Demographics
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Getting Ready for the Midwest Crop Tour
I am spending the night in Spokane since my plane leaves at 6:30 tomorrow morning. I did not feel like getting up at 2 am to drive three hours to catch my flight. That is one of the joys to living in Yakima, Washington. I will arrive in Kansas City tomorrow at about 1 and […]
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IRS Required Interest Rates Nearing All Time Low
The IRS publishes each month the Applicable Federal Rates (AFR). They just published the rates for September in Revenue Ruling 2011-20. These rates are broken down into three different terms: Short-term (less than 3 years) Mid-term (more than 3 and less than 9 years) Long-term (more than 9 years) These rates determine the minimum interest […]
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Where did the Million Acres of Wheat Go?
There was an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal this morning about how the USDA issued information regarding the current wheat harvest that normally would required a Freedom of Information Act request to get. Previous reports from the USDA had pegged the spring wheat crop at about 12.7 million acres. The report just released […]
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Harvesting Good Wheat on Steep Hills
I spent Friday afternoon and all day Saturday harvesting wheat for my cousins near Dixie, Washington. Dixie is the town I grew up in until we moved to the big city of Walla Walla when I was in high school. The fields we were harvesting on were about a mile away from the old homestead. […]
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Corn Price is Now Higher Than Wheat!
Historically, wheat prices have generally been higher than corn prices and sometimes the difference can be major. In many years, wheat could be $1 or $2 higher than corn. This is due to two main reasons: Corn was primarily used for feed Wheat was more heavily used for bread and other products directly consumed as […]
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FFSC – Day 2 (Session Six)
Phyllis Parks, a CPA with Daughhetee & Parks Management Consulting gave a presentation on understanding our competition south of the Equator. Phyllis had taken a trip to South America in December. The state income tax rate is 18%. The employer rate for social security is 27% and the employee pays about 3%. Brazil seems to […]
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FFSC – Day Two (Session Five)
On purpose, I skipped talking about session four since it was my discussion on income taxes which we have posted on many times already. Session Five was presented by Tim Ohlde, President of Elk State Bank in Clyde, KS on the applications of the FFSC guidelines to Today’s Ag Lending World. He stated that what […]
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FFSC – Day Two (Session Two)
Danny Klinefelter from Texas A & M was the second speaker of the day and his discussion on Peer Advisory Groups and Continuous Management Improvements. The studies from about 1,100 top producers around the US over the last several years attending the TEPAP conference show that only about 50% were using cash flow budgets and […]
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FFSC – Day Two (first session)
The annual conference of the Farm Financial Standards Council just got started this morning. The first speaker of the day was Dan Looker, business editor of Successful Farming and his discussion was on Ag Megatrends. The first Ag Megatrend dealt with Ethanol. Even though the blender credit is most likely being phased out or allowed […]
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The Pacific NW Wheat Harvest is Late!
My wife and I rode our motorcycle from Yakima to Lewiston on Thursday with a stop in Walla Walla. Normally this time of year, wheat harvest would be in full throttle, however, I noticed very little harvesting going on that day. I visited with my Uncle and Aunt at their house on Thursday and spoke […]