Eye on Ag - Locking in Seed Early

Just as mother nature turns on the deep freeze in North Dakota producers are already mulling over ideas for the 2008 growing season Even with more than six months to go before the seeders roll time is turning into a commodity to lock in some prices and securing seed for next spring Mark Birdsall Berthold Farmer I think seed is going to be more of an issue this year than it has been in the past because of the higher commodity prices I think earlier and some of the seed went to market The story with seed supply is expected to be much like most year with a few twists price and availability High Bred Seed Varieties will be well sought after as well as commodities with attractive new crop pricing Mark Birdsall Berthold Farmer Right now there is a pretty good supply of what you want out there We ve got most of the barley contracts out and there some spring wheat available out there for forward price but the durum a lot of the mills haven t come out with a new crop price yet For crops like durum those who raised it last year most likely will have seed for the spring but those looking to add it back into their rotation could have a real tough time finding it and those that do will certainly have a premium price too pay Mark Birdsall Berthold Farmer Areas from central North Dakota and east where there is probably going to be an increase in durum acres those individuals will have to buy seed and that s where we could run into a shortage However another obstacle now is the moisture situation Many areas were very dry this fall and Birdsall says contracting without an act-of-God clause could be risky Mark Birdsall Berthold Farmer There s some major concern about forward pricing anything too much because we re definitely at a higher risk level than we would be in a normal year going into fall with some moisture We re depleted on our topsoil and subsoil moisture Which makes for some tough decision making as farmers try and figure out what is best for their operation and rotation for the growing season ahead With Your Eye On Agriculture Shaun Sipma KX News