Well, we’re entering the field day season. It is the time of year when we interact more often with some of the companies we work with. Pork chops and plot tours seem to be the standard these days.

I had a discussion with one of our seed suppliers Thursday. He asked if I wanted to order any wheat. In the course of our discussion, I asked him how much corn and soybean seed prices were going to come down. His response floored me! He said they were going up! He says technology providers set the prices before grain prices made this big decline!

That’s a lot of exclamation points, I know. But that’s how surprised I was. To be honest, I didn’t really expect him to tell me prices were going to go down a whole lot. I did expect soybeans to dip a little. After all, seed companies will pay seed growers a couple bucks a bushel less for the seed than they had to pay last year. In seed corn, the price per bushel paid to the grower is such a small percentage of the overall price that I didn’t really expect a reduction. But I did expect corn seed prices to stay steady.

After I finished up that conversation, I picked up the phone and called another supplier who previously told me bean prices would be less. I told him about the conversation I just had and asked him if I misunderstood what I thought I heard at their field day. He confirmed that their soybean prices would be coming down a couple dollars a bag. He also stated that one of the corn seed companies they carry held flat, and the other had an increase. But, he said, they are offering bigger discounts if you pay in September. (I laughed. Nobody wants to pay in September.) He went on to say he heard one of the major seed companies is looking at an across the board 20% price increase. If that’s true, it’s insane!

I guess technology and germplasm companies know that we have to buy seed. They are going to get our technology fees and royalties no matter what. But complete disregard for customer financial well-being is noted.

I don’t really care when they set technology prices. I do believe they should proactively revisit and adjust them. We will have to keep our ear to the ground. Going into 2025, I think the best deal is going to get the bulk of our business. We don’t have any pennies, nickels, or dimes to throw around!