Combines Inputs

If only the suicide bombers and terrorists would stand in the middle of a Montana wheat field and detonate... Would the price of grain be impacted IJ

I heard an interesting solution to the problem on low prices at a meeting yesterday. Farmers: Plant 20-30% less corn soybean acres and any other crop in the part of the country you live in 2007 and buy far out futures to replace the yield of these acres. Then see what happens. Will it ever workIJ Of course not. Farmers are too stubborn and selfish to acheive one common goal for all.

The futures strategy would work except can we survive planting lessIJ And, the markets would know that farmers did that - they would replace our crop from other countries and then when contracts were due, you might do Ok there but the other crop that you couldn't lock in would probably not improve. Everyone has too many ways to know too much about us. Can we produce crops cheaper than they can import. One person asked me one time, what would happen if farmers in US didn't produce a crop - at that time they could import cheaper than we produced it - he said so - then maybe we don't need them. There isn't much understanding by people who are not associated with farm life ( and there is getting less of them all the time)- I guess I would have a hard time understanding the pinch ,too looking at some of these farms that are asset rich and cash poor. I already reduce field passes, use cheapest chemicals, and best hybrids - what's leftIJ

A terrorist in a wheat field,,,,interesting A young terrorist blew himself up in looking forward to being greeted by his 70 virgins in heaven. As he approached the pearly gates they swung open and George Washington came out, the young, used to be terrorist, bowed and GW kicked him in the groin, out came Thomas Jefferson, took his personal harp and started beating the lad, Tom Paine came out and started choking the kid with his halo - St Peter heard all the comotion and answered as the now victim yelled "I was supposed to greeted by 70 virgins" To which St Peter replied " no son, that read 70 VIRGINIANS!~" The new Pope finally got to see the dead sea schrolls. After a few minutes he started beating his scribe_translator with his big white pope hat. As the cardinals pull him off the poor translator they heard the pope crying "the word was CElBRATE not celebate you idoits" The pope has just been confirmed to have contacted the avarian or bird flu on his recent european tour. They think he caught it from a polish cardinal........ back to work......

What we really need to do is all get together and decide we're going to quit answering the crop surveys. When we answer those surveys it just gives them ammunition to use against us. If they want to know what's out there let them do their own research. Why should I do their work for themIJ When I'm asked to cooperate in a telephone survey I tell them I get $40.00 an hour and would gladly provide my services at that rate. After all, the people who made the call are getting paid for their time. What if we all told them we had half the amount of grain we really haveIJ Would that reflect in the marketIJ

Tbran, you have obviously got those Gleaners in your territory running gung ho and so you haven't much to do! With jokes like that it shows! Keep em coming! Somebody has to make us laugh with all the doom and gloom around. And if you guys up there think you are hard done by, in our area in S.E. Australia, we have only been getting between 9 to and 13 inches rainfall in most of the last 10 years { average rainfall 400mms ie. 16 inches} We are now looking at the possibility of being totally wiped out by a full scale drought as in maybe not even getting seed back, for the 3rd time since 1994. In the last 10 years we have only been getting yields that are a half to 2_3rds of what we regarded as normal in the late 1980's and early 1990's. With no bore [well water ] and the land too flat for run-off water if any, in our area, we rely on a channel system that runs water some 150 kms north of our local small mountain system to supply each farm with water for household and live stock use. This year, for the first time in 80 or 90 years, the channels won't be running. There is no water left in the reserviors to run the channels except to the small town reserviors. Over 2300 farms are going to have to rely on water that is going to have to be trucked in to them for their house hold, spray and animal useage. Americans probably have a lot of trouble getting their minds around this but for us, it is an unfortunate fact of life living in the driest continent on Earth. Just to cap it off, we get the same market prices as you but we have no government price support schemes of any sort so we just have to take what the market pays regardless! If we don't get good rains within the next month and we face a wipe out, a high percentage of our farmers will be wiped out. They no longer have the will, the mental resources or the financial ability to continue on. After all of this, Cheers!

I quit answering farm surveys years ago and when I did I B S them to high heaven. When I told them I charge $20 for 15 minutes, with a $20 minimum, nine out of ten hung up on me. This does no good not answering surveys. They have that eye in the sky that can zoom in and catch you taking a wee wee on the yard. The government can factor excactly within one percent what you are producing. As for not planting crops and buying the board, Go up to 50- 70%. There is no way in HE double hockey sticks that S America and other third world countries could replace our lost production. But of course I am talking pure fantasy and this will never happen.