Reynolds United Co-op

I think maybe we need to get pinched or wake-up from this dream. We can’t be having this nice of weather in April! It couldn’t be a more perfect start to our spring. Not a rush, just a good pace. Forecast looks great for next week, too.

Speaking of combining corn, it’s amazing to hear the reports on the quality of corn that is being combined; 13-14% moisture and the test weight has increased 3#. The farmers say their field loss is not near what they expected.

It’s too soon to get into % of crops seed around here but we can look at the % seeded in the US. As of last Monday 3% of the corn crop is in the ground which compares to the 5-year average of 4%. Planting is a bit behind but as early as it is, fairly inconsequential. Next week the grain trade is expecting the % planted to be around 15% or more. Winter Wheat is 65% good/excellent which is 23% better than last year. Better wheat crop—less acres.

In South America, the crop continues to get bigger. Estimates this week raised the Brazilian soybean crop size to 67.2 million metric ton (up from previous estimates of 65.7). This compares to a 2009 crop size of 58.1 mmt. The soybean harvest is now 75% complete in Brazil. A favorable weather forecast for the next 10 days should allow for major progress to be made in the coming days as well. For Brazilian corn production, the crop size is now estimated at 50.6 mmt, up from a crop of 47 mmt last year. Argentina is now projecting a 55 mmt soybean crop, up from 32 mmt last year. The soybean crop in Argentina is now 27% harvested. Also, nearby in Paraguay, they are estimating their soybean crop at 7.48 mmt, up from a crop size of 3.8 mmt last year.

Here in the US, the ethanol debate got a little hotter last week as a couple of major newspapers ran stories and editorials written by opponents of ethanol, trying to block Congress from renewing ethanol tax credits and import tariffs. A Washington Times editorial said the EPA should reject the 15% ethanol requirement and Congress should repeal all subsidies. As a side note, Congress is currently considering whether or not it should extend any tax credits on Biodiesel production, so all in all, a lot of decisions that determine the future of biofuels production in the US will be made in the very near future. Whether you agree with the subsidies system or not, we all have to agree that these decisions could have a major impact on the demand of corn and soybeans. In a related story, ethanol production in the US for the month of January has been reported at 818,260 barrels per day. This compares to a production number of 787,870 barrels for the month of December. This is the fourth month in a row that ethanol production has increased.

On the cash grain side, we had a good week. Wheat today in Reynolds is @ $4.90, up $.19 for the week. New Crop wheat is $4.98, up $.19 . Corn is $2.99 up $.23 for the week. New Crop corn is $3.19. Soybeans are @ $9.00 up $.28 for the week. New crop is $8.76.

I mentioned (a couple of times) that the Master Golf Tournament was being played last week in Augusta, Georgia. It was a great tournament with Phil Mickelson winning it. Most of you know all about the Tiger Wood saga and how he came to Augusta last week with the spotlight on him. But many don’t know Phil’s story. 11 month ago his wife, Amy was diagnosed with cancer. Phil quit the tour to be with his wife for a few months last year. Prior to getting sick, Amy and the Mickelson’s 3 children attended most of Phil tournaments for support. While Amy went to Augusta, she spent the week in bed. She decided on Sunday to attend the last part in of tournament (unknown to Phil). As Phil walked off the 18^th green in victory Amy was waiting for him. Yep, it was special. Phil is what is good about golf. He is always smiling on the golf course and always has time to sign autographs. He is accessible to fans and appreciates them, not like that “someone else”. The right guy won.

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.

“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 that 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.”


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