Ryan Tungseth

For the last couple of years markets struggled to sustain rallies. Upside was limited. When opportunities showed up, producers had good reason to take them seriously because another chance might not come along anytime soon. Now the market has changed. Volatility is back. Corn has rallied sharply. Soybeans have strengthened up quite a bit. Wheat is also in that camp. After spending much of the summer questioning why the market seemed unwilling to acknowledge what was happening in parts of the...

A Different Market Requires a Different Strategy For the last couple of years, grain marketing has largely been an exercise in protecting against supply. Big crops kept coming. Weather cooperated. Production was able to keep pace with demand. When rallies showed up, there was good reason to use them. That environment trained producers to be defensive. This year is starting to look different. Demand remains strong, while confidence in another exceptional crop is beginning to fade. That doesn't...

The Biggest Risk May Be Marketing This Year Like the Last Two Markets have a way of teaching lessons. The problem is that sometimes those lessons stick around longer than they should. The last couple of years rewarded producers who were aggressive about moving grain. Big crops, comfortable supplies, weak basis in many areas, and rallies that struggled to hold created a fairly clear message: waiting for something better could get expensive. It would be easy to carry that lesson straight into...