KANANASKIS, Alta. – Good market information sources can help a farmer skirt the mountain of commodity market data available, says a prairie market analyst.
“Unless you have good, reliable information coming in, you’re pissing in the wind,” said Mike Jubinville, of Pro Farmer Canada, during an interview at the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association annual convention.
An American farm management adviser had just told producers that market newsletters, market analysts and government forecasters can’t offer useful price predictions because they don’t know what the markets will do.
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But Jubinville said producers can benefit from commodity news sources that interpret what’s happening in the markets. If a farmer finds a news source that offers year to year reliable information, he can concentrate on that and forget other services that haven’t offered reliable information, Jubinville said.
While no one can predict where markets will go, Jubinville said good analysis can help a farmer decide which of the many risk management options “is the best route to go.”
Good market information can provide the opportunity to get a few cents more per bushel, and that’s important if a farmer wants to be in the top one-third of sellers.
Farmers shouldn’t look to newsletters for prediction, but for interpretation, Jubinville said.
“A marketing plan is a tough thing to establish. You need good information to make the basis of whatever marketing decisions you’re going to make.”
