Pauls Ramble

Happy Tuesday from the Co-op!

Farming ’22 has FINALLY begun! Not fast by any means but farmers are scratching, we are spreading fertilizer and seed is going out the door. Last year in our area, we were done seeding wheat, corn sugarbeets & soybeans. This year we are just getting started.

This week I’m going to focus on North Dakota’s progress. ND has 17% of the spring wheat planted which compares to 81% last year and the 5-year average of 60%. Sugarbeets, 9% seeded vs 54% last year. Corn was 4% seeded, compared to 59% last year and the 5-year average of 41%. Soybeans are 2% seeded, well behind last year’s 48% last year and the 5-year average of 24%. My estimate in eastern ND: spring wheat <5%. Sugarbeets < 5% corn and beans 0%.

Unfortunately, this week's forecast isn’t going to allow much progress ahead of more rains (even snow further north) later in the week. This will keep markets and almost everyone on edge. The 10-day forecast for Fargo has been relatively spot on over the last month. Despite all the sun in the forecast below, another inch of rain couldn’t be more poorly timed (if it does come to fruition). Mother Nature wants to keep everyone guessing as there is even a small risk of snow showers in NW ND this Friday. Wouldn’t that just fit into how this year has started?!


Last week, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum has signed an executive order, waiving hours of service requirements for truckers hauling farm inputs. Burgum said this waiver will help keep farmers supplied with fertilizer, seed, and crop protection products during the delayed and compressed planting season.
Ukraine is trying to export grain, but Russia is making sure that can’t be done through the ports. Grain is still being moved west via rail. Exports are about 20 percent of what they were prior to the war over land, with many obstacles. There are concerns as the wheat harvest gains momentum later this spring in Romania, Poland, and Baltic states. Ukrainian farmers are trying to plant and they’re trying to do it wearing flak jackets as they operate tractors to protect themselves. Crazy!

India banned wheat exports on Saturday, due to fears over a heat-wave-induced domestic production decline; their government said that wheat exports backed by already-issued letters of credit would still be allowed, along with exports to countries who need to "meet their food security needs".
From the frying pan into the fire is the best way to describe the developments over the weekend as a dire situation just got worse. World export capacity has been so adversely affected by Russia invading Ukraine and global weather problems, that no market is in a comfortable stock’s situation. Further world production loss could set up a situation that takes years to solve even with trend line yields.
I cannot remember a time when corn, beans and wheat were all at historically low world stocks levels which makes the challenge of keeping everyone adequately supplied.
 
Valley United’s Sales director, Nate VanWechel will be leaving us at the end of this week. He accepted a management role for ADM Edible Bean division. Nate came over to Valley United in the merger and played an integral role on merging the agronomy sales team. While he will be missed, we are excited for him in his new role. Good luck, Nate!

Cash prices at Valley United Co-op: Wheat $13.20 New Crop $13.10. Corn $7.60 New Crop $7.00 and soybeans @ $ 15.75 with New Crop at $14.50.

Monica and I made a promise to our grandkids we would take them on a trip when they turned 12. Anyplace they wanted to go. Avery wanted to go to Washington DC, and we were fortunate to take her in 2019 prior to Covid & the insurrection so she was able to tour the Capital and sites that aren’t open to the public now. Brayden is 16 and he finally decided on his trip. He is a hockey player but for some reason has a love for soccer. His favorite team is Manchester City in England. In July they are coming to the US and playing an exhibition in Houston Texas in July. So, we are accompanying him to a soccer game in Houston. Never would have imagined a small-town North Dakota boy going to an international soccer match in Texas, but I am!

In closing this week’s Ramble……………….

Jim Valvano was a college basketball coach who moved to broadcasting and inspirational speaking and came down with cancer. He remained inspirational throughout his fight and a fund was set up in his name, that to date has raised over 50 million dollars for cancer research. In 1993, he gave a speech at an awards banquet in New York. He died 3 months after this speech at the age of 47.
Here are a couple of paragraphs of his speech. Think about it, live it.
“Time is very precious to me. I don't know how much I have left, and I have some things that I would like to say. Hopefully, at the end, I'll have something that will be important to other people too. But I can't help it. Now, I'm fighting cancer, everybody knows that. People ask me all the time about how you go through your life and how your day, and nothing is changed for me. I'm a very emotional, passionate man. I can't help it. That's being the son of Rocco and Angelina Valvano. It comes with the territory. We hug, we kiss, we love. And when people say to me how do you get through life or each day, it's the same thing. To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that's a full day. That's a heck of a day. You do those seven days a week, you're going to have something special.”

“I just got one last thing, I urge all of you, all of you, to enjoy your life, the precious moments you have. To spend each day with some laughter and some thought, to get your emotions going. To be enthusiastic every day and [as] Ralph Waldo Emerson said, "Nothing great could be accomplished without enthusiasm" -- to keep your dreams alive in spite of problems whatever you have. The ability to be able to work hard for your dreams to come true, to become a reality.”
“Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things”
Have a great “rest of the week”
-Paul

If God brings you to it he'll bring you through it.............