Business

After the big January World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE), stocks and acreage reports from the USDA came out last week, I decided to do things a little bit differently for this week’s article. Rather than give you a short-term market synopsis, I’d like to give you a market outlook on some things that we may expect to see throughout 2023 in an effort to help you with this year’s marketing plan.

In an interview with Karl and Sarah Eikenberg the Kiowa County Independent learned that the fate of Haswell Propane, a generational business and the only brick and mortar business left in the town would be in their hands as they have purchased Haswell Propane from Paul and Glenda Stoker.

The markets were quiet throughout the last half of December as traders were in holiday mode and trade was thin. The end of December marked month, quarter and year end which brought some volatility to the markets as usual.

Markets have been quiet with low volume and liquidity going into the long holiday weekend with very little fresh news to add movement to the markets. Grain markets will close at their regular time on Friday, December 30th for New Year’s and re-open at 7:30 a.m. MT on Tuesday, January 3, 2023.

Spirit Dance, a dance studio located in Lamar, has been around for 10 years as they are currently celebrating their 10th anniversary, and currently growing at a tremendous rate thanks to the addition of competitive dance opportunities for the dozens of dancers who patronize the business.

I don’t have too much to share this week as news is quiet and the markets are quickly getting into holiday mode with very slow trade, low volumes and small trade ranges.

Friday’s USDA World Agricultural Supply & Demand report (WASDE) was pretty much a non-event for all commodities and it was a quiet trading session. The trade was anticipating very few changes.

The corn and wheat markets were down sharply last week and soybeans were back and forth. Many headlines to consider including crop progress/condition reports, weather forecasts around the world, EPA mandates and China’s Zero-Covid policy.

Markets are down to start the week on news of increased Covid cases in China and protests in Shanghai and Beijing over their zero-Covid policy.

This year, U.S. producers were able to get relatively high returns despite a marginally clipped corn yield as some of the increasing input costs are running behind the market rallies. Inputs like seed, rent and machinery tend to rise in a one-year delay.

The November World Agriculture Supply and Demand Estimates report (WASDE) on Wednesday, November 9th, was the thing to watch last week, but overall turned out to be a fairly boring report across all commodities.

The major headline over the weekend was Russia’s announcement to withdraw from the grain export corridor agreement. Wheat futures shot up overnight with corn and soybean futures following. The trade had been expecting some type of disruption which limited gains. This story will continue to develop and markets will remain volatile as there is a lot of conflicting information. Both the UN and Turkey say that agriculture product shipments will continue but there is still risk premium being added to the market.

On a sunny Saturday afternoon Paul Lucero spent a few hours detailing their family vehicle, just as he does every few weeks. Because Paul and his wife Raina have a blended family which includes 6 kids, mess is inevitable and if not cleaned every few weeks the back half of the vehicle may look more like a science experiment than seating.

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Tori Uhland. After graduating from Eads High School in 2015, I went on to attend college at the University of Denver then to Colorado State University where I studied Journalism & Media Communications.

Cory Alan Forgue graduated from Southern Illinois University in 1990 where he earned a bachelor’s degree in TV and radio broadcasting with an emphasis in public relations. Cory has been in radio and TV for 38 years, since he began working as a DJ in suburban southwest Chicago in 1985.

Deborah (Oswald) Davis along with her husband Glen live in Haswell, Colorado and are the owners and operators of their family farm. Deborah works as a public accountant through the winter months and has worked alongside her husband on the family farm. Deborah has always aspired to be engaged in the community that she lives in as well as those surrounding her.