Upcoming Events - Farm Succession Planning & Perry-Spencer Crop Day

Farm Succession Planning Series

Family farmers can get tips from Purdue University specialists on business communication and dealing with accounting and legal issues during a succession planning program offered at 10 sites in Indiana.

“Cultivating Strong Indiana Farm Family Relationships for Today and Tomorrow” will be offered in early 2013. The program is presented by Purdue’s Women in Agriculture and Farm Succession Planning teams in partnership with the North Central Risk Management Education Center.

Kelly Heckaman, Purdue Extension educator in Kosciusko County, said Indiana farmers and farm wives have asked educators for advice on handling their family businesses.

“In order to get estate planning started in families, they need to be able to communicate about it. And it’s an emotional topic, so it can be hard to get those conversations started,” Heckaman said. “The workshops will give families ideas on improving their conversations and skills to help them work through their problems and keep their families intact.”

Heckaman said the program is a collaboration between Extension and local communities, as organizers will invite local accountants and attorneys to speak on financial strategies. 

The first-session agenda topics are: “A Great Year to Farm: New Farmer Financial Skills,” “The Team Approach: Working Together Through Transition” and “Communicating for Success.”

The second session’s lineup is “Business Structure and Taxes,” “The Truth about Pre- and Post-Nuptial Agreements” and “Managing Conflict.”

Registration is $50 for individuals or $100 for families up to four members. Locally, the program will be offered at the Vanderburgh Co. 4-H Fairgrounds, 201 E. Boonville New Harmony Road, Evansville, on February 19 and 26, from 8:00 AM-12:00 PM CST. 

For more information, please contact Purdue Extension-Spencer County at (812) 649-6022 or nheld@purdue.edu.   Registration brochures are available online. 


Perry-Spencer Crop Day

The annual Perry-Spencer Crop Day program will be held Thursday, February 21 at 6:00 PM CST at the Fulda Sportsman Club. The program will feature Dr. Chuck Mansfield, Purdue Extension Agronomist, speaking on “Wheat Nutrient Management and Drought Effects on Soil Nitrogen”. The program will also feature an update on new fertilizer application regulations affecting farmers. 

The cost to attend is $5.00 per person, including the meal, and is payable at the door; however pre-registration is requested by February 14. PARP and CCH credit is available for an additional $10 fee. Two CCH credits will be available in categories 1, 14, and RT. 

For more information, or to register, please contact Purdue Extension-Spencer County at (812) 649-6022 or nheld@purdue.edu.

Upcoming Event - Area Corn and Soybean Day

Purdue Extension Educators from southwest Indiana are hosting an Area Corn & Soybean Day for grain producers interested in receiving agronomic, as well as, a local grain market update.  The event is being held on Tuesday, February 5^th at the Vanderburgh County Fairgrounds Activities building, beginning with registration at 8:00 AM CST. 

Purdue University Agronomy Specialists Bob Nielsen, Shaun Casteel and Jim Camberato will be the featured speakers on corn, soybeans and fertilizer topics.  In addition, representatives from area grain elevators will conduct a panel discussion on grain marketing issues. PARP, CCH, and CEU credit is available. 

A complete list of speakers and topics is available here.

Weekly Outlook - Update on Corn Consumption

March 2013 corn futures are currently trading about .25 above the closing price on January 10 and about .10 below the high reached on January 16. The spot market basis also remains very strong in most markets. The USDA’s Grain Stocks report released on January 11 confirmed that feed and residual use of corn from June through November 2012 had been large, implying that consumption had not been sufficiently rationed following the small crop of 2012.

On-going changes in livestock production are mixed, but may be contributing to a slightly slower pace of feed consumption. The number of cattle in feedlots continues to be well below the level of a year ago as a result of the multi-year liquidation of the cow herd. The number of cattle on feed on January 1, 2013 was 5.6 percent below the inventory of a year earlier, about the same magnitude of decline reported on December 1, 2012. Placements into feedlots during December were only 0.7 percent less than during December 2011. <Read More>

Weekly Outlook - USDA Reports Provide Some Price Direction

On January 11, the USDA released a series of reports that provide important fundamental information for the crop markets. The information included the final estimate of the size of the 2012 U.S. corn and soybean crops, estimates of December 1 crop inventories, a winter wheat seedings estimate, and updated U.S. and world supply and consumption forecasts for the current marketing year.

For corn, the 2012 U.S. crop is estimated at 10.78 billion bushels, 55 million larger than the November forecast. The estimate of planted acreage of corn for all purposes was increased by 209,000 acres, the estimate of acreage harvested for grain was reduced by 346,000 acres, and the yield estimate was increased by 1.1 bushels per acre. The production estimate was larger than the pre-report average trade guess of just over 10.6 billion bushels, but the estimate of December 1, 2012 stocks of corn was actually much smaller than the average guess.  <Read More>