John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States from 1961 to 1963, had some unique insights and understanding of farming finances and economics. During a 1960 speech in South Dakota at a National Plowing Contest, then senator Kennedy shared some thoughts that still hold true today: “The farmer is the only man in
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To make sure you’re making smart marketing decisions, you need to honestly answer a few questions
Big data and agriculture markets: Part 3
Options-based strategies can help get more out of a chaotic market filled with randomness and unpredictability
The previous article in this three-part series addressed some of the main myths and misperceptions of commodity hedging. This final segment looks at some practical solutions for improving farm marketing and commodity revenue protection. In David Orrell’s book Apollo’s Arrow: The Science of Prediction and the Future of Everything, he writes about the unpredictability and
Big data and agriculture markets: Part 2
Trend-watching can tell us a lot about markets, but won’t necessarily mean better results
The first of this three-part series looked at the current state of farm revenue and risk management and how big data analysis can play a greater role. This time I’d like to explore some of the myths and misperceptions of agriculture hedging. To understand this topic we have to ask ourselves, for farm marketing and
Big data and agriculture markets: Part 1
We’re awash in market information and using modern approaches can help manage and understand it all
Big data has got a lot of attention: from online shopping patterns that encourage you to buy, to life insurance to lower premiums and, of course, to the financial markets to increase returns and reduce risk. The agriculture industry has seen plenty of number crunching focusing on production and operations information technology, crop sciences advancements
Strategies for protecting your downside risk
Every now and then, we all need to take a step back and remove ourselves from our day-to-day activities to see the big picture. At this time of year coming into the fall and winter, we speak a lot with clients about protecting not just any of this year’s crops sitting in the bins but
A sample options strategy for soybeans
We recently had the privilege of co-presenting with the CME Group at their CBOT Grain Options Workshop during the annual Wild Oats Grainworld conference in Winnipeg. Here’s an overview of that event including what is risk, what is risk management and a straightforward strategy you can use to protect yourself against falling grain prices. What
Hedging strategies if you’re selling in the U.S.
If you sell product to the U.S., as many Canadian businesses do and want to protect yourself, you are probably asking what to do if the loonie is worth more than a U.S. greenback, which it has been again recently. With many risk-management tools available today, what is the best strategy for you in your
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
