverted spreads, but by all appearances, that is what the market is going...

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1 min read

Is the Grain Elevator Business Model Broken?

Let Me Give Away the Ending: No Despite years of articles predicting the irrelevance of the country elevator, it continues to be an important part of...

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4 min read

Merchandising:  What's the Worst that Could Happen?

As the season of fall harvest planning is upon us, let us take a moment to review the idea, and the reality, of the importance of having a grain flow...

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1 min read

You Can't Merchandise Your Way Out of Overpaying...

Grain elevator managers and merchandisers make many daily decisions that include selecting grain policies, buying grain, managing spreads, and...

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Tree Transition Between Summer and Fall

4 min read

4 Grain Market Indicators to Watch

Knowing your grain company is key to navigating the change between carry and inverted markets Differing views on how to define transitions exist....

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Words Focus, Structure, Discipline

2 min read

5 Disciplines of Merchandising that Stand the Test of Time

When you see what appear to be good, well-established, long-standing companies suddenly fall apart it makes you wonder. How do good businesses go...

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6 Rules for Staying in Control of Your Lending Relationship and Your Grain Business

Have reliable monthly numbers from a repeatable process Understand what is important on your financial statements Create and revise your grain/cash...

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Bull and Bear

1 min read

When the Market Gets Volatile, Get Disciplined

Wild markets stir up emotions in even the most seasoned of grain merchandisers. When margin calls are coming fast and frequently, and there are...

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3 win-win-win circles intersecting in the middle

1 min read

A golden opportunity for grain businesses to create a win/win/win

High futures prices are offering an opportunity for growers and buyers of grain to achieve above average margins.

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soybeans

3 min read

How to Lock in Profits for Soybean Processing Plants

Use these three skills to overcome the merchandising challenges that hit your profit margin.

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scale balancing market needs with business needs

1 min read

Balancing Act

Weighing the Market's Needs with Those of Your Business

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1 min read

Spreads Know

Prior to a harvest, spreads for an upcoming crop year reflect the market’s emotions about that year. After harvest, spreads reflect the market’s...

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Basketball Hoop

4 min read

Game Time Perspective

During volatile times, remember the basics of grain trading.

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Roadsigns

1 min read

When Being Right is the Wrong Focus

Volatility has a lot of side effects on the mentality of a basis trader. Maybe the most dangerous is an aversion to being wrong – and when price,...

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Sets of Keys

3 min read

The Merchant's Secret

What are the keys to creating a successful practice as a grain merchandiser?

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Taking Control of Grain Merchandising Blog image

3 min read

Taking Control of Grain Merchandising

Market conditions may be out of a merchandiser's control, but steps can be made to tip the scales in their favor. I believe merchandising grain and...

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1 min read

Watch Those Emotions: When Markets Get Weird, Get Calm.

Unmet expectations are the springboard for all kinds of human problems. When things don't go as expected, the likelihood of becoming irrational or...

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1 min read

Focus Your Energy Where Your Margins Come From

The country elevator is in an enviable position to serve as a price neutral conduit for grain from producers to end users. In order for this to work,...

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scales

2 min read

Basis Trading Starts with Balance

A good basis trader will spend an entire career refining his/her basis trading knowledge and skills. However, every principle of basis trading is...

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questions in conversation bubbles

2 min read

5 Questions to Help You Manage Pre-Spreads

Why? Pre-spreading is about locking in spread structure that will support your merchandising plans. (e.g., if you plan to carry grain you need a...

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Narrowing of Control over Time

1 min read

The End of Decision-Making

We (human beings, that is) are strongly motivated by FOMO – Fear of Missing Out. Any decision we make before we are forced into deciding means...

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rules

1 min read

The Basis Trader's Rules

I ran across this in my favorites folder the other day. I thought it a worthy reminder of how being successful in the grain elevator business is...

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Maze

2 min read

Thoughts on Navigating an Uncertain Environment

Last spring, things in the grain world were a mess. Huge swaths of the country were late planting or not planting at all. The general sense was that...

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Buying Grain Intelligently and Building Farmer Relationships

4 min read

Grain Origination: Buying Smart & Building Relationships

Part of my job at a country elevator was buying grain from farmers. I want to be completely clear that the vast majority of my interactions were...

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Contract Integrity - White Commercial Blog Post - a futures broker for Grain Elevators

4 min read

The Importance of Contract Integrity for Grain Elevators

What is contract integrity? Simply put, contract integrity refers to the viability and enforceability of a grain company’s policies and procedures...

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Blog Feat Img Fraud

2 min read

Fraud Mitigation in the Grain Industry: Webinar & Best Practices

According to recent statistics, financial fraud is on a significant upswing. Last year, 82% of businesses in the United States suffered an instance...

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blog image - special requests

1 min read

Dealing with Special Requests from Your Farmer Customers

How many times has a farmer come into your office and told you about some "great, new marketing alternative" that the guy down the street is...

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blog version harvest trucks

2 min read

The Consequences of Paying Too Much At Harvest

Competition is the driving forces that determines a fair and equitable price. For the most part, your cash price to producers is based on your best...

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blog image contract guidelines

1 min read

5 Guidelines for Great Grain Contract Offerings

With so many different types of marketing alternatives available to farmers in the marketplace, how do you, at the grain elevator, decide on which...

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blog image waste of space

5 min read

3 Opportunities for Grain Elevators that Manage Their Space Well

Cambridge dictionary defines waste of space as “a person or thing that is not useful or helpful.” In the grain storage business, it is our...

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blog image - carry spreads-1

4 min read

The Best Way for Farmers and Grain Elevators to "sell the carry"

A common refrain throughout my time and travels in the grain business is the concept of “selling the carry.” This is roundly regarded as a good thing...

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5_Ways_Hand_Shake

4 min read

Positive Grain Marketing Services

Farmers require two things from grain elevators to be able to market their crops successfully. They need access to the market and the means to...

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blog image - themed target clock people

4 min read

Tell Your Story Before Someone Else Does

Explain how you're the middle man, but everyone still wins.

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Flag_of_Canada

1 min read

The Process of Canadian Mark-to-Market Grain Accounting

The process of Mark-to-Market accounting for Canadian grain elevators basically looks like this: Develop the routine of tracking data on the six...

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6er-feat-image

3 min read

Six Essential Reports: Accurate Mark-to-Market Accounting for Canadian Grain Elevators

Historical business truths typically come from very simple concepts. “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get” (Warren Buffet). “A penny saved...

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blog featured image - 1-02

3 min read

Top 4 Things Every Elevator Needs in order to Capture the Next Great Opportunity

One thing that we all know for sure is that we are now officially one day closer to the next big “opportunity”. Some call it a “big rally" and some...

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3_methods_Featured

2 min read

3 Ways to Value Grain to Achieve your Financial Goals

How much unrealized profit or loss do you want to pick up on your financial statements? The answer to this question determines the method grain...

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5_Reports_eBook_Cover

1 min read

3 Attributes of an Excellent Mark-to-Market Accounting Plan

Producing financial statements monthly is the best way to monitor the progress of your business. Monthly statements that include a Balance Sheet and...

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Checklist_Featured_Image

2 min read

The Key to Obtain Financing for Grain Merchandising

The end of summer brings thoughts of planning and profitability. Grain companies that buy grain from producers and sell it immediately to users of...

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5_step_plan

2 min read

5 Merchandising Disciplines that Stand the Test of Time

When you see what appear to be good, well-established, long-standing companies suddenly fall apart it makes you wonder:

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jreardon17.png

1 min read

5 Steps to Break-Even Analysis

The first step is to eliminate break even from the discussion, no grain company is in business to break-even. Decide on a profit target and this...

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3 min read

How to Originate Grain by Capitalizing on Delayed Payments

Year after year the most successful grain companies are those that execute a plan to acquire the majority of their ownership before harvest....

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2 min read

3 Skills to Master for Successful Grain Origination

Grain origination isn’t exactly easy. Successful grain origination programs take time and resources to develop. Since your ability to originate grain...

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Jeff_Reardon_Portrait_LLP

1 min read

4 Steps to Create a Financial Dashboard

Financial dashboards are an efficient way to integrate long term goals into your monthly management process. The most effective dashboards have...

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3 min read

Plug the Leak & Build Higher Sides

On the farm, you’re likely never very far off from having to plug the next leak. The tire on the planter, the head gasket on the service truck or...

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Jeff_Reardon_Portrait_LLP

1 min read

Three Keys To Financial Success In 2017

Efficiency is the word I hear most often when talking with grain company CFO’s. The Sales, Operations, and Finance business segments need to be...

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farmer.jpg

4 min read

Why Low Grain Prices Lead To Higher Costs (And Why They Don’t Have To)

Some costs in business are unavoidable. Production Agriculture is no different. It seems like everyone is trying to take a piece from you at every...

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mushrooms_4b2c783421b2f_hires.jpg

4 min read

No One Wants To Be A Mushroom

In our last Grain Accounting class the discussion turned to the importance of having a good banking relationship. A lender in the meeting made the...

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farmer.jpg

2 min read

Grain Origination Comprehension and Competency

As a member of the grain elevator community, we often wear multiple hats over the course of a season; accountant, PR rep, grader, dispatcher,...

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Jeff_Reardon_Portrait_LLP

2 min read

3 Key Points for CFOs in the 2016 Grain Merchandising Season

The word is out; grain merchandising margins are down all over the grain industry. Publicly traded and private companies are showing financial stress...

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Jeff_Reardon_Portrait_LLP

2 min read

Your Banker’s Top 6 Grain Marketing Questions

Solutions to problems have a way of gaining clarity through discussions with trusted outside counsel. Clearly originating low basis bushels is the...

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Charts

5 min read

Farm Marketing: The 5 Steps You Must Take Today

If there is anything that the past several seasons of farming has taught us, it’s that there is indeed nothing new under the sun. Looking back, the...

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2 min read

24 Excuses to Delay Farm Marketing Decisions

If you have tried to originate grain for a day or for a lifetime, you’ve heard plenty of reasons NOT to sell grain. “OK,” you say, “why don’t we go...

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Jeff_Reardon_Portrait_LLP

2 min read

5 signs of 2016’s Grain Merchandising Profitability Vanishing

Last year’s sales have been made, the numbers are great, but the receivables are growing. Will you get paid for the inventory you delivered? When...

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2 min read

Don’t Play The Victim: Grain Merchandising Through Adversity Requires A Plan

This year many of the ghosts of grain merchandising past have revisited us; low cash prices, higher than normal harvest basis levels, uncertainty of...

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1 min read

6 Steps to Trust but Verify Grain Business Position Reports

“Trust but verify” is a Russian proverb Ronald Reagan made famous, but risk managers, CFO’s and grain company lenders live by it today.

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2 min read

5 Disciplines of Grain Merchandising that Stand the Test of Time

When you see what appear to be good, well-established, long-standing companies suddenly fall apart it makes you wonder. How do good businesses go...

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2 min read

4 Ways to Enhance Your Grain Business with Training

In the workplace, training and development can often be an overlooked or underutilized approach to improving business. Often the myth is that with...

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1 min read

Hedging Currency Risk for International Grain Merchandisers

Grain Merchandisers intentionally eliminate as much currency risk as possible and trade based on the changes in the basis in the grain markets. The...

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Blocked Door

1 min read

Is Your Grain Merchandising Plan In a 4-Alarm Emergency or Fire Drill?

When was the last time you actually walked through your merchandising plan? In the midst of the lackadaisical pricing environment of this past...

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wedding rings in ear of corn

2 min read

28 Ways to Know You're Married to a Grain Merchandiser

Being a grain merchandiser can be a pretty lonely existence. There just aren't that many people on the planet that truly understand what a grain...

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1 min read

Checklist for Finding a Great Banker for Your Grain Business

It can be very painful for grain companies to change banks. New financial relationships require conference calls, planning sessions, and a lot of...

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1 min read

How to Avoid Farm Marketing Scams

It seems like each crop year that comes around brings new types of contracts with new promises. Of course, the years of low prices that make it...

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1 min read

Top 5 Mark-to-Market Grain Accounting Battles

The handling margin (back-to-back margin) is captured when the bushels are sold and delivered when grain companies value inventory and purchase...

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3 min read

5 Essential Habits of Farm Marketing

The word habits has sort of a negative connotation. We could make long list of negative habits. What pops into your head when you think of good...

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1 min read

Grain Elevators: How Productive Is Your Labor Force?

The New Year brings a flurry of preparing financial statements and crunching financial ratios in an effort to get under the tax man’s bar or jump...

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1 min read

The Fiscal Management 5 Step Plan for Grain Elevator Financing

The grain company CFO may have been viewed as a rare species prior to 2008, but the last 7 years have quickly brought the need for a CFO’s skill set...

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2 min read

Preparing for the Grain Merchandising Inevitable: Part 1

It is winter and the grain elevator is abuzz with activity . . . you have old crop bushels to empty out of the bin, grain to move off the farm, and...

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4 min read

8 Grain Elevator Policies That Hurt Profitability

Over the last decade of traveling the country and visiting with grain elevator managers and merchandisers, I’ve seen and heard some pretty amazing...

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Kelchen Grain Staff

2 min read

The Grain Merchandiser and the End User: Who is the Customer?

When you, the grain merchandiser, think in terms of the buyer/user being your customer – rather than you being his customer – it puts a different...

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2 min read

Making a Game Plan for Farm Marketing

This time of year, with football games aplenty, basketball games on 27 out of 32 channels, and baseball just around the corner, inspires this simple...

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1 min read

Black Bears, Yellow Corn, and Grain Marketing Hibernation

Resisting the urge to float the current of all things holly and jolly, I have found a more unique, if not better, analogy for describing some of our...

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1 min read

Using the Profit Talk In Your Grain Origination Program

The typical discussion that occurs with a farmer at the elevator or coffee shop centers a lot around price.

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1 min read

10 Ways for Grain Merchandisers to Make Better Forward Sales

One of the greatest weapons in a grain merchandiser's arsenal can be making deferred basis sales. It can be a great way to reduce basis risk, reduce...

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2 min read

Is Your Grain Merchandising Program an Activist or a Pacifist?

Despite just wrapping up an intense and at times nauseating, campaign season, I am not referring to politics here. Another way of phrasing this...

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2 min read

Basis and Futures: Two Beasts with One Burden

Simply stated, the shared burden of both the basis and futures is to move grain. When these signals are interpreted correctly, this task is...

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2 min read

Why the Best Accountants in the Grain Business Think Like a Merchandiser

As the Controller, CFO or CPA responsible for producing financial statements for your company’s grain division, do you sometimes feel that you are...

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2 min read

5 Grain Origination Reasons to Have the Minimum Price Discussion

By this point in the harvest season, the writing on the wall has become the chicken coming home to roost. That is, this massive crop that kept all...

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1 min read

Managing the Transition With Proactive Grain Merchandising

In many parts of the world, grain merchandisers have just begun taking in a huge harvest. Dealing with logistics, limited space, slower than normal...

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2 min read

Price Later Fees Part 2: Why Grain Elevators Lose Money Charging Them

Price Later (PL) Fees are unlike any other fees charged by grain elevators. For a background on PL Fees and what causes them to change, check out...

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3 min read

Farm Marketing: Guide To Minimum Price Contracts

Understanding the idea of Minimum Price Contracts

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2 min read

Price Later Fees Part 1: Changing Fees & the Grain Merchandising Behind It

Depending on what area you are in, you may hear it called Price Later (PL), Delayed Price (DP), or No Price Established (NPE). All of these terms...

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3 min read

4 Farm Marketing Pitfalls to Avoid For the 2014 Crop

We all know what’s happening this year: across much of the country, we are staring down the barrel of a bumper crop of both corn and soybeans....

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1 min read

Nothing Compares: The Uniqueness of Grain Merchandising

In my 30 plus years in the grain merchandising business, I’ve been asked to do a lot of comparisons. Elevator GMs want to know how their margins...

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2 min read

How to Avoid the Terrible Tweens of Grain Merchandising

And no, this is not in reference to those somewhat awkward transition moments between childhood and the teenage years; rather, it’s referring to...

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4 min read

Navigating The Bermuda Triangle of Grain Repos and Grain Swaps

This week's blog will answer some frequently asked questions regarding some alternative grain company financing tools. For a general overview of...

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1 min read

Grain Elevator Financing Tip: Over The Counter Commodity Futures Swaps

Volatile prices and the difficulty accessing credit during peak financing periods opened the market to provide commodity futures swaps as a method of...

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1 min read

Grain Elevator Financing Tip: Inventory Repurchase Agreements

Volatile prices mixed with a need to build working capital and equity pushed inventory repurchase agreements into the grain elevator financing and...

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3 min read

5 Things Grain Buyers May Not Tell A Grain Merchandiser

The reason behind some buyers not volunteering this information to the elevator grain merchandiser isn’t necessarily deceitful; rather, it can be...

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1 min read

The Forgotten Farm Marketing Alternative

The emotions of farmers have run the gamut these last two months as they sat in disbelief watching new crop prices plummet. For many it was a feeling...

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1 min read

Guest Farm Marketing Blog: Planning? We’re Talking About Planning?

Several years ago basketball star Allen Iverson was conducting an interview and was asked a question about a disagreement between himself and his...

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2 min read

Why Paying More for Grain Won’t Help Your Grain Origination

Anyone who has ever bought grain knows how tempting it is to raise their bid just a little bit. It seems like your bid for grain is never quite...

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1 min read

Grain Elevator Financing Tip: Financing Forward Contracts

Forward contract financing has become an essential piece of the grain elevator financing package. The modern day elevator must be able to help...

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1 min read

5 Ways Basis Trading Grain Elevators Own Their Markets

At White Commercial, we have the privilege of working with over 250 grain elevator companies all over the US and Canada. We have identified specific...

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Basis Example

5 min read

3 Myths of Basis In Farm Marketing

I want to initiate a Public Relations Campaign within the farming community to get BASIS the respect and understanding it deserves.

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1 min read

The Most Effective & Simple Grain Origination Strategy There Is

The typical grain marketing discussion that occurs with a farmer at the elevator or coffee shop centers a lot around price. What are prices doing?...

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1 min read

Grain Elevator Financing Tip: Borrowing Base Reconciliation

Where much is given, much is required and this is certainly true with collateral audits. The increased grain elevator financing requirements have...

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Grain Elevator

2 min read

The Grain Business IS the Relationship Business

Successful businesses, no matter what industry, know, develop and practice the art of maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with their...

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3 min read

The Art of Grain Merchandising

People often ask why they should read this book and the answer is quite simple, because merchandising skills changes people’s lives. You may think...

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1 min read

Don Rogers' Story

Hello, my name is Don Rogers. I’m part owner, former manager and merchandiser of Rogers Grain in Covington, OH. I want to share with you an...

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2 min read

The Greatest Myth of Grain Merchandising

Let’s talk about spreads for a moment – Carry Spreads, Flat Spreads, and Inverted Spreads. It’s no secret that spreads play a big role in how...

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1 min read

The 11 Rules of Basis Trading

The Basis Trader's Rules We are in the grain business and we are basis traders. Futures are used only to fix the basis on a grain transaction and...

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2 min read

Grain Origination - Establish Credibility and Build your Profit

Grain Origination is a skill. It is a learned skill. Unfortunately, experience sometimes is your only instructor when developing origination skills....

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