ABOVE: Curt Kimmel from AgMarket.Net talks about market outlooks heading into the 2023 harvest.
While there was much talk during Wednesday morning’s (Aug 16th) Vermilion County Farm Bureau Market Outlook Meeting concerning market tendencies and options going into the harvest, there was also talk about long range future situations.
Just one of those that was mentioned was the possibility of increased use of soybean oil for biodiesel or sustainable aviation fuel. And then as that happens, how many more acres would be needed nationwide for soybeans, and how that would affect corn acreage.
Tom Fricke of the Vermilion County Farm Bureau says long range questions must always be asked; and talked about now.
AUDIO: And there’s so many more opportunities that farmers have for the use of their crops, and so it’s constantly changing dynamics. Nothing stays the same in agriculture, and that’s why it’s important to have these meetings to keep our guys up to date.
The first speaker at the meeting was Curt Kimmel from AgMarket.Net. He says one important long range goal farmers need to have is to educate the non-farming public on what they do and how they operate; so that activists do not mislead the public, and therefore keep farmers from being able to do their jobs.
AUDIO: We in agriculture need to get the word out, and keep the public informed, educate the public what’s really going on in the farm. And that we really are taking care of the land. We really are taking care of the livestock. And we’re doing it for the best interests of everybody.
Kimmel says in the modern social media world, you can have activists showing isolated worst possible situations, and subsequently getting laws passed that affect markets through the whole country, or the whole world. He mentioned Prop 12 in California, which banned the sale of pork from hogs that are not housed in a certain way, and the domino affect that a law in such a large state can have on everyone.
