There’s still time!
This season’s special hands-on training event will be held at the Nordby Exhibit Hall on the South Dakota State Fairgrounds in Huron, SD, from noon to 5:30pm. We hope to see you there!
Call Bauman Agency today at 605-353-1112 to confirm your registration!
Bauman Agency is looking forward to producing solutions with you in 2019! To start the year off right, please join us on Wednesday, December 19th at Bauman Agency (9 miles North of Huron) for this year’s planting clinic! From 10am to 3pm, we’ll be exploring…
Lunch will be served!
Please call 605-353-1112 with any questions.
We’re Bauman Agency, and we see seed, crop insurance, and planter technology…from your side of the fence.
19897 SD Hwy 37, Huron SD 57350
Bauman Agency is pleased to introduce our Hybrid Yield Hero contest for 2018! The yield contest is for each individual Pioneer corn and soybean product from the 2018 growing season. Each hybrid winner will be displayed on a banner that will remain on the Bauman Agency “Wall of Fame” for the year. They will also win a personalized Bauman Agency jacket and an invitation for 2 to our annual Yield Hero Dinner.
Rules and Regulations
Complete ALL of the information and submit the entry form along with all production evidence to:
Bauman Agency
19897 SD Hwy 37
Huron, SD 57350
Remember: All entries are due at the Bauman Agency office by December 1st, 2018.
Yield Hero Rules and Entry Form
Featured Image Credit: JD Hancock
Our own Curt Bauman had the pleasure of talking to KWAT and KDLO radio’s Ag director, Chuck Langner, on 28 September 2017 to give him the Beadle County harvest update…from your side of the fence. Take a listen below!
One week later (5 October), rain continued to challenge us…but Beadle county ag growers kept plugging along!
A week later (12 October), Curt provided an update on the soybean harvest, with a look ahead to the corn harvest beginning for most growers. Listen in here!
Featured Image Credit: United Soybean Board
I used to think that the more years I farmed, the more experienced I became. With that experience, the less shocked I would be at certain scenarios as I should have “seen them all.” Then reality happens and I am reminded that I still have a great deal to learn when trying to discern our volatile markets. Let me shed a little light on how today’s market fiasco affects crop insurance coverage for 2016.
First of all, I have seen more variation in corn crop conditions this season, within just a few miles – sometimes in the same section, than I can remember in any previous year. I have walked fields that could easily yield over 150 bpa (bushels per acre), while a field across the road will have a hard time achieving 75 bpa. It seems that in one field it paid to till, and a mile down the road it had a negative impact. Typically, our corn yields are significantly higher than soybeans compared to national averages, but this year, with some timely August rains, soybean yields could be well above the historical corn/soybean yield ratio.
This Spring, both corn and soybeans were under price pressure as we set our crop insurance base prices with both crops well below the 2015 price guarantees. Corn experienced a short lived summer rally in late June that left prices well above our spring price, then rapidly retreated to levels that make producers cringe and buyers smile. Soybeans, on the other hand, initiated a rally that, even after softening, is still well above 2015’s levels.
Most market forecasts told producers that it would essentially be impossible to make money raising soybeans this season and for farmers to be sure to use any tools available to minimize their losses. Soybeans could well turn out to be the one crop that turns a profit in 2016 – if we accomplish the current yield estimation and still have our current prices.
Corn producers who had a 120 bu APH (actual production history) and selected a 75% Revenue Protection coverage level for crop insurance coverage were guaranteed 90 bpa or roughly $347 per acre of revenue coverage on their farm. If the current trend in corn prices holds through harvest (about 15% lower than the crop insurance spring projected price), that dollar coverage divided by a lower harvest price makes his new yield coverage 104bpa (about 15% higher than the projected price).
Soybeans on the other hand have experienced a price rally and so revenue coverage will go up to reflect the higher value of harvested soybeans. A producer who has a 36 bu APH with 75% coverage had about $240 /acre coverage. If the current price holds through harvest, his coverage will go up to $273 per acre. Given the outlook for soybean harvest in Beadle County we should be marketing up to our guaranteed bushels at the higher current levels. If market history rings true and my predictions follow the past years’ outcomes, every producer should do the opposite of what I say as the price may skyrocket to $12/bu!
One last thought, if ever we need to have a yield monitor, it is a season like this when we can discover the true winning hybrids and best management practices to use on our farms. Contact us about YIELDSENSE, a yield monitoring system that is available for your combine that will help make the best possible decisions for 2017. Let us help you use the tools you already have to identify what things worked and what didn’t. It is one of the few factors that is truly in our control.
Image Credit: United Soybean Board
Wade Sabers joined our office in late February as a Precision Planting Tech and Inventory Assistant Manager. Wade will be a face you see this spring during seed delivery. He is a lifelong resident of Huron and has many years of experience in mechanics and technology. Hunting, camping, family, and snowmobiling fill his spare time. Be sure to stop in, say hi, and help us welcome him to Bauman Agency!
Matt Bischoff is our most recent addition to the staff at Bauman Agency. He will be working part-time in Pioneer Seed Sales and Agronomy Support. Matt will be a familiar face to many as he lives just a couple miles from the warehouse where he also farms and ranches with his family on Ravine Creek Ranch. His wife, Heather, is a Crop Insurance Specialist at the office, and they have 3 children—Parker, Reagan, and Easton. We are glad to have you here, Matt!
Though it may seem like you just selected your crop insurance levels and options for the year, acreage reporting will be here before we know it. Remember to keep note of your planting dates, crops, and acres to help ensure policy accuracy. Call Heather or Amanda at the office at (605) 353-1112 once you complete planting or if you have any replant or prevented plant claims.
Image Credit: Uwe Pothoff
You still have the ability to get the best out of your planter for the 2016 planting season. To help your planter perform its best we have implemented a “Try It Buy It” Program for this season.
Bauman Agency will outfit your planter with a Precision Planting 20/20 SeedSense for only a $500 installation and setup fee. You run it for the season and then decide if you would like to keep it on your farm. Please call Callee Bauman at (605) 354-6733 to learn more!
Image Credit: USDA NRCS
It is never too early to consider Crop Hail insurance on your crops. Rates don’t change throughout the growing season, so don’t gamble on Mother Nature. Policies can be put in place today that will cover your crops as soon as they are planted. Full coverage, deductible, and production based policies are available. Call Amanda, Heather, Curt, or Louise at (605) 353-1112 for a quote today. Our agents will work with you to find a policy that fits your farm’s needs and budget!
Image Credit: SF
A couple of weeks ago, I was able to attend the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, KY. This particular expo is DakotaFest – indoors and on steroids. It covers 27 acres under roof and hosts everything from livestock equipment to the latest innovations in farm equipment. A common theme throughout the booths this year was precision application equipment. As we farmers try to cut costs without adversely affecting our bottom line, I am encouraged that there are so many innovative ways to improve our nutrient efficiencies. More effective use of our fixed inputs allows us to lower the overall cost of production per unit vs. 
just cutting costs in general.
Many exhibitors showcased tillage tools that increase residue breakdown while simultaneously reducing erosion. A huge concern of farmers across the United States is how to better hold the soil where we need it – in our fields. As we flew over the central Corn Belt, it was evident that wind erosion is occurring across a wide span of the country. I do understand that if no fall tillage was done in many areas of the Corn Belt, there would be no crop planted the next spring. It is painful to see soil erosion still occurring even though the dirty 30’s are long behind us and conservation tillage practices are commonplace. I have used “no-till” as a conservation practice for many years, but, in recent years, have adopted strip-tilling as a nutrient placement practice, therefore I do more ground work than a true no-till operation would.
Countless exhibits focused on precision application of seeds, chemicals, and fertilizer. Innovative products were displayed throughout the show. Case IH’s new high speed planter, which is a whole new planter built around Precision Planting parts, beefed up all of the components that might see added stress if there were to be a high speed interaction with a rock. John Deere added an upgrade to their older style planters to allow them to use Deere’s Exact-Emerge technology. Precision Planting has always been about upgrading your current planter, which is typically more economical than trading for new. If farmers aren’t buying new planters, they can still upgrade to the latest technology available through various attachments and products. In short, there are cost effective solutions out there for all planting issues.
Continuing to invest in technology and adopt new practices will enhance your bottom line. At the same time crop insurance can provide a measure of protection. While we are in the Multi-Peril Crop Insurance sign-up period with a March 15th deadline, cover as many costs as you can. We are in agriculture for the long haul, so be sure to make your crop insurance decisions based on your long term goals – even when the short term outlook seems to be a little scary. My experience tells me that when we least expect it, an opportunity can come along that will change the dynamics of the entire year, so have faith and stick to your plan.
Image Credit: Daniel X. O’Neil