Let’s start this off with a big Merry Christmas! I just got done loading the last truck and he is sitting in line to be dumped. We’ve shipped a good chunk of grain this month. It is a good practice to core the bins. That simply means take some grain out of the bin. In the event there was a bad spot or a bunch of fines fell in on spot in the bin, when you core the bin, you pull grain out of the center and as it draws down, grain moves around a little reducing the risk of any spoilage. We had previously ran the fans to cool the grain for long term storage.

When the driver gets home, he is done for the year. It works out well that our drivers are retired and don’t want to work every day. Shop work will continue next week, but only because Ken is taking the following week to drive in-laws to Florida. Otherwise, we would be ‘shut down’!

My week next week will be consumed with year end financials. We received preliminary numbers from the accountant this week. Firm pricing is also staring to trickle in from retailers. Most of it isn’t very good news, but it is what we have to deal with this year. I talked to one salesman yesterday who commented no farmer has left his office happy. I think most farmers understand it isn’t the retailer who has doubled or tripled the prices of our inputs. Farmers are frustrated that we had a good year this year, but are at risk of losing big next year!

Next week I’ll be doing the annual best of/worst of blog. Until then hopefully you can enjoy some time with family!

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