Geneseo, Illinois
August 25, 2008
Wyffels Hybrids hosted the third annual “Corn Strategies:
Generation III,” informational seminar, in Decatur, Ill., on
July 16 for nearly 300 corn growers and farm managers.
The all day event was a rare opportunity for growers to learn
how to maximize their profits for the coming months and years by
hearing from top experts in the industry. The featured speakers
included John Roach, owner and founder of Roach Ag Marketing;
Paul Vassalotti, Technical Service Representative, BASF; Dan
Foor, Marketing Lead, Corn States; Moe Russell, President of
Russell Consulting Group; and Gregory L. Guenther of the
Illinois Corn Growers Association.
“Wyffels is dedicated to the success of our customers and
providing them with knowledge and guidance to generate profit on
their operation,” said Bill Wyffels, president of Wyffels
Hybrids. “We are overjoyed by the great turnout of growers and
the feedback we heard from the event. Many growers said this
seminar was one of the most informative they’ve attended, and
they appreciated Wyffels’ effort to go above and beyond in its
commitment to treat customers as 'More than a number.'”
The topics discussed throughout the day included: how to market
grain amidst rapidly changing prices, managing corn plant
diseases, technology advancements and the effect on agriculture,
how to maximize working capital, and the progress on the lock
and dam initiative and its benefits.
Moe Russell’s presentation, “Maximizing Working Capital,”
discussed the opportunity for building wealth in the next three
years along with the increased business risk. Russell discussed
the “Expense Tail” ($4 corn and $7 input costs) and illustrated
that over time, input costs will decline much slower than
declining prices, no matter what size the operation. He conveyed
the importance of benchmarking one’s operation against the
industry’s best, managing financial leverage appropriately, and
more closely managing human capital.
Paul Vassalotti spoke with farmers about “Corn Plant Health and
Disease Management,” through the use of Headline® fungicide,
which he stated was the most researched and proven fungicide
available, citing results summarized from 5,000 on-farm trials.
Vassalotti stated that the use of a fungicide works on all three
key yield areas: growth efficiency, disease control and stress
tolerance. According to Vassalotti, “the two most important
things for success with fungicide in corn are timing and
coverage.”
John Roach, owner and founder of Roach Ag Marketing, discussed
the real reasons why field crop prices are up and talked about
the numbers behind the dollars. A few of the reasons for the
rise include the sinking value of the U.S. dollar, speculative
and index fund buying, growth in bio-fuels production, increased
meat demand stimulated by world economic growth, countries
restricting exports and the fact that stocks are tight and
everyone has fears regarding 2008 U.S. crop losses. Roach also
gave a few tips on the ideal Ag Sales Plan: make as many of your
grain sales as possible during the months of March, April, May
and June, but avoid October and November; sell in increments to
take advantage of several market peaks; and buy puts on unsold
new crop production with either profit or insurance goal.
Dan Foor, marketing lead for Corn States, addressed the new
demand environment for agriculture - increasing protein demand,
ascension of China and the biofuels debate. He discussed that
future technology advances will give a significant boost to the
sub-optimized global production of corn. Over the past 50 years,
corn yields have more than doubled and, according to Foor,
should double again by 2025. He went on to say that through
continued emphasis on molecular breeding and biotechnology, 300
bushels per acre is achievable by 2030.
Greg Guenther from ICGA, gave a brief overview on the “Lock and
Dam Update” occurring on the Mississippi River. The goal of the
project is to increase safety for barges traveling through the
locks. With this update barges will not have to be split in half
to fit into the lock, increasing safety among workers.
Wyffels Hybrids, headquartered in Geneseo, Illinois, is one
of the nation’s largest independent seed corn companies.
Focusing strictly on developing and marketing elite corn
hybrids, the company is dedicated to providing corn growers in
Illinois, Iowa, southern Wisconsin and the Ohio River Valley
with the latest agronomic information and unmatched customer
service and product support. |
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