Pauls Ramble
Jun 06, 2022
Monday, June 06, 2022
Greetings from the Co-op!
Our Spring from hell is slowly progressing! As I’m writing this “Ramble” soybeans, edible beans along with some “tail-end” corn & wheat are being seeded. Yes, you heard correctly! Planting the last corn acres on June 6th. This is a testament that our farmers are the poster child for optimism. With all the talk in our region about a huge number of acres going into Preventative Plant, our farmers just want to do what they do…… plant. They are working so hard day and night to get the crop seeded.
I could not be prouder of my Valley United team. They are pitching in and doing what must be done to supply our customers with fertilizer, seed and agronomy products needed to get the 2022 crop seeded. My technology manager loaded seed; my grain/operations manager was our in-field mechanic. I could go on and on. Our window was so small, that we had no choice but to leave our comfort zone and do what had to be done. It’s this dedication to our company (and customers) that makes me proud to be a part of Valley United.
Here is my current “estimate” of acres seeded in our trade area: corn 75% (done) spring wheat 95% (done) sugarbeets (100%) soybeans 35% (Still planting)
In today’s progress report, corn is 81% planted in ND which compares to 96% L/Y and 92% 5-year average. Spring wheat is 74% seeded, compared to 100% L/Y and 97% 5-year average. Soybeans are 41% in the ground which compares to 94% L/Y and 85% 5-year average.
Ukraine is trying to export grain, but Russia is making sure that can’t be done through the ports. Russia bombed a key Ukraine sun oil/grain export facility in Mykolaiv on Saturday. Before the war the port typically handled about 1 MMT of grain and 150,000 MTs of sun oil per month. The attack on the port casts ever more doubt on the potential of a humanitarian corridor. Ukraine's president says 75 million tons of grain could be stuck in the country by this fall, and he wants help from other countries to ensure safe passage of its exports through the Black Sea. Traders and farmers, with the support of the Ukrainian government and neighboring nations, are seeking alternative routes to export those grains to stave off global food shortages and relieve soaring prices. But the new routes are longer, often backlogged and more expensive. The challenge is complicated by stretched infrastructure and continued Russian attacks on bridges and railways.
A new soybean crushing plant broke ground last week near Jamestown, ND. The $350 million Green Bison facility, a joint venture of ADM and MPC, will process up to 150,000 bushels of soybeans per day and supply vegetable oil as a feedstock for MPC’s renewable diesel refinery in Dickinson to produce up to 75 million gallons of renewable diesel annually. The Green Bison facility is expected to be online by the 2023 harvest. Earlier this spring, a $400 million North Dakota Soybean Processors plant at Casselton, North Dakota, is expected to crush 42.5 million bushels of soybeans in the first year and is a joint venture between the Minnesota Soybean Processors and Louisiana-based CGB Enterprises. The $400 million plant is scheduled to be crushing soybeans by the fall 2024.
Today, The Environmental Protection Agency said it would set the 2022 levels for corn-based ethanol blended into gasoline at 15.25 billion gallons, its highest level ever. According to EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan, this increase ”will help to reduce our reliance on oil and put the RFS program back on track after years of challenges and mismanagement.”
Refiners and fuel importers also will be required to blend an additional 250 million gallons of biofuels this year on top of the quotas in an EPA bid to address a court-ordered rebuke of six-year-old targets.
Refiners argued the 2022 target is so ambitious it would also boost industry compliance costs with some of the burden passed on to consumers. Refining advocates and their allies in Congress had unsuccessfully appealed to the administration for a significant reduction. The renewable fuels industry says gas blended with 15% ethanol, called E15, can cut pump prices by nearly 60 cents a gallon in some parts of the country. Additionally, research from EH&E shows that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for ethanol are 46% lower than gasoline.
Cash prices at Valley United Co-op: wheat $11.80 New Crop $11.70. corn $7.00 New Crop $6.50 and soybeans @ $16.00 with New Crop at $14.75.
In closing, I want to again acknowledge those who are fighting Mother Nature to get their crop seeded. We hear about farmers trying to milk the system by dragging their feet in planting to collect insurance. I only see that many of these farmers have planted day and night to grow a crop the nation and world needs more now than ever. They are FARMERS, plain and simple. They want to raise a crop no matter what obstacle is thrown in front of them. They don’t want the easy way out. The following quotations are for hope & perseverance considering the weather troubles farmers are facing this year in our area.
- It is surmounting difficulties that make heroes.
- Triumphs without difficulties are empty. Indeed, it is difficulties that make the triumph. It is no feat to travel the smooth road.
- I know God will not give me anything I can't handle. I just wish that He didn't trust me so much.
- The true measure of a man is not how he behaves in moments of comfort and convenience but how he stands at times of controversy and challenges.
- Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.
- Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven't half the strength you think they have.
- Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no help at all.
- Perseverance is a great element of success; if you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate you are sure to wake up somebody.
- How long should you try? Until…………………………
Have a great week.
Paul
If God brings you to it, he'll bring you through it.............
