Back Home Again

All of our harvesting equipment is back home, which means, 2010 harvest is officially over!  This doesnt mean farmers hard work is complete, and really, when is it ever complete?  You can now find them in the fields, working up the land that was harvested just weeks ago...all in the name of getting ready for Spring.  You might also find men working in fields...fixing waterways or tiling different fields (underground drainage that can majorly benefit a field)...Their jobs are never complete...and on top of the physical work...farmers have book work that needs to be caught up on and phone calls that need to be made in order to line up things for Spring.

We feel very fortunate to say that we had a pretty good year!  We had pretty extensive hail/wind damage to one of our farms...our yield was terrible, but thanks to insurance, we came out on top!  What also helped?  The market!  Towards the end of harvest...prices went through the roof due to lower than expected national yields...meaning production was low (bushels per acre) which drove the price up pretty remarkably!  Farming is a serious gamble when it comes to selling our product...it is exactly like playing roulette in Vegas.  One day...prices are sky high...and you have to make the quick decision (bet) to either sell your corn or beans...or wait it out and see if they go even higher.  The ugly down side to that is when you hold out a little longer...thinking prices will go up...but then BAM...they fall...which can mean the difference between thousands of dollars gained...or thousands of dollars lost!  It is a tricky business!