MaxVisor Provides Personal Grain Market Consulting

Cindy Zimmerman

growmarkIt’s that time of the year when many of us are looking back at the past year and ahead to the new year, especially when it comes to our finances. Farmers who are making a New Years resolution to consider options for managing risk should check out MaxVisor for consulting with a personal touch.

“It is sit down, one on one with that farmer and make recommendations that fit that producer’s risk tolerance, risk profile and needs at that time,” said Cory Winstead, Senior MaxVisor Representative.

growmarkMaxVisor is a service of AgriVisor, an agricultural advisory firm that is part of the GROWMARK family of companies. “We have multiple different silos, or bins, that are part of AgriVisor,” Cory says, from research and pricing strategies, to crop insurance and brokerages service relationships. MaxVisor specifically includes hedge accounting and professional services with timely and frequent communications updates by email, text and audio reports.

Cory says AgriVisor is owned 51% by GROWMARK and 49% by Illinois Farm Bureau, but anyone can take advantage of their services. “You don’t need to be a GROWMARK customer, or an FS customer – you don’t even need to be a Farm Bureau member to be a part of us. If you’re a farmer who has some needs or questions about the market – that’s what we’re here for.” Cory adds that they have customers from Ohio to Kansas, and Canada to Alabama.

To find out more about MaxVisor, Cory says there is a link on the side bar of the AgriVisor home page that takes you to a free trial sign up page – no risk, no obligation – just to check it out. What do you have to lose?

Find out more about MaxVisor in my interview with Cory here: Cory Winstead Interview

Audio, Farming, GROWMARK

Happy Holidays From VeriCorder Technology

Chuck Zimmerman

So you’re still wondering what to get your favorite farm podcaster? How about some happy holiday discounts from VeriCorder Technology. They’re offering 50% off apps until Dec. 31, 2011.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from VeriCorder Technology

Equipment

What happened to the Mrs.?

Melissa Sandfort

Growing up, we always had a Santa and Mrs. Claus sitting on the coffee table. They were handmade out of fan-folded painted newspaper, felt strips and cotton balls. Thinking back, I’m glad we had the happy couple – Santa does all the hard work delivering the presents but who do you think keeps Santa jolly the rest of the year?

When my grandmother was younger, she and her brother had these cardboard Santas, so they’re aging in at 80 as well. This is definitely a toy to play with gently – one bad fall off a slippery roof and Santa would be missing a mid-section!

I’m sure these were handmade and over the years, they’ve had a few “improvements” and fixes.

3 days and counting!

Until we walk again …

Uncategorized

FarmChat.com Is Now Live

Chuck Zimmerman

The Global Auction Guide Media Group family is growing. My friend, Dwayne Leslie, just sent this announcement.

After several years of planning we are proud to announce that www.FarmChat.com is now live and available to farmers to interact with other farmers.

FarmChat.com is a sister site to FarmAuctionGuide.com, AgClassifieds.com and PrairieLinks.com.

Dwayne Leslie, the founder of this network and an Internet entrepreneur for over 15 years, felt that this was the right time to launch a new site.

“As an active farmer and forum participant, we have seen the quality of other ag forums stagnate over the past few years” says Leslie. “There are so many new features that allow farmers to customize their experience and allow easy sharing of videos, photos and Twitter and Facebook feeds.”

The first thing farmers will notice is that the Combine Talk Show has been brought back to life. As one of the oldest ag forums online at Harvesting.com, the Combine Talk Show is full of evergreen information about combines, settings, and problem solving. This huge database of information has been upgraded and integrated into the FarmChat.com website. Users will once again be able to easily search for past answers and interact with new questions about Combines and Harvesting Equipment in the 20,000 threads and 125,000 posts that go back as early as 1997.

Unique Twitter integration also allows farmers to be immediately notified every time there is a new thread started. You can follow the new site on Twitter @farmchat

FarmChat.Com is also looking to work with other forums, ag websites and media companies to make for a better user experience and build the largest database of content for farmers.

Dwayne Leslie can be contacted at dwayne@farmauctionguide.com or @ 204-267-2730.

Agribusiness

Seasons Greetings From Gibbs & Soell

Chuck Zimmerman

I’m not getting tired of these seasons greetings. Hope you’re not either. This one comes from our friends at Gibbs & Soell.


Seasons greetings from everyone at Gibbs & Soell. As we look back on our 40th anniversary we are grateful to our clients, employees and friends whose support makes our existence possible. We salute everyone who helped celebrate this milestone by giving back. Please visit our Facebook page to read our stories.

Agencies

2011 National Corn Yield Contest Winners Announced

Cindy Zimmerman

Despite a challenging growing season, winners in the 2011 Corn Yield Contest still averaged well over 300 bushels an acre – some over 400!

Advanced production techniques, informed growing practices and improved seed varieties helped corn growers achieve high yields in the National Corn Growers Association 2011 National Corn Yield Contest. Despite the challenging weather conditions that plagued the Corn Belt throughout the year, entrants continued to far surpass the national average corn yield, even doubling it in some circumstances.

The National Corn Yield Contest is in its 47th year and remains NCGA’s most popular program for members. With 8,425 entries, the 2011 NCGA National Corn Yield Contest set a new participation record again this year. This is a 18 percent increase over 2010 (7,125) and an incredible 70 percent increase over 2007 (4,932). The 18 winners in six production categories had verified yields averaging more than 313.107 bushels per acre, compared to the projected national average of 146.7 bushels per acre in 2011.

While there is no overall contest winner, yields from first, second and third place farmers overall production categories ranged from 277.5 to 429.0 bushels per acre.

See a list of all the winners.

Corn, NCGA