AgWired

2011 marks the seventh year for Wyffels Corn Strategies and it just continues to get bigger and better. I talked with event coordinator Matt Barnard and Wyffels Hybrids director of marketing Jeff Hartz, pictured here together enjoying the Illinois event on Wednesday.

The concept for the event started in 2005 when the company gathered a small group of growers at a hotel in Springfield, IL. “There wasn’t really anything in the industry that just educated growers to get better at what they do,” Matt told me. “We now are moving them around Illinois and Iowa and last year we had about 1200 folks that joined us.”

The event this week was held on the Pratt family farms in Dixon, Illinois and next week it will be held July 20 in Malcom, Iowa at the farm of Marty and Dustin Cummings. Farmers who would like to attend can find out more here.

Listen to or download my interview with Matt here: Matt Barnard with Wyffels Hybrids

Jeff says Corn Strategies is not a high pressure sales event, it’s just a way they can help the “freethinkers” they serve. “We define a freethinker as somebody that knows more about their operation and their soil than the average farmer,” he explains. “Those kind of people who take the time to really get inside their acres really can find value with a company like Wyffels.”

Jeff adds that Wyffels’ customers have come to look forward to the Corn Strategies event each year. “They keep coming back and more of them keep coming back every year,” he said. “We think we’re on to something pretty special that really embodies our company and what we’re all about.”

Listen to or download my interview with Jeff here: Jeff Hartz with Wyffels Hybrids

Wyffels Corn Strategies 2011 Illinois Photo Album

The Wyffels Corn Strategies 2011 event in Illinois this week was hosted by one of the best looking farm families you’ll ever see.

Pictured here, starting with Bill Wyffels on the left, are Mike and Susan Pratt, Peter and Emily Pratt, Andy and Katie Pratt, and the absolutely adorable Natalie and Ethan, who are the 5th generation in the Pratt farm family. They were all the gracious hosts to about 600 farmers who attended the Wyffels event. (Click on the photo for a bigger version.)

I talked with Katie about what all is involved in hosting such an event. “We took approximately ten acres out of one of our corn fields, six of that was planted to grass where the exhibit area, parking and tents were set up, and the rest of it was set to plots,” she said. They were all set up and ready to go on Monday, when that straight line windstorm that blew across Illinois and Iowa hit. “But, amazingly, the weather is wonderful today and the corn is standing back up again, thank God!” Katie said.

Katie also talked about her other job, as an Illinois Farm Families blogger on WatchUsGrow.org. “That’s where several women are blogging just about daily life on the farm and answering questions,” she said.

Listen to or download my interview with Katie here: Katie Pratt

Be sure to check out the Wyffels Corn Strategies 2011 Illinois Photo Album for more cute photos of Natalie and Ethan!

The farmers who attended the Wyffels Corn Strategies 2011 event in Dixon, Illinois on Wednesday were challenged to “learn at least one new thing” to help improve their operations, but most probably got lots more than that out of the day.

Dr. Mike Boehlje, agricultural economist with Purdue’s Center for Food and Agricultural Business, shared his thoughts on “All Things Volatility” with the growers. “We are seeing volatility at an unprecedented level,” he said, both in terms of corn prices and the cost of inputs. “I mean, when you lose about a buck off the price of corn in two days – that used to be the price of corn, a buck, and we lost that in two days.”

Dr. Boehlje’s main advice for growers is to determine their cost of production per bushel, not per acre. “That’s what you sell,” he said. “Knowing your costs is a critical part of any successful business, whether it be manufacturing widgets, or automobiles, or corn.”

Listen to an interview with Dr. Boehlje here: Dr. Mike Boehlje

Another presenter at the event was Jim Bower, owner and president of Bower Trading, who talked about some of the factors growers should consider in making decisions out ahead.

“These next two to three weeks are going to be terribly important to price discovery,” he said. “They’re going to do themselves well to pay really close attention to the models of weather and how they impact the market on a daily basis.” Jim says he is particularly concerned right now about a potential weather pattern developing that would push the extremely hot and dry weather that has been sitting over Texas and Oklahoma up into the Midwest and Eastern Corn Belt, which could push yields down.

Jim talked about other important factors that are more long term than the weather, such as increasing global demand for protein.

Listen to or download my interview with Jim here: Jim Bower

Wyffels Corn Strategies 2011 Illinois Photo Album