WASHINGTON, D.C. (RFD News) — Rising input costs are shifting focus to marketing opportunities as farmers look for ways to protect margins.
Garrett Toay with AgTraderTalk says producers need to remain focused on marketing, particularly if grain prices retreat from current levels.
“It’s concerning because ultimately, we know that, at some point, we’ve been through this many times before, where grain prices don’t sustain these levels, and they go back down. When those grain prices do go down, the inputs take a lot longer to catch up. We just have to be very smart in our marketing, potentially looking at multi-year forward sales or hedging, and make sure we’re prepared because corn could go sub-$5 and diesel is still at $4 or $5 [per gallon]. That doesn’t really help anyone in the ag sector.”
Toay says farmers may also have opportunities beyond established buyers as new markets emerge around the world.
U.S. agricultural exports have a broader impact on the domestic economy.
According to the USDA, every dollar of U.S. agricultural exports generated more than two dollars in total economic activity last year. That includes businesses involved in getting agricultural products to market, including trucking, packaging, handling, and shipping.
USDA says the economic impact is particularly strong for products that require more processing, such as meat and ethanol.
