Managing Risk with a Marketing Plan

Tim Hammerich

News Reporter

Hoping to hit the highs of the commodity market with all of your production is not only unrealistic, it’s dangerous. A marketing plan is essential for preparing for unexpected times like those we live in today.

Joe Vaclavik has some commodity marketing words of wisdom on a recent “Grain Markets and Other Stuff” Podcast.

Vaclavik… “You have to tell yourself and promise yourself and act on this. You're going to spread out your sales over time. You're going to make a pledge to yourself that you know what, every month or two months I'm going to sell some of this crop on a rally. When the market rallies, when we get a pop in the market, I'm going to make some sales and I'm going to spread them out. I'm not going to put all my eggs in one basket like I did in 2019. In 2019, a lot of people put all their eggs in one basket and that basket was $5 corn or $6 corn or whatever it was you had in your head or whatever, your analyst or broker, whoever told you. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. That's the problem that I see so many people have is that they're just, they're looking for that extra 50 cents. They're looking for some number that's in their head and it just doesn't happen. I really think you've got to spread out your sales over time and I just, in general, seek improvement. Continue to seek improvement.”

Managing risk is just as important as tracking commodity prices. Take some time to assess your marketing plan as we approach the mid-point of the calendar year.