Category: Grain Marketing

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Examining the Complex Issues for Farmers in California Today[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
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 I do my farming over here in the Dakotas, and sometimes I’m guilty of focusing only on the type of farming that happens out our way. But of course, there’s a whole country (and world) of farming out there.
 So today we’re going to be focusing on some of the hot farming topics in the state of California. I learned this info in a recent interview on the Cash Cow Farmer Podcast with Vaughn Brenda and Jeffrey Chapman.
 Vaughn Brenda is the CEO and President of Valley Farms Supply, which has 4 farm supply stores in the Central Valley of California and is the parent company of the online venture Fence Post Ag. He’s also the VP of Valley Tool & Manufacturing, which produces nationally distributed brands like Vrisimo (flail mowers), Windmill Spraymasters, RockHound, and BrushHound.
 Jeffrey Chapman is the eCommerce Manager of Fence Post Ag and former investment banker. They both were kind enough to share some of the enormous challenges farmers in California are facing today. First, though, let’s look at what California farmers are actually growing.

 Dominant crops in California
 Right now, the dominant crops are grapes and nuts. Mostly almonds, which are the number one nut right now, but also walnuts and pistachios.

 Dairy also has a huge history there in California. Those are the two arms of California agriculture: nuts and grapes, then dairy, though there are certainly others.
 California’s also good in what’s called “specialty crops”: that is, crops that are not tracked on a futures market like soybeans, corn, and other major exports, but rather things like vegetables and fruits like tomatoes and strawberries. Pretty much, if it’s hard to grow, it’s grown in California. Which makes the current obstacles in California that much harder to overcome.[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”TRY CASHCOW FARMER FREE FOR 30 DAYS” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] The #1 challenge in California farming
 There is a huge, historic drought right now in California, and farmers are rightfully on edge. They just went through what’s called the El Niño year, which has been a relief, but only slightly.
 It’s an extremely complex issue going on right now, and depending on what part of the state you’re in, your viewpoint will be different, since districts handle their water differently. Some have access to a lot of water, while others don’t, and still others are reliant on federal or other states’ water.
 In short, many are dependent on the California aqueduct. In other parts of the state, some are more reliant on reservoir water and canal water, or “surface water,” and they might be better off. But if it doesn’t rain a lot, it doesn’t matter where you are: you’re not in a good place.
 Vaughn hears stories every day about pumps going dry, and about people who are going 800-900 feet underground in search of water, which is unheard of. Research being done by really smart people is looking at how to “recharge the groundwater.”

 It’s interesting because one side of the aisle says, “There’s plenty of rain. We’re just not capturing enough.” The population of California has gone up dramatically, but the number of reservoirs hasn’t.
 Then people on the other side say that Californians are just using too much water. There’s a stressful divergence between the two sides.
 Have farmers had to fold up shop?
 Probably so, but Vaughn and Jeffrey are seeing the following scenario more commonly.
 In a normal year you’ll see 80% utilization of somebody’s water, especially among farmers who have permanent crops and will do anything they can to water their crops. If you, the farmer, have hundreds or thousands of acres, you may have literally millions of dollars of investments that need water.
 But if you’re planting non-permanent crops like tomatoes or melons, you can choose to fallow your crops for a time. If a field looks dry, you don’t have to plant it.
 This last category of people has a little more flexibility, but because of the current circumstances, some of them are only farming 20% of what they could be farming. To cut your production by 60% because you don’t think there will be enough water is pretty drastic.
 Farmers have to have income to buy products. How has this drought impacted the stuff sold at Fence Post Ag and Valley Farm Supply? [/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”SCHEDULE A FREE GRAIN MARKETING STRATEGY SESSION” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2Fmarketing-strategy||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] Vaughn and Jeffrey sell farm equipment itself, but also all the parts and supplies. When people are nervous and unsure of the future, the larger purchases tend to get shelved and purchases tend to lean more towards maintenance and trying to get one more year out of a mower or tractor.
 A lot of farmers’ costs, though, are fixed. Frankly, they have crops that need to be taken care of no matter what, and it’s hard to cut costs.
 Their stores also tend to be closer to permanent crops vs. non-permanent crops as well.
 Permanent: If you plant a vineyard, for example, you’re not replanting a vineyard every year. Or if you plant an almond orchard, it takes three, four, or five years to get your first harvest. Once you make that investment, you’re going to be farming off those crops for a long time.
 Non-permanent: These are things like melons, tomatoes, and corn, which you plant at the beginning of a season and harvest at the end. Then you prepare for the next season. These people don’t have it any easier, but they do have the choice to fallow ground or take a season off.
 How does Fence Post Ag specifically help farmers?
 They like to consider themselves the Amazon of farm equipment. A while back, the typical farmer in California didn’t have a place to get all of their farming needs in one central location, hence the creation of four physical locations for Valley Farm Supplies. Now they’ve been able to offer that same type of one-stop shop nationwide with Fence Post Ag, creating a convenient, user-friendly shopping experience for the farmer or consumer.
 That’s the appeal of Amazon—having all you need in one central online store. And that’s what Fence Post Ag does as well.

 Conclusion
 It’s been fun to move our discussion out west and talk about what’s going on out on the west coast. Things are rough out there for our Californian brothers and sisters, but hopefully some of the creativity from various professors and manufacturers will help them pull through.
 If you’re interested in any of the projects and companies that Vaughn and Jeffrey are involved in, check out these links:

ValleyToolMfg.com
ValleyFarmsSupply.com
FencePostAg.com[/vc_column_text][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”40″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”40″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”30″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row dfd_row_config=”full_width_content” dfd_row_parallax=”off” dfd_row_responsive_enable=”off” dfd_enable_overlay=”off” css=”.vc_custom_1470889834038{background-color: #2d2d2d !important;}”][vc_column width=”3/4″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][ultimate_heading heading_type=”customizable” heading_tag=”h3″ heading_content=”MAXIMIZE PROFITS WITH CASHCOW FARMER!” main_heading_default_weight=”400″ main_heading_color=”#ffffff” subheading_type=”customizable” subheading_tag=”h5″ sub_heading_default_weight=”400″]POWERFUL FARM FINANCIAL SOFTWARE THAT IS AFFORDABLE & EASY TO USE![/ultimate_heading][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″ column_responsive_mobile_classes=”dfd-remove-right-padding” column_responsive_mobile_resolutions=”dfd-apply-mobile” css=”.vc_custom_1470810100672{padding-right: 2% !important;}”][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”15″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][bt_animation animation_type=”_flipX” duration=”2″ repeat=”2″ allow_margins=”yes” scroll_offset=”5px” no_hide=”yes”][ult_buttons btn_title=” FREE 30 DAY TRIAL” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-large” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][/bt_animation][vc_column_text]

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]How to run an elite farming business[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]
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 In most categories of life, there’s that one elite group.
 In business, there’s the Fortune 500. In the military, there are the Navy Seals.
 I just read a book called Unbeatable Mind by Mark Divine, who was not only a Navy Seal, but graduated as the top Navy Seal—which is insane. In the book, he teaches how to become what you want to be in life. All entrepreneurs—farmers included—should have an understanding of the mental state and conditioning he teaches in the book.
 When you read this, think about your grain marketing strategy, farm structure, human relations, work/life balance and if those are all where you want them to be. Elite status being optimal.
 Specifically, there are four skills I learned that will help you farm like a Navy Seal.

 1) Breath control
 Believe it or not, the most important skill to become like a Navy Seal is not strength or ingenuity—it’s your ability to control your state of being or state of mind, which Mark does through box breathing.
 When you’re stressed out, your breathing is very short. Just by changing your breathing, you can take yourself from a stressed-out state into a state of comfort and focus. Steady breathing turns off the body’s fight or flight response and calms you down.

 I recommend that everyone get the book, if for nothing more than an awesome appendix at the back. It talks about “box breathing,” or “five-count breaths”:

1. You count to five breathing in
2. Hold it for a five-count
3. Breathe out for a five-count
4. Then hold it for another.

 Do that for a minute or two, and you’ll be amazed at how your stress level comes down. This is amazingly helpful if somebody gets stuck in the tractor in the middle of the night, or some other crazy circumstance happens at the farm. Focus on that breathing and your entire mental state will be in a better place to handle crises.  The decisions made in a crisis are usually the most impactful so make sure you are in the best state of mind.[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”SCHEDULE A FREE GRAIN MARKETING STRATEGY SESSION” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2Fmarketing-strategy||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] 2) Positive language
 Think of all the negative language that comes to mind when you or someone else makes a mistake. You probably do everything but say the language out loud—and sometimes you do say it, especially when it’s an employee and the mistake just cost you $10,000.
 Mark created these trainings called Kokoro Camps in California, basically modeled after Hell Week in the Navy Seals. During Hell Week, 80-100 people who come wanting to be Navy Seals drop like flies, and only about 15-20 move on.
 In the Kokoro Camp, the first thing participants do is a 45-minute plank. If you don’t know what a plank is, check out the picture below.
 Most people can hold a plank position for 30 seconds to a minute. Some of these guys have never even done one before, yet the very first thing they do at the Camp is to plank for 45 minutes.
 Mark sees this opening exercise as a great way to immediately teach the four skills. He tells them to focus on their breathing, and he uses positive language: “This is gonna be an easy day; we got this.”
 Imagine somebody plugs a planter (I’ve done this), which leads to three hours of hard work, scraping the mud out of every tire. Instead of seeing your day as ruined, you can say, “All right, this is a calorie-burner. I get an epic workout today.”
 By changing the way you say things, the hard circumstances don’t have the same ability to discourage you and your employees.  You’ll be able to break through old productivity records with positive language.[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”TRY CASHCOW FARMER FREE FOR 30 DAYS” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] 3) Imagery
 In the planking example, Mark tells participants to imagine they are a steel beam. They’re feeling a lot of pain in that plank position, but it helps to imagine themselves as something strong and unyielding.  When I workout, I often picture myself as a steam locomotive going up and down across the track for my rep goal.
 You can apply that exercise to anything that’s challenging in farming. Imagine you’re JP Morgan, George Soros, Warren Buffett or one of the greatest Wall Street investors of all time. You can then manage sales and grain marketing like you’re one of the greatest of all time. People are going to write books about how brilliant you are.
 Physical stress is easier to do because you can imagine concrete things, but when it comes to day-to-day challenges picture yourself as Cornelius Vanderbilt or Steve Jobs or Warren Buffett, especially when you have a business challenge come up. You’ll see your mood change and the answers start to come to you.

 4) Micro goals
 I’ve written about this in the past, but it helps to make small goals every day (and sometimes every hour) in order to get that overall big goal accomplished. Give yourself little rewards, too.
 When you’re trying to plank for 45 minutes, you won’t make it unless you break your goals down into one, two, or five-minute checkpoints.

Three other important Navy Seal outlooks

 1) Teamwork
 Teamwork is extremely important. In trying to be a Navy Seal of farming, it’s not just about you; you have to manage your team well and teach these skills to them. You can’t have guys freaking out and flying off the handle working for you. If they refuse to change their demeanor, you’ve got to get them off the bus or the whole bus will crash.
 We’re going to go over how that looks in the next post.
 2) Failure
 This is where I see farmers as already like Navy Seals. Farmers don’t fail: they find a way and make a way. That’s called perseverance. As Yoda says, “Do or do not: there is no try.”
 Farmers are the hardest-working, most resilient people in the world besides Navy Seals, in my opinion. I remember springs where I was living in the tractor, and people asked why I did it. I didn’t know: my only answer was “because I’m a farmer.”
 We do what other people aren’t willing to do so we can live like other people can’t.
 3) Just a day in the life…
 Navy Seals go in, do the job, then wait for the next job. In the Captain Phillips rescue, ghost ops came in for a rescue then vanished into the background. They said it wasn’t a big deal; it was just a normal mission.

Farmers are the same way. People are amazed at how hard farmers work in the planting season, but for farmers, that’s just a normal day.
 That’s just what we do.

If you want tools to help you become the next Navy Seal farmer, register for a free grain marketing strategy session or farm financial software trial. It’s a Fortune 500 tool for farmers, so you can run your farm like an elite business. [/vc_column_text][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”40″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”40″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”30″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row dfd_row_config=”full_width_content” dfd_row_parallax=”off” dfd_row_responsive_enable=”off” dfd_enable_overlay=”off” css=”.vc_custom_1470889834038{background-color: #2d2d2d !important;}”][vc_column width=”3/4″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][ultimate_heading heading_type=”customizable” heading_tag=”h3″ heading_content=”FREE GRAIN MARKETING STRATEGY SESSION!” main_heading_default_weight=”400″ main_heading_color=”#ffffff” subheading_type=”customizable” subheading_tag=”h5″ sub_heading_default_weight=”400″]DON’T LET THE MARKETS WIN…SCHEDULE YOUR FREE SESSION TODAY![/ultimate_heading][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″ column_responsive_mobile_classes=”dfd-remove-right-padding” column_responsive_mobile_resolutions=”dfd-apply-mobile” css=”.vc_custom_1470810100672{padding-right: 2% !important;}”][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”15″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][bt_animation animation_type=”_flipX” duration=”2″ repeat=”2″ allow_margins=”yes” scroll_offset=”5px” no_hide=”yes”][ult_buttons btn_title=” FREE STRATEGY SESSION” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2Fmarketing-strategy||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-large” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][/bt_animation][vc_column_text]

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE SESSION TODAY!

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Don’t have time to read? Listen here:
[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/cashcowfarmer/Building_a_grain_marketing_plan_Part_4_Price_Targets_Master.mp3″ social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ]

As a recap, part one was quantify: breaking old and new grain into marketable units. Part two was planning out sales and delivery through logistics. Part three was all about the various tools farmers have to manage price risks.
This last topic is the most challenging and technical part of the grain marketing plan: producing price targets. That is, trying to figure out what’s a good price and when you should sell.
The futures market is tricky; there are a lot of moving parts. If I could predict the futures market, I’d be living on a private island. Too bad…
However, there’s plenty you can understand about the futures. Let’s get into it.

 Rule #1: Educate yourself!
 Read books. The right books can transform your understanding of futures.
(Note: At the end of this post, I’ll list my top three books you need to check out.)
For now, here’s a little free education. When you’re analyzing the futures market, there are two main points:[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”SCHEDULE A FREE GRAIN MARKETING STRATEGY SESSION” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2Fmarketing-strategy||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] 1) Technical Analysis
 Technical analysis has to do with price: charts, momentum, points of resistance, points of support… You’re using Fibonacci retracements and other very, very technical figures.
Technical analysis basically tells you the personality of the market. For example, $4 for corn is a very round number, so it may be that as we push against $4 corn, we may hit it, bounce off, hit it, bounce off. It becomes a point of resistance.
Then finally one day we’ll close above it; we’ll go to $4.10, back down to $4, up to $4.10, down to $4, bouncing on the other side of the number. It becomes a point of support.
Technical analysis is more important for the traders, farmers should understand when a rally is exhausting itself. For example, technical analysis would have put you in a very good position in a rally that happened in July of 2015, which was the best time to market grain in 2015. We had a technical exhaustion of the rally, and unless you understood technical analysis, you didn’t realize that the market was running out of steam and that you needed start making sales.

They say the markets take the staircase up and the elevator down. But in July, the market took the elevator up, hung out, then took the elevator right back down. Many people made a few sales, but they didn’t realize they needed to make all their sales at the time.

 2) Fundamental Analysis
 Fundamental analysis is supply and demand. There are constant USDA reports coming out on the growing conditions in the different states. They tell you about what’s happening in regard to the crop. That’s the supply side.
The demand side is our usage; such as exports, how much corn is getting distilled, how many soybeans are getting crushed into oil, etc.
If the crush numbers are disappointing, you’ll see the price drop. Also, if Brazil has a huge crop, they’re going to flood the exports market, dropping the price of soybeans.

It’s very complicated; again, there are so many moving parts. Working farmers don’t have time to follow what’s going on in Brazil and Ukraine and Russia and Germany. It’s impossible to follow the markets and be a successful farmer. Yet, farmers need to do both.
What should you do? The answer is that no matter how lucky you’ve gotten in the past, you need help. The most successful farmers have really good advisory partners.
If you take nothing else from this article, take that. If you want to improve your grain marketing, start hiring an advisor. I recommend that you hire two advisors so you get two opinions. Whichever one you agree with more, you can execute their trades.
They’re going to do better for you than you’ll do for yourself, because they’re in the markets all day. You don’t do your taxes yourself; you hire an accountant. This is no difference.
Jim Rogers, one of the most famous market wizards of all time, said, “Markets often rise higher than you think is possible and fall lower than you can possibly imagine.”
You need help to handle something as volatile as that.[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”TRY CASHCOW FARMER FREE FOR 30 DAYS” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] Speculation
 When you’re making your trades, be careful to avoid becoming a speculator instead of a hedger. I’m guilty of this. It’s just not wise, though. Don’t mistake luck for talent.  Just because you had one great trade doesn’t mean it will ever happen again. Even Warren Buffett says he will likely not be able to perform as was as he has in the past.
To play the market intelligently, every good trade must have two basic characteristics:

1) A good buying price

2) A good selling price

Just like buying a house for an investment, you want to buy at the lowest possible price and sell at the highest possible price. It takes a good buy and a good sale in order to make money.
Few people can execute both of those successfully in the futures market.
Careful on speculation. You don’t want to lose the farm because you were overconfident. There are people who spend all day analyzing the futures market and still don’t have it figured out.
Again, an advisor is perfect for helping you nail an entry and exit strategy into the markets. Remember rule #1: educate yourself, through advice and also through books, which leads me to a few recommendations.

Top 3 Books for Understanding the Market

 Market Wizards – Jack Schwager

Schwager interviews some of the top market speculators, bond traders, futures traders, and currency traders. It’s a fascinating book. Every one of these guys has gone broke at one point, but the key to the book is how they figured out how to manage risk.

 The Way of the Turtle – Curtis Faith

Faith was trained by one of the wizards interviewed in Market Wizards. This is an interesting book about the trading style he uses to conquer the markets.

 Hot Commodities – Jim Rogers

Rogers was also interviewed in Market Wizards. Jim Rogers is probably the most bullish person on farming in the world. He’s one of the most famous speculators of all time. He’s a farm boy that was able to retire around 33 years old. You’ll learn more by reading Jim Rogers’s books than by getting an MBA.

 Conclusion
 I don’t do anything without the blessing of people smarter than me. Get advice from those who have gone before you about what lies ahead. If my mentors tell me not to do something, no matter how great of an idea I think it is, I don’t do it.
Have a big budget for advisory and books, because the more you learn the more you earn. Crush some books; get in that tractor and listen to books on tape!

If you have any questions about farm financial software or grain marketing please visit CashCowFarmer.com
We’re here to help you.[/vc_column_text][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”40″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”40″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”30″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row dfd_row_config=”full_width_content” dfd_row_parallax=”off” dfd_row_responsive_enable=”off” dfd_enable_overlay=”off” css=”.vc_custom_1470889834038{background-color: #2d2d2d !important;}”][vc_column width=”3/4″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][ultimate_heading heading_type=”customizable” heading_tag=”h3″ heading_content=”MAXIMIZE PROFITS WITH CASHCOW FARMER!” main_heading_default_weight=”400″ main_heading_color=”#ffffff” subheading_type=”customizable” subheading_tag=”h5″ sub_heading_default_weight=”400″]POWERFUL FARM FINANCIAL SOFTWARE THAT IS AFFORDABLE & EASY TO USE![/ultimate_heading][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″ column_responsive_mobile_classes=”dfd-remove-right-padding” column_responsive_mobile_resolutions=”dfd-apply-mobile” css=”.vc_custom_1470810100672{padding-right: 2% !important;}”][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”15″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][bt_animation animation_type=”_flipX” duration=”2″ repeat=”2″ allow_margins=”yes” scroll_offset=”5px” no_hide=”yes”][ult_buttons btn_title=” FREE 30 DAY TRIAL” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-large” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][/bt_animation][vc_column_text]

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Don’t have time to read? Listen here:
[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/cashcowfarmer/Building_a_grain_marketing_plan_Part_3_Tools_Master.mp3″ social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ]

We’ve been talking about building a grain marketing plan these last few weeks. So far, we’ve covered the need to quantify your grain and to handle logistics.
 Today, we’re going to talk about all the tools at the disposal of the grain marketer, starting with the most familiar and moving to the less familiar.

 Forward Contracts
 The most familiar contract that a farmer has is their forward contract with the elevator. They call the elevator and say, express an interest to sell grain. The elevator will ask, “Do you want to set the basis or do a hedge-to-arrive?”
You probably know the difference between those two, but let’s do a quick recap. Hedge-to-Arrive
 A hedge-to-arrive (HTA) is a futures fixed contract, in which you lock in the futures price and leave the basis open. You do HTAs after market rallies. Traditionally, when the market rallies, elevators and co-ops raise the basis because they know that sales are coming.  Rallies are easy for the coop to snatch a few extra cents with the basis.  It’s just part of the game.
They actually make the most money during the rallies. Soybeans, for example, were up over a dollar in the last month, and the basis has gone up 20-30¢.

 Basis Contracts
 When you have rallies, you want to use hedge-to-arrive contracts. But when things are bad—really bad—you’ll have pretty good basises. In that case, lock them in with basis contracts.
If you’re good at the basis side of things, you can easily pick up another 20-30¢ out of the grain markets for all your commodities, especially if you’ve got some storage space.[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”TRY CASHCOW FARMER FREE FOR 30 DAYS” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] Futures Contracts

 Here’s where things get a little more ambiguous.
Farmers tend to have less knowledge about futures contracts, but they’re a lot like stocks. If you buy a contract, you’re hoping it goes up; if you sell, you’re hoping it goes down.
If you’re wrong, you’ll notice as your money goes up and down in your account. And it moves fast—very fast. If you had 100% of your money in one futures position, a 5% dip would wipe you out. Leverage is about 20 to 1 in the futures markets so tread lightly.  Some immature farmers can end up doubling their losses by not understanding the futures markets or going all in right away.  Dip your toe to make sure the water is right before you swan dive in.
Still, futures are extremely valuable. Here’s how you should handle them:
Do up to your insurance guarantee in cash contracts. Then, for the rest, do futures contracts, whether that’s futures or options, which leads me to the next tool.

 Options
 Options are a little bit different. They trade on the futures, but when we have huge rallies in the market, options become very expensive because there’s a time and volatility premium.
You pay the premium, like little insurance policies. You can buy them when they’re cheap, and when they’re really expensive, you can sell them and close your hedge.
For those of you with grain in the bin, one hedging strategy is shorting the futures market on what you’re stored, especially if you’re bearish (you think it’s going down).
If you short the futures market and it goes down, you’re going to make money in your margin account. But your grain will lose value, so your net gain is zero. Remember, we are managing price risk here, not speculating.
If it goes up, you’re going to gain money in your grain value, but lose it in your margin account. So why use this strategy? Because you don’t want to lose money and you’re trying to capture basis movement with stored grain not make up for marketing mistakes. Make sure you have a specific goal: are you trying to capture price? What are you trying to do?
Lost yet? I know this is complex stuff, but hear this: if you’re a farmer just getting into futures, do one contract, the bare minimum, just so you can see and understand exactly how everything moves and what that looks like. Using farm management software can be a great solution and we have you covered there.  Check out our risk free trial.[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”SCHEDULE A FREE GRAIN MARKETING STRATEGY SESSION” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2Fmarketing-strategy||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text]This is also something we help with in our Grain Marketing Advisory. We’re totally hands-on, and we want to make sure you’re ready for every opportunity. We work with the best grain marketing advisor in the U.S. in my opinion, Randy Martinson, formerly of Progressive Ag.
We’re happy to be working with him. But we’ll get into advisory more next week!

 Currencies

 Two other tools are involved here, which not many people think about. The first is currency.
The United States dollar has a big impact on the price that we get for our grain and how much we’re able to export. As the U.S. dollar gains strength versus other world currencies, especially the Chinese yuan, our commodities become more expensive.
Think: if Brazil’s selling corn for $2.50 a bushel and we’re selling it for $3.50 a bushel after you convert the currency, where are people going to buy their corn?
If our exports go down, our price will go down. If our grain is too expensive, we have to lower the price. Otherwise, nobody buys it.
You have to come down to where the market is on a global basis.

 Correlated commodities
 Corn has become an energy commodity, meaning oil and corn trade closely sometimes. Their trading is correlated. As the price of oil goes up, ethanol becomes more valuable, and we start to use more corn for ethanol.  Roughly 45% of the 2015 corn crop was distilled into ethanol. That translates into a big local buyer for corn.
So we’ve got to be watching the energies if we want to stay on trend with the futures market.

 Conclusion
 This stuff can get confusing, especially for a busy farmer. We talk to farmers all the time, so we know this is a challenge. Whether you’re a customer or not, call us with questions and we’ll try to give you the best information.
We’ll be more than happy to help you navigate these markets.
Call or email us anytime. We offer complimentary grain marketing strategy sessions to our friends who read our articles.[/vc_column_text][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”40″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”40″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”30″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row dfd_row_config=”full_width_content” dfd_row_parallax=”off” dfd_row_responsive_enable=”off” dfd_enable_overlay=”off” css=”.vc_custom_1470889834038{background-color: #2d2d2d !important;}”][vc_column width=”3/4″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][ultimate_heading heading_type=”customizable” heading_tag=”h3″ heading_content=”MAXIMIZE PROFITS WITH CASHCOW FARMER!” main_heading_default_weight=”400″ main_heading_color=”#ffffff” subheading_type=”customizable” subheading_tag=”h5″ sub_heading_default_weight=”400″]POWERFUL FARM FINANCIAL SOFTWARE THAT IS AFFORDABLE & EASY TO USE![/ultimate_heading][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″ column_responsive_mobile_classes=”dfd-remove-right-padding” column_responsive_mobile_resolutions=”dfd-apply-mobile” css=”.vc_custom_1470810100672{padding-right: 2% !important;}”][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”15″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][bt_animation animation_type=”_flipX” duration=”2″ repeat=”2″ allow_margins=”yes” scroll_offset=”5px” no_hide=”yes”][ult_buttons btn_title=” FREE 30 DAY TRIAL” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-large” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][/bt_animation][vc_column_text]

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Don’t have time to read? Listen here:
[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/cashcowfarmer/Building_a_grain_marketing_plan_Part_2_Logistics_Master.mp3″ social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ]

If a grain marketing opportunity comes your way, you have to be able to pull the trigger.
That’s the theme of this month’s blog posts: how to build a grain marketing plan that works.
This week is logistics, or in other words, figuring out when you can haul grain and what can you store.

This is the personal part of a grain marketing plan. The problem of logistics is why you can’t just download a spreadsheet off the Internet and make a successful grain marketing plan. There are a lot of individual things that each farm has to deal with.
In particular, consider these four logistics obstacles.
[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”SCHEDULE A FREE GRAIN MARKETING STRATEGY SESSION” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2Fmarketing-strategy||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] 1) Bin Space
 Some farms can store 100% of their harvest, which means they have massive flexibility in their grain marketing.  When opportunities in the markets present themselves, farmers must contract for the correct months depending on whether they are selling off the combine or out of the bin.
Most farmers can’t store their whole crop. This is not a problem, it just means that their grain marketing plan will look a bit different and they won’t be sitting on all that grain.
Remember, the reason for grain bins is not to make up for sloppy marketing, it’s to capture basis movements.  Those bins can end up costing money too…

 2) Load Limits
 In the spring in my area, we have a lot of roads that limit how much grain you can haul, because the ground becomes soft from all the moisture.
You don’t want to set yourself up for a lot of hauling during times when you can’t haul a full load. Then you’re just wasting fuel and time. After all, sometimes a round-trip haul to the elevator is 40 miles or more.

 3) Winter Weather Hazard

 I’m in South Dakota, so we get really brutal weather at times. In the winter months, if I want to keep my guys busy hauling grain, I have to have a reasonable amount of grain contracted.
Otherwise, we might get a blizzard that takes us out of hauling grain for a week or two. And I don’t want the guys driving down icy roads with 120,000 lbs of grain. When that truck gets going, it’s hard to stop, and the last thing I want is for them to drive it into a ditch in the middle of a snowy, icy winter.
Make sure that when you’re scheduling grain to be contracted in your marketing plan, you’ve got a plan that accounts for weather.[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”TRY CASHCOW FARMER FREE FOR 30 DAYS” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] 4) Convenience
 It needs to be convenient for you to haul the grain to town. You don’t want to schedule grain when you’re planting or spraying.
Remember, too, that when you’re storing grain, you can get better prices by holding it. So you need to look at the carry in the market.
Logistics and the carry have a lot to do with each other. Elevators will pay you to sit on that grain until they need it by lowering the basis.  You need to be paying attention to basis or they will raise it quickly when they get enough contracts from your neighbors to fill their trains or barges.
So understand the logistics of your farm. Knowing when the best times are to sell and deliver grain is really important in your marketing plan.

 Conclusion
 A grain marketing plan isn’t just about simple numbers. It’s also about timing and seasonality. Make sure your plan accounts for these logistical obstacles, and you’ll be in a position to maximize your revenue.
We’ll be getting into some complex topics in the next few weeks, but it’s good stuff, so stay tuned![/vc_column_text][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”40″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”40″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”30″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row dfd_row_config=”full_width_content” dfd_row_parallax=”off” dfd_row_responsive_enable=”off” dfd_enable_overlay=”off” css=”.vc_custom_1470889834038{background-color: #2d2d2d !important;}”][vc_column width=”3/4″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][ultimate_heading heading_type=”customizable” heading_tag=”h3″ heading_content=”MAXIMIZE PROFITS WITH CASHCOW FARMER!” main_heading_default_weight=”400″ main_heading_color=”#ffffff” subheading_type=”customizable” subheading_tag=”h5″ sub_heading_default_weight=”400″]POWERFUL FARM FINANCIAL SOFTWARE THAT IS AFFORDABLE & EASY TO USE![/ultimate_heading][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″ column_responsive_mobile_classes=”dfd-remove-right-padding” column_responsive_mobile_resolutions=”dfd-apply-mobile” css=”.vc_custom_1470810100672{padding-right: 2% !important;}”][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”15″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][bt_animation animation_type=”_flipX” duration=”2″ repeat=”2″ allow_margins=”yes” scroll_offset=”5px” no_hide=”yes”][ult_buttons btn_title=” FREE 30 DAY TRIAL” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-large” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][/bt_animation][vc_column_text]

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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Don’t have time to read? Listen here:
[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/cashcowfarmer/5_Strategies_for_Conquering_the_Grain_Markets_Master.mp3″ social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ]

Don’t have time to read, click play above or subscribe to our podcast on itunes.
Nothing has a greater impact on the profit of a farming operation than the grain markets—but nothing is more confusing to a farmer.
Building a strategy for managing the grain markets is like getting base hits in a baseball game. If you swing for the fence, you may hit a home run 1 time out of 10 tries, but you will more often strike out.
Swinging for the fences in the grain markets and striking out can result in bankruptcy. We have all heard of the neighbor who lost the farm in the futures market. Can you make enough on that one swing to make up for the other nine? Probably not.
So your strategy for conquering the grain markets should be going for base hits. The best baseball players are those who get the bat on the ball every single time and get on base. That’s how you score runs. If you get a hit one out of every three at-bats, congratulations, you’re in the hall of fame.
Take a look at these five strategies to conquer the grain markets more consistently.[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”SCHEDULE A FREE GRAIN MARKETING STRATEGY SESSION” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2Fmarketing-strategy||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] 1) How Much Grain Is in Need of Marketing?
 The first thing to determine is quantity. How much grain do you have to protect? How much old crop inventory and new crop production must be established to start building a plan.
With Cash Cow Farmer, farm management software, the inventory is calculated for you automatically as you put in your expected yields or your actual yields. Then you put your forward contracts in the software, and it will say you’ve got x-many bushels of old crop and also x-many unmarketed bushels of new crop.  You will always know exactly what you have left to market and what you have marketed already.

 2) When Does the Grain Need to be Moved?

 After quantity, you want to examine the timing you need to follow.
This has to do with storage space. If you’ve got on-farm storage space, you’ve got to have those bins emptied by harvest and at the best basis. Knowing exactly when the grain bins need to be empty and when the cash needs to be in the bank to pay bills is the next step in the strategy.

 3) Which Tools to Use?
 Grain marketing can be done using a bunch of different tools available, which is great, but it’s also a curse because it’s so confusing. Each option of managing grain markets does a different thing.
There are three main tools at farmers’ disposal:

1. Options
2. Futures contracts
3. Cash contracts – Almost all farmers do cash contracts. Which is great, unless you don’t get a crop. If you don’t get a crop, then you’ve got contracts to fill and no grain to fill them.

All these are great tools to manage the grain markets, however each tool will perform dramatically different and address risk in a different way. You should use a portion of each of these tools.

A few farmers I know like to sell options, which is a great way to collect dividends. Futures contracts are almost exactly like cash contracts except profit goes up and down as the market does.
Again, there are all kinds of options here, and we actually sit down with our customers and talk about the grain marketing strategy that’s going to work best for them. If this seems overwhelming to you, give us a call.[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”TRY CASHCOW FARMER FREE FOR 30 DAYS” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] 4) Break-Even Price
 Knowing exactly at which price the farm will cover all production and operation costs is crucial in knowing where the farm is on a competitive landscape and how to be profitable. If your break-even costs are way over what you can get out of the futures market and the cash market, you’ve got a totally different problem—a cost problem, which needs to be addressed differently.
Then you need to figure out how aggressively you can grow the farm. Can I take on a bunch of land? Can I buy some new machinery?

 5) Profit Targeting
 This ties it all together. After costs of production are established, then profit goals can be put into place to start building sales targets and managing growth and new purchases of the operation.
When you’re picking the price to sell your grain, it should include your profit goals. You can’t have ridiculous profit goals like $1,000/acre, but once you know your costs you can start targeting realistic profit goals. And if you’re working with us, we pick prices based on fundamental and technical analysis.
The grain markets don’t care about how much it costs you to produce corn: only supply and demand. You have to figure out if you can afford to buy things. Profit targeting helps make those decisions about the growth of the farm.

 Conclusion
 “Don’t sail go sailing the grain markets without a good skipper.”
We help farmers chart paths through the rough seas of the grain markets by building customized grain marketing plansand managing basis movements. Processes and systems can simplify and even automate the process of grain marketing and farm management.  Reach out to us at Cash Cow Farmer to see how this can be applied to your farm.[/vc_column_text][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”40″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”40″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”30″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row dfd_row_config=”full_width_content” dfd_row_parallax=”off” dfd_row_responsive_enable=”off” dfd_enable_overlay=”off” css=”.vc_custom_1470889834038{background-color: #2d2d2d !important;}”][vc_column width=”3/4″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][ultimate_heading heading_type=”customizable” heading_tag=”h3″ heading_content=”MAXIMIZE PROFITS WITH CASHCOW FARMER!” main_heading_default_weight=”400″ main_heading_color=”#ffffff” subheading_type=”customizable” subheading_tag=”h5″ sub_heading_default_weight=”400″]POWERFUL FARM FINANCIAL SOFTWARE THAT IS AFFORDABLE & EASY TO USE![/ultimate_heading][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″ column_responsive_mobile_classes=”dfd-remove-right-padding” column_responsive_mobile_resolutions=”dfd-apply-mobile” css=”.vc_custom_1470810100672{padding-right: 2% !important;}”][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”15″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][bt_animation animation_type=”_flipX” duration=”2″ repeat=”2″ allow_margins=”yes” scroll_offset=”5px” no_hide=”yes”][ult_buttons btn_title=” FREE 30 DAY TRIAL” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-large” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][/bt_animation][vc_column_text]

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Farmers only get about 30 paychecks in their lifetimes.
Scary thought, huh?
The most important factor in each of those paychecks is grain marketing. And unfortunately, I can count on one hand the number of farmers I’ve met who are good at grain marketing. It’s a tough deal to master.
As part of the Cash Cow Farmer software, we’re doing grain marketing advisory to help farmers out. The first piece of advisory for our customers is building a customized grain marketing plan.
We focus on price targets of course, but there are also three other key components of a grain marketing plan that must be addressed.

 1) Cash Flow
 You will always hear us shouting “Cash is King”; that’s because cash is the lifeblood of a business. Without blood, you’re dead—and without cash flow, so is your business.
Farmers have several periods during the year when they need a large influx of cash to cover expenses and debt. This is extremely important to know when building a grain marketing plan.
You must make sure that when the big bills (e.g., land payment, machinery payment, prepay expenses) come due, you have the money to cover them. During those parts of the year, managing the grain marketing plan to execute the sales and receive cash will keep you alive.
This means that you should set a goal not only for the price of your grain, but also the point in time when you want to receive that cash from the sale. You’ll build your grain marketing plan around that due date.[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”SCHEDULE A FREE GRAIN MARKETING STRATEGY SESSION” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2Fmarketing-strategy||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] 2) Storage Space
 Storing grain is a lot of work: you’ve got to load it in the trucks, then unload it into a grain bin, and on top of that, manage the grain closely. Even after all that time, if it goes bad on you you’ve lost a bunch of money.
But storing grain has two main benefits:
1) Capturing the carry in the market – Harvest time is usually the worst time to sell your grain because the market’s getting flooded with it. Because of this, the elevator raises the basis. They want people to store grain on their farm, then bringing it to them throughout the year when they’re not so busy.
2) Keeping the combine going in the field – If you haul every load to the elevator, you might actually run out of trucks—meaning you’re losing harvest time.
[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”TRY CASHCOW FARMER FREE FOR 30 DAYS” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] 3) Logistics
 During harvest, when grain storage is being filled up, the farmer must have a logistical plan to keep the combine going and to unload the bins. Logistics will tell you when, and for how much, you should sell your grain.
A great grain marketing plan for most people is to sell some at harvest and store the rest. But what that balance looks like will be highly personalized.
Weather and climate add to the personalization of logistics, too. In my neck of the woods, January and February bring us temperatures of 40-50 below zero in my area. I don’t know how many people want to be driving diesel trucks when the roads are just solid ice and it’s colder than heck out there.
But some areas do want to be hauling during those months. It’s got to be personalized so that you’re marketing your grain right when you’re ready to unload it.
Also, we have load limits that come on. In the spring, when the roads are really soft because the frost is leaving the ground, they don’t let us haul as much. If your area is similar, you don’t want to be scheduled to haul a whole bunch of grain when your trucks are going down the road half-full. Those mistakes can be very frustrating.

 Conclusion:
 You Need a Grain Marketing Plan
 Planning is part of mastering the business side of farming.  We have more coming about building grain marketing plans so stay tuned.
We just partnered with the top grain marketing advisor in the U.S. and we’re putting together packages now for our customers. The amount of improvement that they need on their grain marketing to pay for the packages is a couple of pennies, and we can make farmers dramatically more profitable.
We offer customized grain marketing plans with our farmers, because a solid plan will greatly guide the day-to-day farming operation’s efficiencies and improve profit margins.

 You can call us about your grain marketing plan if you need help.[/vc_column_text][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”40″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”40″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”30″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row dfd_row_config=”full_width_content” dfd_row_parallax=”off” dfd_row_responsive_enable=”off” dfd_enable_overlay=”off” css=”.vc_custom_1470889834038{background-color: #2d2d2d !important;}”][vc_column width=”3/4″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][ultimate_heading heading_type=”customizable” heading_tag=”h3″ heading_content=”FREE GRAIN MARKETING STRATEGY SESSION!” main_heading_default_weight=”400″ main_heading_color=”#ffffff” subheading_type=”customizable” subheading_tag=”h5″ sub_heading_default_weight=”400″]DON’T LET THE MARKETS WIN…SCHEDULE YOUR FREE SESSION TODAY![/ultimate_heading][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″ column_responsive_mobile_classes=”dfd-remove-right-padding” column_responsive_mobile_resolutions=”dfd-apply-mobile” css=”.vc_custom_1470810100672{padding-right: 2% !important;}”][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”15″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][bt_animation animation_type=”_flipX” duration=”2″ repeat=”2″ allow_margins=”yes” scroll_offset=”5px” no_hide=”yes”][ult_buttons btn_title=” FREE STRATEGY SESSION” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2Fmarketing-strategy||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-large” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][/bt_animation][vc_column_text]

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE SESSION TODAY!

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[smart_track_player url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/cashcowfarmer/3_Ways_to_Determine_the_ROI_on_Starter_Fertilizer_Master.mp3″ social=”true” social_twitter=”true” social_facebook=”true” social_gplus=”true” ]

Spring is now yawning and waking up from its slumber, and most farmers are just about to start planting corn. Figuring out the return on investment for every input on your farm is crucial to making sure you’re the lowest-cost producer.
And since farming is somewhat of a competition, the lowest-cost producer wins.
Ready for some math? Today, we’ll focus on determining the ROI for one specific input: liquid starter fertilizer.
Does it make sense for your farm? Let’s see.

 1) Break Down the Costs Into a Measurable Format
 You have to break each cost down into something you can measure. Since farmers work in acres, we want to break down fertilizer cost into cost per acre. Then we’ll figure out how many bushels it will realistically take to pay for that cost and think about how many bushels we’ll get back.
For example: Let’s use the figure of $450 per ton for starter fertilizer. That’s weight: we buy it in weight and convert it to volume, meaning we need to find the density. The density is 11.65 pounds per gallon.
So dividing 2,000/11.65 tells us how many gallons are in a ton—about 172. Then divide $450 (the cost per ton) by 172 (the gallons per ton), which gives us $2.62 per gallon.
The last step is to multiply gallons per acre by the price per gallons. Most people put on around 5 gallons per acre, so we’ll multiply 5 x 2.63 = $13.01 per acre. Keep that number in mind. We’ll come back to it.
Lost yet? Check this out. Visualizing numbers usually helps!
[/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”SCHEDULE A FREE GRAIN MARKETING STRATEGY SESSION” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2Fmarketing-strategy||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] 2) Determine the Benefit of Using the Fertilizer
 We’re not buying stuff just for fun: we want to get value out of it. So what’s the value of starter fertilizer on your farm?
If you look at studies, most people say you’ll get a 3% yield out of an investment in starter fertilizer. What 3% looks like is different for every field in your operation.
Let’s say we expect a 3% increase in yield. On a 150-bushel cornfield, that’s 4.5 bushels per acre; on a 200-bushel cornfield, it’s 6 bushels per acre. That’s our return rate. So we break that into the price.
You know how many bushels it is now, so the next step is to incorporate your cash price.

 3) Break Even and Return
Let’s say cash corn is 3.50 (though that value will obviously fluctuate with the market). Divide that into our cost: 13.01, remember? So 13.01/3.50=3.72.

A minimum of 3.72 yield increase is needed to pay for the fertilizer. If you’re not getting a four-bushel improvement, you’re not even paying for the investment. And to know you’re getting a four-bushel improvement, you’d have to first measure what you get without using that fertilizer.
The best way to do this, other than taking plot data, is to split-test your field. Plant half of it until you run out of fertilizer, then just keep going with your seed and don’t use any fertilizer. When you jump in the combine that fall, you’ll be able to see the difference in yield.
You should be split-testing a few different fields, based on your fields’ various soil types. Personalize these studies to make them fit your fields.
Back to the numbers. You only have to improve by 3.72 bushels—not bad, right? Let’s start buying fertilizer.
But wait a second: we need to figure out the costs of logistics and equipment. Crap!
If putting liquid application on your planter is a $25,000 investment that will last for five years, that is part of the cost of that fertilizer, which can sometimes double the number. If you were planting 1,000 acres of corn with that fertilizer investments that would add another $5 per acre cost to the fertilizer, raising the total break even to $18.01. It might actually be closer to six or seven bushels you have to improve on to get a return.
Now these costs will vary dramatically, but if you take your annual fertilizer-specific equipment and logistics costs and divide them by how many gallons you will apply, then you can see the additional costs per acre and see how much yield improvement it will take to pay for them.
It’s simple to calculate just the return on fertilizer, but the logistics and equipment is a little more complex. There are all these hidden costs, and a lot of times farmers don’t think about that.
And obviously your rep’s not going to mention this![/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”TRY CASHCOW FARMER FREE FOR 30 DAYS” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-small” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][vc_column_text] Conclusion
 When should you do these calculations?
Before you make the decision to lock in fertilizer price. As soon as you get the price quote on the fertilizer, you can go ahead and calculate the return on investment to see if it makes sense. In fact, anytime you get a price on anything, you can do this.
We’ve gotta do our homework as farmers and make sure our investments pay off. All of our investments need to produce for our farm. All of them.
Or we should cut them out.

Want to know how to make every field profitable? Well, here ya go![/vc_column_text][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”40″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”40″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”30″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”20″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row dfd_row_config=”full_width_content” dfd_row_parallax=”off” dfd_row_responsive_enable=”off” dfd_enable_overlay=”off” css=”.vc_custom_1470889834038{background-color: #2d2d2d !important;}”][vc_column width=”3/4″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][ultimate_heading heading_type=”customizable” heading_tag=”h3″ heading_content=”MAXIMIZE PROFITS WITH CASHCOW FARMER!” main_heading_default_weight=”400″ main_heading_color=”#ffffff” subheading_type=”customizable” subheading_tag=”h5″ sub_heading_default_weight=”400″]POWERFUL FARM FINANCIAL SOFTWARE THAT IS AFFORDABLE & EASY TO USE![/ultimate_heading][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”25″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”25″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”15″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”10″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/4″ column_responsive_mobile_classes=”dfd-remove-right-padding” column_responsive_mobile_resolutions=”dfd-apply-mobile” css=”.vc_custom_1470810100672{padding-right: 2% !important;}”][dfd_spacer screen_wide_resolution=”1280″ screen_wide_spacer_size=”15″ screen_normal_resolution=”1024″ screen_tablet_resolution=”800″ screen_mobile_resolution=”480″ screen_normal_spacer_size=”0″ screen_tablet_spacer_size=”0″ screen_mobile_spacer_size=”0″][bt_animation animation_type=”_flipX” duration=”2″ repeat=”2″ allow_margins=”yes” scroll_offset=”5px” no_hide=”yes”][ult_buttons btn_title=” FREE 30 DAY TRIAL” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fcashcowfarmer.clickfunnels.com%2F30daytrial||target:%20_blank” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-large” btn_title_color=”#ffffff” btn_bg_color=”#00ab61″ btn_hover=”ubtn-fade-bg” btn_bg_color_hover=”#ffffff” btn_title_color_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_icon_pos=”ubtn-sep-icon-at-left” btn_border_style=”solid” btn_color_border=”#ffffff” btn_color_border_hover=”#00ab61″ btn_border_size=”2″ btn_font_size=”18″][/bt_animation][vc_column_text]

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