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Procrastinating may work for Christmas shopping, but it limits grain marketing options.

Ryan Fogel, Ag risk advisor

December 20, 2022

6 Min Read
gifts by Christmas tree
Getty/Betsie Van der Meer

It’s Christmas time and hope is in the air. Our Christmas wish lists are getting long: less snow, warmer weather, higher river levels and higher grain prices.

If the typical farmer does their Christmas shopping how they do their grain marketing, there would be a lot of nervous kids. Nobody wants to be the mom or dad running out to Walmart looking to see what the supply chain has provided at the last minute. But time tends to get away from us.

You know you need to start earlier, but life gets in the way. Sometimes you want to wait for a better deal. And as you scramble to find a good option, you tell yourself you’ll start earlier next year. I know I do!

Having constant access to Amazon from your pocket is only useful if you make a decision. Nobody wants to do anything, until the last minute. I’m not judging. I still have some last-minute Christmas shopping to do.

But you’d find yourself less nervous if you started earlier. If only you had picked up a few things months ago. You could have grabbed a few more presents last month and now you would be finishing up.

Get a head start on 2023 grain marketing

Marketing should be the same way. With uncertainties about rising input costs and even availability, why wait until the last minute to market your grain? Why wait for the market to drop before deciding you need to do something?

If you had a plan and started earlier, you’d have more time to take advantage of these market moves.

 When you start earlier, you’re not as nervous about price dips. When you wait until the last minute, you’re at the mercy of the market. You’re hoping for the best.

The good news is that you still have plenty of time to market next year’s crop. The bad news is that it’s getting late for your Christmas shopping. So, best of luck!

Whether it’s Christmas shopping or marketing, it’s easier and more fun to start looking early. Marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. And you might be able to get away with finding Christmas gifts at the last minute. But why would you want to put that added stress on your life?

Seek professional guidance

So how can you alleviate this stress? You don’t wing it with your Christmas shopping, do you? You get help. Your kids will be circling items they want in a Target advertisement or texting you their Amazon wish list. That makes me feel old.

You won’t go buying your gifts blindly and hoping for the best. You need guidance. And with your marketing, you’re going to want guidance too. Without guidance, you may end up buying something that feels good at the time, but later you’ll wish you could return it.

The typical marketing plan involves doing nothing and hoping for the best. This may be in keeping with the Christmas spirit, but it’s unlikely to be your best bet in marketing. The best marketing plan, like Christmas shopping, involves guidance, early planning and ultimately execution.

Contact Advance Trading at (800) 664-2321 or go to www.advance-trading.com.

Information provided may include opinions of the author and is subject to the following disclosures:

The risk of trading futures and options can be substantial. All information, publications, and material used and distributed by Advance Trading Inc. shall be construed as a solicitation. ATI does not maintain an independent research department as defined in CFTC Regulation 1.71. Information obtained from third-party sources is believed to be reliable, but its accuracy is not guaranteed by Advance Trading Inc. Past performance is not necessarily indicative of future results.

The opinions of the author are not necessarily those of Farm Futures or Farm Progress.

About the Author(s)

Ryan Fogel

Ag risk advisor, Advance Trading Inc.

Ryan was born and raised in central Illinois. After graduating in 2010 from the University of Illinois with a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics, Ryan began his career with a large multinational food/commodity trading firm as a merchandiser of corn and soybeans. Ryan joined Advance Trading in 2012. He enjoys the education and teaching process with his clients in order to help them make better decisions on the pricing of their crops. He believes that education of risk management leads to a better understanding to accomplish his clients’ marketing goals.

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