Roll With The Weather, Not Your Emotions

We explore how fast weather shifts and a Beaver Moon mindset shape smarter marketing choices, then walk through a soybean rally, a cautious corn outlook, and why a clear written plan beats hope. Grain bagging lessons, family priorities, and choosing rest give the season a healthier finish.

• setting intentions for winter and family time
• soybean strength with a likely short rally
• no-advice stance and margin-focused decisions
• knowing costs and writing a marketing plan
• corn outlook, stretch targets, and patience
• grain bagging benefits, risks, and fixes
• post-harvest work without anhydrous
• rest, resilience, and community check-ins

Go find us on all of the socials at farmers greatest asset
Send us an email at farmersgreatestasset at gmail.com
Let us know how you guys did with your yields

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:16

The Farmer's Greatest Asset Podcast. We believe the Farm's Greatest Asset is the Farmer. Their knowledge, experience, mind, and health. Well, welcome to the podcast. I am Jesse.

SPEAKER_02 0:41

And I'm Dr. Leah.

SPEAKER_01 0:43

Well, we are a little on time this episode. Isn't that a last-minute kind of recording deal?

SPEAKER_02 0:49

It is Wednesday afternoon, honey. It isn't Thursday morning.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

You didn't have to tell everybody that.

SPEAKER_02 1:05

Yeah, we talked about that last week.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

So now we're doing some tillage and cleaning up some fence rows, getting a lot of that stuff done.

SPEAKER_02 1:16

The weather is shifting. Like it was hot. Now it's cool and breezy.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

It is a little more of a breeze, but yes, it is.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

And I think we're going to have a major change this weekend.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

The change is coming. Welcome to Iowa. Does every state say that? Like in Iowa, like, oh yeah, you're going to have all four seasons in one day.

SPEAKER_02 1:40

Yeah, I th well, probably not every state, but I'm guessing Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri.

SPEAKER_01 1:48

Most Midwestern states.

SPEAKER_02 1:49

Illinois. Yeah, I think, yes. Even when we were having really hot weather, like those early 90s, I was up visiting friends in Wisconsin and it was that way up there too. So I'm sure it's kind of like that. Welcome to the Midwest. You're going to have it all. There you go. There you go. We like we we are resilient people here. We can roll with roll with the weather. There's a new saying, instead of roll with the punches, we're rolling with the weather.

SPEAKER_01 2:20

Yeah, no joke. Roll with the weather.

SPEAKER_02 2:24

It sounds a little more palatable.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Sure. So yeah, there is some weather coming. They're talking a little rain, but then the cool off is gonna happen. So it is more than cool.

SPEAKER_02 2:40

I think it's the cold off.

SPEAKER_01 2:43

It is November, so it is bound to happen.

SPEAKER_02 2:47

It's funny because I've been working outside this week, and it went from like I get up in the morning and I have like leggings underneath of my my jeans, and I have like a tank top with a long sleeve shirt, with a flannel, with my vest. And then it's like by the end of the afternoon, I'm like in a tank top and my jeans.

SPEAKER_01 3:13

And then by five o'clock, you need it all again.

SPEAKER_02 3:16

Well, actually, it really starts changing about four o'clock. And about four o'clock, you can feel the sun starting to time change. I know. I know.

SPEAKER_01 3:27

Anyway, that's a whole nother episode, right?

Beaver Moon And Winter Intentions

SPEAKER_02 3:32

We are still adjusting, still adjusting to the time change. And it's also a full moon.

SPEAKER_01 3:43

It is.

SPEAKER_02 3:44

Tonight is the full moon.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

What do they call it?

SPEAKER_02 3:48

This is what they call the beaver moon. I just learned that this week. And it is named, it is the last full moon before the winter solstice. And they called it the beaver moon because like it is a time of preparation. Like the the beavers would prepare their dam to get ready for the winter, because you know the winter ice is hard on their dams. And it's also them getting all the last harvest and getting the preparation and the food packed away in their homes. And so they call it the beaver moon. It's a time to reflect, to prepare and reflect on what you want and like in the upcoming winter season of calm and peace and silence and rest and you know, to repair, um and to kind of realign with your intentions. So I highly encourage everyone, you know, like those types of things are usually thought to be at the beginning of the year, you know, of the new year, but it it's a really a good time um to set intention of how you want your winter to go. And this this time this year, um looking at my schedule, I realize how much I want my family to be a prior priority. And I say they're my priority, but I'm not always setting aside time to be with them. That isn't like go do this and do that, and we need to do this and do that, and just you know, sit with them, talk about them.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

Sit at the dinner table together.

SPEAKER_02 5:38

Yeah. Talk about where they are. I mean, especially our kids are older, so talk about what they're thinking and and where they're at right now, and and be there for them. Like I always want to be, but I feel like the busy takes me away from that.

Soybean Rally And No-Advice Disclaimer

Family Priorities And Slowing Down

SPEAKER_01 5:56

So, yes, this is the time of year right now. Literally today, we were talking about um how many bushels we have to market and the different marketing uh plans.

SPEAKER_02 6:08

Yeah, we had our pre-harvest marketing plan, and now we need to sit down and really crunch the numbers.

SPEAKER_01 6:17

Fine-tune it. So we will run all the reports. We do have the reap app that uh was on the grain cart with the scales. Um, so we just need to kind of double check that with our yield monitor, and then so we stored everything, so we just kind of need to check and recheck and double check everything. Um, but at the current moment, actually, what'd I say today? Beans are up like another 11 cents. Yeah. Yeah, nearby beans on the board were up another 11 cents. So we've had a pretty good run of beans here the last week, 10 days. Um, and we have pulled the trigger on selling some beans. Shall we say that we are not giving any marketing advice?

SPEAKER_02 7:06

Absolutely not.

SPEAKER_01 7:08

In no way, shape, or form, should you do exactly what we say? But um, I feel like this is our opportunity, so we sold some. Um, but going back, I wanted to wait on the first sale that we made, and you're like, nope, we need to pull the trigger because it was in our pre-harvest marketing plan that that price was a good price.

SPEAKER_02 7:30

It was actually like a lot higher than what our pre-harvest marketing plan was, right? Um, like where we are now, I was hoping we would get to after the beginning of the year. Um right.

SPEAKER_01 7:44

So futures right now are eleven nineteen for today, um, which is we I didn't see that coming at all. Um, but I did say all along that if we ever got China back into the game, that would make things look differently. But that being said, I am concerned that it will last very long, right?

SPEAKER_02 8:10

And that's just that this is gonna be a short-lived rally, is what we're thinking.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

So I've talked to a good friend who owns a marketing business, um, Keith, Galen with AgriSource. Um and he's saying the same thing. He's like, you know, it's a good chance to sell. Is this gonna come to fruition? They all I have said at this point, China being they, that they will buy some. Um so we hope that they come through.

SPEAKER_02 8:41

But so I think the really important thing is to really know where you stand on the cost of your inputs.

SPEAKER_01 8:52

You have to know your numbers.

SPEAKER_02 8:54

So then if it's covered, then and you're getting a return on your investment. Granted, I would love for to have gotten fifteen dollars a bushel for beans, right? That's not even possible. I'm not gonna hold my breath.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

Right.

Knowing Costs And Writing A Plan

SPEAKER_02 9:17

So I would love to have gotten, and we sold before I mean we we sold already, so it's not like we can get where it's at today. It's higher today than where we sold it at.

SPEAKER_01 9:28

We've sold some that first rally, we sold some the next rally, and we've still kind of kept rallying a little bit. But in our marketing plan, we said$11 is good, and if that's a bad sale, I guess that's a bad sale.

SPEAKER_02 9:43

My thought on it, and I I don't have like the emotional connection to the grain. So my thought on it is if you can make a profit, it could also drop and us not have get the$11. So you have to just be okay with where you sell it at. And maybe that's just easy for me because it's you don't you can't lose money that you don't have. Right. But if you wait and it drops to nine, like when we sold like last year, it was nine eighties or lower.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

Out of the field.

SPEAKER_02 10:24

Yeah. So all of it is better than what it where it was last year. Like we didn't have$11 last year at any point in the fall. You you don't lose that money unless you sell much lower. And then you are losing. I mean, then you aren't covering your spread, right?

SPEAKER_01 10:45

Well, and that's where knowing your numbers, first of all, comes in, and then having the plan and having the plan written down somewhere, and we are above where our plan was. We also have uh our yields, our yield bean yields were better than expected. Um, and that is kind of what I've been hearing from everybody.

SPEAKER_00 11:06

That's good.

SPEAKER_01 11:08

So that being said, if that comes out that bean yields are higher, you know, that eleven dollars right now could be high.

SPEAKER_02 11:15

So um in the end, we talked, and you and I are both good with where it sold. Even if it would go to twelve fifty.

unknown 11:26

Right.

SPEAKER_02 11:27

Which I don't think it's going to, but if it would go super high, we just have to be okay with where we sold it.

SPEAKER_01 11:34

My point is, if you have that plan and it's written down and you know that that's where you're making some money, you have to be good with it. Um, in the past, I don't know that we have ever known exactly we've never had that plan written down, right? So then you just you hope for more, you hope for more, and what do they say? Hope in one hand and then shitting another and see how far you get. Have your plan, have it written down, and know where you need to be.

SPEAKER_02 12:01

I don't know who says that, but it's kind of gross.

SPEAKER_00 12:06

Right.

SPEAKER_02 12:07

I don't want anybody shitting my hand.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

Or your own hand. I also was listening to a podcast today, and uh maybe here's in a confession. Honestly, don't listen to many podcasts. I do on occasion.

SPEAKER_02 12:28

Um, but I listen to a lot of podcasts.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

Right. So on my way home today, uh, it was just a 10-15-minute drive home from the field, um, had the podcast on, and what stuck out to me was make the decision. So it's like, okay, yes, we made the decision, need to be good with it, and I'm happy with that.

SPEAKER_02 12:52

Now we just need the corn to rally.

SPEAKER_01 12:54

Yes. Yes, we do.

SPEAKER_02 12:57

But we have time, it doesn't all have to get sold today.

SPEAKER_01 13:01

No, and I don't know what to think about the corn. Our yields were decent, um, nothing like last year. Um you hear from people that there's spots that are really down. I don't know. I don't know what to think about the corn. I think there's a fair amount of corn out there, so um probably not as good as it was last year anywhere, but I'm banking on numbers like last year.

SPEAKER_02 13:29

Like I think that's probably where we'll be.

SPEAKER_01 13:31

Well, at this point, that's all we can assume, right? Um the government being shut down, so you don't have those reports. I don't know what to say about the corn.

SPEAKER_02 13:45

I guess I'm I'm talking prices. I think it'll be similar to what it was last year. Right. We don't have any pie in the sky marketing of corn.

SPEAKER_01 13:58

I mean, I have some targets out there that are pretty pie in the sky right now, but you called the buyer the other day and he's like, Well, we're kind of ways away from that.

SPEAKER_02 14:10

I was like, I know, but it's gonna happen. And he's like, Okay. He's like, You re you want me to put that in there? I was like, I absolutely do. Let's make it happen. He's like, I like your enthusiasm. It's like, yes.

SPEAKER_01 14:26

But when you think about it, I mean what's it gonna hurt? 70 cents.

SPEAKER_02 14:31

I mean, that 70 cents in corn is a little crazy, but it is, but it could happen. Um we s we still have a few months. So uh, but I'll look I'll look golden when we hit it.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

Right.

SPEAKER_02 14:50

And if not, we can just reset it.

SPEAKER_01 14:53

Cancel it and reset it.

SPEAKER_02 14:54

Yeah, we can reset a different price, a different number.

unknown 14:57

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 14:58

We'll re we'll re-look at it when uh we can, but I'm gonna shoot for the great number.

SPEAKER_01 15:05

Right. So for us, I used to do all of the marketing, and I get so busy doing everything else, and I don't follow the markets like I should if I'm marketing it. Um so I'm trying to relinquish that to you, and we we discuss it, and you have to talk me into the sales just about every time. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 15:32

We went to a marketing class years ago, probably like nine or ten years ago, right?

SPEAKER_01 15:39

And the one thing they basically said was uh just let your wives do it because they're not emotionally attached to it, they'll just sell it. And that's probably what needs to happen.

SPEAKER_02 15:50

And uh they actually said women are better grain marketers because of that.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

Right. For me, like I said, I just get so busy and all of the stuff, and then all of a sudden it's like, oh, corn was for whatever today, should have sold, and then it doesn't get sold or whatever, and then I'm just hoping for more, wanting more, and our plan right now is get all of our reports together and have a hard count on bushels and have a marketing plan, hard marketing plan on paper. So we know exactly where we want to be.

SPEAKER_02 16:27

And I know there are people out there that are like, I mean, they had like half their grain marketed before it, you know, came out of the field. And I think that that is amazing that people do all of that ahead of time and have it done and like do that much in depth. I I don't have the mental capacity or energy to do that at this point in our farming. Well, we just need to get and maybe that's maybe that's why but even like I've been looking at what what it is in the fall, and it's like I don't, you know, like you don't know what's gonna happen. So you don't you have no idea, and uh that that makes it hard. Like I think selling next year's crop right now is hard, even in January, selling the next year's crop would be a difficult 2026 crop, yeah. Right now, when you get even in May, I don't I don't know. There's people, but I think you just kind of have to get started doing it.

SPEAKER_01 17:32

You do, and I used to do that um before we started growing and expanding a lot of stuff. You use your insurance guarantee, and I used to do that, get out there and forward contract um whatever your insurance guarantee was, and just got away from it. So we need to get back to that.

SPEAKER_02 17:52

It feels less tangible. Like, I don't know. I like to have my hands on it.

Grain Bagging: Lessons And Wins

SPEAKER_01 17:57

It's hard to sell 150 bushel when you don't even have a crop in the ground to sell, but that's just what what it is the way it is.

SPEAKER_02 18:07

I think getting a bagger this year, though, changed the game for us completely.

SPEAKER_01 18:12

Absolutely. We didn't have to take anything to town straight out of the field. So because when we were thinking of having to sell that corn straight out of the field, it the prices were 60 cents less than they are today. And then you can't take it and store it or do the price later deal. That's that was 24 cents right off the top. Uh you can't do that. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 18:40

It's just a lot.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

Right. So we were able to just bag it, and that actually went really well. Um bagging it. It's simple, makes the whole harvest process go pretty quick. So now we know exactly how many bushels we got in each bag and we can market that grain.

SPEAKER_02 18:57

I mean, it is it is time, and like because we're going around checking the bags. I mean, it it's going to be a lot more time involvement.

SPEAKER_01 19:08

It is. It's our bags aren't scattered all over the countryside. I mean, they're 25-minute drive, you can have checked all the bags. 30 minutes maybe. And maybe that's just a little bit of my paranoia in the first year of having bags out in the field. Um, are there critters going to get to it? Is it uh so I guess let's admit it, we had two bags split on us already.

SPEAKER_00 19:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:35

Uh, but that was just, you know, learning curve, user error. Um, when we started the bag, it I don't know if we had the brakes set too much when we started or whatever, but the start of the bag got stretched a little too much, so it ripped. Um, so we literally just took the grain back out there and sucked, I don't know, a hundred bushel out or something. And put a new piece of plastic over it and taped it up and um got it closed back up. So we've already had that happen. Yes. I know I've heard in the comments. Don't stretch it too much, the whole thing will split. Yep. Well, you live and learn, right?

SPEAKER_02 20:16

Well, I mean, it's it's like doing surgery. Like if you don't have any complications, you haven't done enough surgery. Like it's it's inevitable. You're going to have something at some point, sometime. So we just learned really quick, hon. That's get it out of the way. That's right. Yeah. You can't ever say it didn't happen. Right.

SPEAKER_01 20:41

So, but that I mean, actually, it it was simple to because we have a grain back, it was simple to suck it out and tape it back up.

SPEAKER_02 20:48

So at the time it felt a little bit like darn it. Frustrating, but luckily it was always in the morning and you weren't out in the field yet.

SPEAKER_01 20:58

And yeah, and naturally, who sees the one bag split because it was by the bins, my cousin. Hey, I don't know if you know this, but uh your bag is well, thanks.

SPEAKER_02 21:10

Well, I thought it was nice he called.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

He was just calling, let me know, and I was appreciative of that.

SPEAKER_02 21:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:16

He's usually the one to poke the bear, and so whatever. Um, so that kind of leads into my paranoia of wanting to check the bags.

SPEAKER_02 21:25

Um, I think it's a good idea.

SPEAKER_01 21:28

We run around, check the bags, and check that check mark for the day.

Post-Harvest Work And Choosing Rest

SPEAKER_02 21:31

And well, if you think about how much money is stored in each one of those bags, I think it's a good idea. It's a it's a good, you know, protection of your assets. I'm glad harvest is completed. Now we are, you know, doing the rest of the fall work. We are not doing anhydras this year.

SPEAKER_01 21:52

No anhydras.

SPEAKER_02 21:54

Which is a change for our operation, and it feels good.

SPEAKER_01 22:01

It doesn't feel like such a rush right now. Although I feel like I'm getting a little something going on, scratchy throat. And I'm sure that's just because wore down and stress and finally slowing down, it hits. And yep. We all are probably a little stressed out and a little overworked and need a little rest. This is this is God throwing it at us, like slow down.

SPEAKER_02 22:26

But um well, it's the beaver full moon tonight. Time to rest. It's time to head into winter for your respite. Are we gonna do it this year? Are we gonna relax? Sure.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

As much as a farmer can rest and relax. And yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:50

All of those indoor things we can get done.

Community Check-In And Closing

SPEAKER_01 22:53

So with that, thanks for listening. We do appreciate everybody listening. Go find us on all of the socials.

SPEAKER_02 23:00

At farmers greatest asset.

SPEAKER_01 23:03

Send us an email.

SPEAKER_02 23:04

At farmersgreatestasset at gmail.com. We'd love to hear um what you guys think of our podcast today. Let us know how you guys did with your yields. I'd like to hear um some more uh from our audience about how your yields were. You don't have to give us numbers, but just yeah, it was better, worse. I I think that there are, you know, there's some people out in western Iowa I know that are really having a hard time. So we'll we're saying some prayers for you all. We've been there. I understand.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

Absolutely. You're not alone. Just remember, it is a good day.

SPEAKER_02 23:49

To have a great day. Bye.