(March 19)--A big part of Oklahoma received some very nice rain with a lot reporting from 1 inch to 2 1/2 inches of rainfall. That area was mostly from Woodward east and south. Unfortunately, to the west where we definitely needed some rain, we received nothing. The wheat is trying to grow but a good rain would make a lot of difference. There is still a lot of wheat you can barely see down the rows in the western part of the state.
This is a very unusual year. And starting with the wheat market--this higher wheat price is not always better for all farmers. I have heard of several instances where farmers have sold their wheat on the futures at $5 or $6 per bushel for this next crop. After making lots of margin calls their bankers were not willing to loan them any more money.
This was all on a wheat crop that is far from being cut or in the bin. If the farmer bails out after making all those margin calls and the price would happen to fall afterwards, then he is definitely in trouble.
Any time you are selling a commodity that you do not have yet, you are definitely gambling at a high risk. However, I am not going to condemn anyone for that, as I have repeatedly done about the same scenario with betting on blue sky in the cattle market.
With this being an election year and with the economy being so shaky, and with the high price of fuel causing most everything we consume to be a lot higher with the exception of beef--look out. Politicians are trying to come up with that quick fix answer to make us all feel better overnight. Lowering the gas price a dollar a gallon would help most people I know, more than anything. Then in turn maybe when we apply fertilizer to our farmland, we would still feel like we are paying for the fertilizer instead of buying the land again.
Editor's Note: Jerry Nine, Woodward, Okla., is a lifetime cattleman who grew up on his family's ranch near Laverne, Okla.
3/31/08
6 Star Midwest Ag\17-B
Date: 3/26/08
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