Ray Mueller
Correspondent
BROTHERTOWN
There isn’t much doubt about the numerical accuracy for the billions of bushels of corn on the stalk and soybeans on the stem indicated in the latest official crop report. However, there should be considerable doubt about crop losses in the field and the quality of the 2009 crop yet to be harvested, the National Farmers Organization’s grain marketing coordinator for Wisconsin says.
Speaking at the October monthly meeting of the Calumet County NFO chapter, John Nadler shared what he learned from grain marketing colleagues from around the Midwest in recent conference calls. This included flooding and total loss of the soybean crop at places in Indiana; the killing freeze during the second weekend of October on many acres of “grass green corn” in northern Illinois; and the rejection or price docking by grain elevators of corn so immature and rain-damaged that the rotted cobs ended up in the grain rather than going out of the combine into the chaff.
“You’ve got to wonder if this isn’t being reflected in the market,” Nadler remarked. He was referring to the recent modest price increases for both corn and soybeans – something that’s not common during the harvest period and despite the national forecast of more than 13 billion bushels of corn and 3.25 billion bushels of soybeans.
“The harvest is extremely slow,” Nadler observed. Already delayed by the late maturity and lack of drying days since late September, the problem continued with general rains that moved across Illinois, Indiana, and much of Iowa and Wisconsin.
Nadler reported that he handled the sale of 10,000 bushels of old-crop corn for a grower earlier in the day for $3.77 per bushel. He noted that waiting a couple of hours would have tacked another 10 cents per bushel onto the selling price. Prices during the day on Oct. 21 rose by 13 cents per bushel for corn, 26 cents for soybeans and 25 cents for wheat despite a supposed wheat glut.
Chapter president and livestock hauler Don Huebner presented an “it’s terrible” review of livestock prices, particularly for feeder cattle. He cited a recent sale of a group of beef breed feeders weighing 600 pounds or more, for only 55 cents per pound at an area livestock auction sale.
Recent dressed weight prices at Green Bay slaughter plants ranged from 74 to 90 cents per pound –lowest to top grades – for culled dairy cows and were at $1.28, $1.18 and $1.09 per pound by grade for Holstein steers, Huebner reported. He was pleased however, with the volume of more than 700 head per month at the NFO’s Ledgeview collection station and with the profitable operating margin at the facility.
The latest tally indicates that 181 farmers are shipping cattle through the Ledgeview station. Calumet County leads the way with 44, followed by Brown and Door counties with 25 each, Manitowoc 21, Waupaca 14, Shawano 13 and Outagamie 12.
