Feels good to be done. Now the hard part, to market this crop

[farmaholic]

I wish someone else would chime in and give you their opinion. Their experience and thoughts might be different than mine.

[malleefarmer]

I wish someone else would chime in and give you their opinion. Their experience and thoughts might be different than mine.

Guess it’s off topic........

Must be hard at times, you can almost almost sell grain 24/7 here during harvest. Different than you guys.

Local feed mills open 24/6 for deliveries.

I envy you guys on lots of things in awe at times but marketing selling grain don’t envy that.

Thought might be more discussion no secret means business just the process.

Guess guys in eastern provinces way different how they do things.

[Guest]

So a fair bit of your grain sold domestically case?

canola yes to crushers
oats lots domestic and lots to US
i think a lot of feed barley ends up in southern alberta
most canary to MX

[Guest]

Guess it’s off topic........

Must be hard at times, you can almost almost sell grain 24/7 here during harvest. Different than you guys.

Local feed mills open 24/6 for deliveries.

I envy you guys on lots of things in awe at times but marketing selling grain don’t envy that.

Thought might be more discussion no secret means business just the process.

Guess guys in eastern provinces way different how they do things.

they're open lots here if they need it, not so much if they don't
they sure as hell need it this year

[Blaithin]

Elevators can’t fill up on shit they don’t need for a few trains.

I’m in feedlot alley so more domestic use around here. Barley and wheat to feedlots. Barley to Calgary for malt. Some Wheat to Calgary for flour. Some Wheat to Calgary for malt.

Peas aren’t very domestic. Lots of peas sold off combine around here.

Most wheat and canola is exported.

[the big wheel]

they're open lots here if they need it, not so much if they don't
they sure as hell need it this year

Farmers same way in a way if we need cash it’s gotta go get sold. Interest rates and bad credit destroy farms.
The 35 bushel average canola which I think I is high estimate you ve got some areas where 59 to 60 were realized which means there also has to be a lot of 15 to 20 bushel areas. And that’s a big problem when the stability program is complete garbage.

[jazz]

mallee, on our place we store all and do not presell. If we need immediate cash flow, there is a govt advance program we use, or its some canola that gets moved after harvest to reduce storage risk.

Canadians are very touchy about where they store a crop. They would never let it sit in some bunker somewhere. We learned those lessons when the CWB had us all by the nuts. Now its farmer controlled as far as we can take it.

We also have to be aware of the impending winter. Nobody likes cleaning out bins in -40 weather and 4 ft of snow and thats most of january and feb around here and we all want to be in Florida at that time.

We can sell to the US but right now its limited. Mostly cereals going down there.

[the big wheel]

mallee, on our place we store all and do not presell. If we need immediate cash flow, there is a govt advance program we use, or its some canola that gets moved after harvest to reduce storage risk.

Canadians are very touchy about where they store a crop. They would never let it sit in some bunker somewhere. We learned those lessons when the CWB had us all by the nuts. Now its farmer controlled as far as we can take it.

We also have to be aware of the impending winter. Nobody likes cleaning out bins in -40 weather and 4 ft of snow and thats most of january and feb around here and we all want to be in Florida at that time.

We can sell to the US but right now its limited. Mostly cereals going down there.

Farmers don’t control anything. They take it when they want it.

[bucket]

Farmers don’t control anything. They take it when they want it.

My thoughts exactly and the fact people think they control anything by building storage for the graincos is incredibly stupid.....you have just added risk and cost to your farm ...when you have finished harvest why add additional cost whether it be a bag or bin to your farm...

The fact that graincos want to throttle or orifice the grain movement in this country at farmers expense is bewildering at best....I just do not understand...


Why don't the graincos build the storage to move their capacity rating of an elevator spot to once a year and see how it works out for them...

[Sheepwheat]

Store it all here too. Rarely pre price a bit. Farmers have zero control. Your grain goes when the buyer says so. This lack of control, and having had to wait many months on several occasions to cash out on contracted grain, is a huge part of me changing my farm to sheep. Not having any control whatsoever on when the buyer will finally say yes, is just so ridiculous, yet we farmers think somehow we are “marketing” our grain. We aren’t marketing our grain, we are accepting the “best” price that the buyers offer at the time. Zero control.

We are in a high pig barn region. It often makes more sense to grow feed grains for them, no dockage, no shrink, a bit of a moisture break, competetive prices, no grading factor nightmares. Lol so lots of guys here just grow high yielding feed varieties rather than try to get grain to grade good in this wet zone, of number one wheat near impossibility.

Now, try being a smaller grain farmer in western Canada, especially one that is first generation. The odds are stacked so high against you, and grain “marketing” is no exception. If I have say a hundred tonnes of oats booked in, and my neighbor has two thousand tonnes booked, who do you think they call first? If one doesn’t own a semi to haul his grain, you have to get it custom hauled. Fine, except lately getting a trucker to come get your two or three loads is hard to do even, when he gets bookings for twenty, or fifty loads from the bigger farmers. Who is he going to get all excited about hauling for? Zero control just went to negative ten control. Now the elevator wants your grain, good luck finding a truck to haul for you! Lol

Some guys love grain farming, have done great at it. That is just peachy. But the way things have gone regarding grain farming the last ten years or so, at least personally, has sucked the life out of me and my family. I love the growing, I love the soil, I love the doing of grain farming. I simply have grown to hate the lack of control, the costs, the risk, the multiple bad years in a row, etc.

So we made the move the regain control.

The great news, is that this farm is not on its last generation, because we have figured out ways to make a smaller farm feasible. Kind of hitting two threads with this post.

Sorry for rambling. The way I see it anyway!