The House Committee on Agriculture

I was privileged to be able to share some background about my life and farm with the House Committee on Agriculture, as shown here: http://agriculture.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=3418

Here's the article, which will give you some insight into our operation:

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For most, receiving phone calls at 3 in the morning is an unnatural and unpleasant experience. For Minnesota farmer Noah Hultgren it’s just another day, or night, on the job. During harvest, farmers like Noah work around the clock to ensure Americans and others around the world have food on their tables. Curiosity got the best of us, so we sat down with Noah to get a glimpse about what life on a farm is really like.

The Hultgrens hail from Kandiyohi County, Minnesota, where they farm the same land Noah’s great grandfather cultivated in the 1930s. Noah’s grandfather, Lowell, was to go into World War II, but was held back to help tend the farm since his two older brothers were already in the service. Lowell and Noah’s grandmother Lucille farmed together with Noah’s great grandfather, Walter. Noah credits them for making the farm grow into what it is today and mentioned that while his grandfather passed away in 1997, Lucille is still “alive and doing well at the age of 94.”  He also noted that he and his family currently live in Lowell and Lucille’s home on the farm that was built in the early 1970s.

Noah, his wife Paula, and their three young daughters Ella, Samantha, and Hannah work together with Noah’s parents, Duane and Nancy, and his brother, Nate, to run the family farm. A typical day varies season to season, with harvest and planting certainly demanding the longest hours.

 

During fall harvest, from around the first of September through the first part of November, the Hultgrens, along with a couple of full-time employees, work in shifts around the clock, harvesting sugar beets, corn, and kidney beans.  Typically, these shifts result in 14 to 16 hour work days, with phone calls coming in at all hours of the night. When asked if he had any time to sleep, Noah responded matter-of-factly, “During harvest, you get your sleep when you can get it.”  Noah went on to explain that his family works six days a week, but that they have always taken Sundays off for church and family time.  He said, “We do not farm on Sundays for religious reasons and the feeling that you can’t work seven days a week. Your mind and body do not stay sharp enough.”

The majority of the Hultgrens’ land is devoted to growing corn, sugar beets and kidney beans, with the rest split evenly between soybeans, sweet corn, and alfalfa. Noah is primarily in charge of the sugar beets while his brother, Nate, calls the shots on kidney beans. Both of these crops require more hands-on management than the others. For example, sugar beets are harvested 24 hours a day in the fall while kidney beans can only be cut at night when the ground is wet and harvested during the day when it is dry.

Most of the crops do not have to travel too far once they are harvested. All of the corn silage goes to a local dairy about a mile up the road. About 75 percent of the total corn crop will end up there when it is all said and done, both silage and shelled corn. The rest of the corn is stored and dried on the farm, with about 10 percent going to an ethanol plant the Hultgrens invested in near Atwater, Minnesota, and the remainder contracted out with local elevators. The sugar beets are delivered to a local cooperative that Noah and Nate are a part of.  For sugar beets, Noah and crew have to work around the occasional temperature shutdowns. If it is cooler than 28 degrees or warmer than 65, the sugar beet processing plant will close down to avoid losing the sugar content of the crop.

Kidney beans have a further distance to travel with most going to a processing plant about 5 hours away in Menomonie, Wisconsin. The soybeans are mostly raised for their seed and stored on the farm until the seed company is ready to take them. Feed soybeans are typically hauled directly to local elevators. The Hultgrens usually make four cuttings of alfalfa per year with the large majority of that being chopped and delivered to the same local dairy that their corn goes to.

The Hultgren operation is a quintessential family farm. Noah’s wife, Paula, who did not grow up on a farm, enjoys chipping in to help Noah and the crew around the farm whenever she can. She also works full-time as the mom of three young daughters and works with the local school and church. Noah says his girls will come and ride with him some during harvest because he isn’t home very much during that time but that his nephews will ride with him and his brother for as long as they can and at every chance they get. “They love the tractors,” Noah said.

He also spends time in the winter months and throughout the year traveling to Washington D.C. and the Minnesota State Capitol in Saint Paul where he advocates on behalf of Minnesota farmers as the president of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association.

The Hultgrens got into the field early this year, with the planting of sugar beets starting on April 11^th and corn shortly after that. Noah commented that April was an odd month temperature-wise, with snow covering the ground on April 27^th and 28^th and 90 degree weather the next week. Noah said, “We had to set the planter a little deeper this year to find moisture. Right now we have emergence on everything but soybeans.” He went on to say, “Everything that is coming up looks good and consistent.”

The top things that keep Noah up worrying at night are weather, volatile markets, and farm policy, especially relating to crop insurance. He said, “It’s hard to fathom the amount borrowed under loans, and without crop insurance one bad year could easily put a farmer out of business.” Water hemp is their main weed problem to worry about, with most of those weeds having to be pulled by hand in sugar beet and soybean fields.

Noah said that although he liked farming as a kid, he initially didn’t think he was going to farm for a living. After graduating from Maccray High School, Noah went to St. Cloud Technical College where he earned a degree in Sales and Marketing. But, it wasn’t until he met Paula that he realized how much he loved farming and how great an environment it is to raise a family in. He hopes that one day one or all of his daughters will be involved in Hultgren Farms.

We look forward to checking back in with Noah and his family in the coming months to see how the crops are doing and what all he and his family are keeping busy with.

Strong crops, weak prices for Minnesota farmers

Here is a link to a very interesting article in the StarTribune by Tom Meersman, in which he discussed the 2014 crop year and conducted interviews with farmers in our region - including Renville County, Stearns County, and Yellow Medicine County:

http://www.startribune.com/business/284195321.html

Strong crops, weak prices for Minnesota farmers

• Article by: TOM MEERSMAN , Star Tribune
• Updated: November 30, 2014 - 2:00 PM

Bin-busting crops in corn and soybeans are causing furrowed brows rather than smiling faces for many Minnesota farmers this year.

 

Strong crop yields in the state — and record-breaking crops nationally — have produced plentiful grain in 2014. However, bountiful supplies mean lower prices per bushel, and some Minnesota growers will lose money or consider themselves lucky to break even.

 

“Given the challenges with late planting and some flooding and an early frost, guys have to be thankful for what we got,” said Minnesota Corn Growers Association President Bruce Peterson, who farms near Northfield. “It certainly isn’t anywhere near a disaster by any means, but it’s a little bit disappointing in the final numbers.”

 

With 95 percent of the state’s corn harvested, the latest USDA report estimates that Minnesota corn production will be 1.29 billion bushels, 1 percent below last year’s production, and yields are expected to average 165 bushels per acre, up 5 bushels from 2013.

 

Minnesota soybean production is forecast at 305 million bushels, a 10 percent increase from last year.

Robert Craven, a University of Minnesota Extension economist, estimated that corn growers pay a little more than $5 a bushel for seed, fertilizer, land rent and other costs, on average, and they are faced with prices well below $4 a bushel. Average costs to grow soybeans are also higher than current selling prices, he said.

 

Whether producers lose money depends on a host of factors, Craven said, including whether they presold some of their 2014 crop early in the year when prices were higher, how much land they rent and how much debt they hold in land and equipment loans.

 

The good news, he said, is that corn and soybean growers are coming off several years of healthy profits, and good managers who know the ups and downs of the market had a chance to build up their working capital: cash in the bank and other liquid assets.

 

“In some of the projections we’ve done a lot of producers are going to do just fine,” Craven said. “It really becomes a question of how long this slump in [crop] prices lasts, and how quick the costs will adjust.”

 

Those most vulnerable to losses, he said, are those who overextended themselves with land and equipment purchases, or beginning farmers who are carrying more debt than established producers.

 

Mickey Peterson, who farms about 3,200 acres with four brothers near Sacred Heart in western Renville County, said 2014 was more challenging than usual. The late spring and its frozen ground delayed planting by about two weeks, he said, and was followed in June by heavy rains that drowned crops in some fields and required replanting.

 

“Overall, the crop came in considerably better than we anticipated,” Peterson said, and the fall weather was ideal to get the corn and soybeans harvested quickly with little down time. But he noted that recent local prices for corn are about $3.35 per bushel, compared with $4.50 to $5.00 per bushel a year ago.

 

“Being a farmer for 40 years, I know it’s like a roller coaster with prices up and down, and you’ve got to go with the flow,” he said. Peterson and his brothers are watching market prices closely, he said, and won’t be buying any expensive land or major new equipment.

 

Effects on economy

Major farm equipment manufacturers foresaw the eroding crop prices and laid off workers earlier this year, and implement dealers have been downsizing their inventories.

 

“We’re already hearing about equipment sitting on the dealers’ lots,” said Dale Nordquist, associate director of the Center for Farm Financial Management at the University of Minnesota. “That’s the first ripple” of how the decline may affect some parts of the rural economy, he said.

 

But on the other side, Nordquist said, low prices for corn and soybeans mean lower feed costs for hog and dairy producers, which are flourishing after several years of struggling.

 

“They’re flush with money and they’ll hold up their part of the bargain in terms of helping out the local economies because they’re in position to do some things that they haven’t been able to do in the last few years,” Nordquist said. “In certain parts of the state that will have a bigger impact maybe than the downside on the crops.”

 

Nordquist said it’s more important than ever for farmers to get ahead of the game in projecting their cash flows for next year, which could be tougher than 2015 in terms of profits. “Projections we’ve done have been very tight,” he said.

 

Peter Scheffert, vice president and agricultural loan officer for Farmers State Bank of Hartland, also expects that 2015 will be a challenge for crop farmers. Growers are beginning to project costs and cash flows for next year, he said, adding up estimates for seed, fertilizer and land rent, and comparing them to average crop production and expected sale prices.

 

“Like any business it’s an individual business and you’ve got to work as hard with your head as you do with your hands,” he said.

 

Some producers are discovering that income won’t cover expenses unless costs can be shaved or prices improve, Scheffert said.

 

“They haven’t seen that for a while,” he said. “That’s part of the struggle as we think about the harvest this year, and it’s part of the change and the flip from where we’ve been the past few years.”

 

Scrutinizing costs

John Mages, who farms about 800 acres of corn and soybeans near Belgrade in Stearns County, has been looking toward 2015 with calculator in hand.

 

Costs for seed and fertilizer have not come down much, he said. Rental rates for cropland that rose dramatically during the past several years will likely remain high, he said, and take at least a couple of years to readjust slightly downward.

 

“Next year we’re looking at not a very good year even with good yields,” Mages said.

Mages said he may plant a little less corn next year and slightly more soybeans, which don’t need as much fertilizer and are less expensive to get in the ground.

 

Doug Albin, who farms about 1,200 acres near Clarkfield in western Minnesota’s Yellow Medicine County, said he had an especially tough year, with more than a foot of rain in June that drowned or stunted crops, and no rain in July and August when he needed it. “We ended up with the worst of both worlds,” he said. “I’m not going to make a profit.”

 

Albin said he has saved during the past three or four years of good crops and profits, but he still faces some tough decisions about what’s ahead.

 

“We’ll be all right between the crop we did harvest and federal crop insurance that we bought,” he said. “That gives us enough to not necessarily make money, but it’ll keep us farming for another year.”

Tom Meersman • 612-673-7388

Nanograms and M&Ms

I read an interesting blog post from the "Farm Meets Fork" blog the other day about the amount of hormones found in different types of food. The way she shares this information is extremely useful. If everything was counted with M&Ms I could understand a lot more...

http://nefb.wordpress.com/2013/08/23/whats-the-beef-mms-and-hormones/ 

Not everyone knows hormones exist in every living thing. Synthetic doesn't mean bad. A fair amount of beef and dairy receive some form of hormones. FDA, just as in human drugs, go through thorough testing and review before they are approved for use.

Just an interesting story to think about...

Have a great day,
Noah Hultgren
The Farmlandman
noah@farmlandman.com
320-894-7528

I am reposting this blog article from Minnesota Cornerstone:

Ethanol is not subsidized by taxpayers

“The only problem I have with ethanol is that it’s subsidized by the government!”

“Why take the people’s tax money and hand it to a few corporate faremers (sic) & refiners?” 

“Let’ look at the damage caused by subsidizing ethanol.”

These are actual reader comments on recent newspaper stories that focus on ethanol. If the topic of ethanol comes up among friends or family members, odds are at least somebody will bemoan “all those ethanol subsidies that farmers get.”

Here’s the thing: Ethanol isn’t subsidized. Your tax dollars directly support many different industries, but ethanol isn’t one of them.

Critics take misguided shots (deliberate or otherwise) at ethanol from a number of different angles. But there’s a difference between being misguided and flat-out wrong. If you think ethanol is subsidized, you’re flat-out wrong.

Yes, it’s true that various federal and state tax and blending credits — starting with The Energy Tax Act of 1978 — have aided ethanol over the years.  For example, the Minnesota legislature reduced the state fuel tax on gasoline that contains at least 10 percent ethanol by 4 cents per gallon in 1980. That credit diminished over the years and was phased out completely in 1997. A state ethanol producer payment program, which applied to ethanol plants, not farmers, ended in 2012.

January 1, 2012 marked the end of the federal ethanol blending credit, and, thus, the end to what many considered ethanol “subsidies.” It’s also important to point out that blending credits did not go to farmers. Checks weren’t being cut to farmers simply for growing corn that was made into ethanol. Energy producers (i.e. oil companies and refiners) received the credits as an incentive to blend more cleaner-burning ethanol and reduce the negative impact vehicle emissions had on air quality.

The next time you’re in the same room with someone who starts pounding his or her first on the table and shouting about “those damn farmers and their ethanol subsidies,” execute the following plan:

1. Explain to the angry person the facts about ethanol “subsidies,” as outlined in this post.

2. In all likelihood, the angry person probably will reject the facts because it doesn’t fit his or her predetermined set of beliefs. Once populist rhetoric or easy-to-digest talking points become entrenched in a person’s head, it’s tough to get them out.

3. Direct the anger somewhere more appropriate. If the person is mad about ethanol “subsidies” and refuses to believe that ethanol “subsidies” don’t exist, try to focus their anger on actual subsidies that are alive and well.

4. For starters, you can tell them about the $7 billion per year that oil companies enjoy in public subsidies. Get them fired up about using taxpayer dollars to build sports stadiums for billionaire owners. There are all kinds of actual subsidies to be angry about. Getting all fired up about ethanol subsidies that don’t exist is a tremendous waste of energy.

5. Ask the angry person if he or she would rather get their fuel from an American corn field, or heavily subsidized oil companies that drill in the Middle East or the Alberta Tar Sands?

(You might be wondering what you should do when commenters on articles about ethanol on newspaper websites get the facts wrong. Proceed with caution. Newspaper website comments sections are scary places where facts and reason go to die.)

As the debate about ethanol and the Renewable Fuel Standard (legislation that sets goals for the amount of ethanol we blend in gasoline) heats up, critics of renewable fuels are out in full force. Many of them are still clinging to the blatantly wrong argument that ethanol is directly subsidized by taxpayers. The Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to reduce the amount of ethanol blended in gasoline by 1.4 billion gallons in 2014 has serious ramifications for farmers, the rural economy and our environment. It is absolutely essential that farmers and renewable fuels supporters push back on myths created by the opposition during this debate.

Ethanol is not “subsidized.” That’s one myth that is easily discredited.

It's been a long, strange harvest season this year. I saw this article by Gretchen Schlosser in the local West Central Tribune today talking about progress in the corn harvest, as well as other crops like soybeans and sugar beets:

Farmers take in 25 percent of corn in a week

By Gretchen Schlosser on Nov 4, 2013 at 11:28pm

 

Minnesota’s farmers harvested 25 percent of the corn crop last week, pushing the total percentage of the crop harvested to 73 percent.

 

According to the weekly U.S. Department of Agriculture crop/weather report, there were five days suitable for fieldwork last week, which pushed the corn harvest ahead of the 72 percent five-year average.
The soybean harvest also pushed beyond the five-year average, with 96 percent of the soybeans harvested as of Sunday, compared to a 92 percent average. Five percent of the soybeans were harvested during the week.

Ninety nine percent of the sugar beets had been lifted, four points better than the five-year average of 95 percent. Fifteen percent of the crop was lifted during the week.

Nationally, the USDA reports that 73 percent of the corn crop has been taken in by farmers in the 18 states that produce the vast majority of the crop. Similarly, 86 percent of the soybean crop has been harvested in the 18 states producing most of that crop. The five-year averages are 81 percent for corn and 85 percent for soybeans.

Farmers in the four states that produce most of the nation’s sugar beets, North Dakota, Minnesota, Idaho and Michigan, had taken in 93 percent of the crop, compared with a 90 percent five-year average.

The report also notes that the corn crop is drying a bit, with the percentage of moisture at 19 percent in the corn, compared to 21 percent last week. Soybeans remained steady at 13 percent moisture.

Crop harvest slowed by conditions but yields better than expected

I got interviewed for a story by Gretchen Schlosser in the West Central Tribune:

Crop harvest slowed by conditions but yields better than expected after wet spring, summer drought
http://www.wctrib.com/content/crop-harvest-slowed-conditions-yields-better-expected-after-wet-spring-summer-drought

Reports from west central Minnesota farmers and agriculture professionals reflect the USDA crop-weather report issued Monday: the crop harvest has been slowed by rain, but yields are better than some farmers expected after a wet, late spring and drought conditions this summer.

Reached on his cell phone as he was combining corn north of Willmar, Alan Carlson reported that he is not far enough along in harvesting the crop. He estimated that he had harvested about 20 percent of his corn and was working in a drier than average field.

The yields were about what Carlson expected, with the lower ground yielding good numbers, but the higher, sandy hills producing less grain. The corn was running about 20 percent moisture, but the date on the calendar won’t allow for any drying in the field, he said. “It’s time to get it done,” he said.
Like other farmers, Carlson reported soybean yields that were better than expected. His average was between 46 and 55 bushels an acre.

The state crop-weather report, the first report issued in three weeks due to the government shutdown, shows that 19 percent of the state’s corn crop has been harvested, compared to 95 percent last year and 49 percent on a five-year average.

The soybean harvest, at 80 percent, is behind last year’s record pace of 100 percent, and on par with the five-year average of 83 percent. The sugar beet harvest lagged, at 66 percent, behind the 86 percent reported last year and the 80 percent five-year average.

Nationally, 39 percent of the corn crop and 63 percent of the soybeans was harvested as of Sunday — a figure based on progress in the 18 states that grow 93 to 95 percent of the two crops. Across the country, 62 percent of the sugar beets had been lifted, slightly less than the 66 percent five-year average.

Locally, the sugar beet harvest has been slowed significantly by rainfall. Noah Hultgren, who farms with his family in the Willmar area, reported that they would usually have 50 to 60 percent of their beets lifted, but had only 20 to 30 percent out of the ground and were having to push or pull each truck through the field to haul out the beets.

“It’s a slow-moving progress,” Hultgren said Monday, estimating that two weeks of good weather, with no rain, would be needed to finish the harvest. Hultgren said the yields on the corn and the sugar beets were a little better than he expected two months ago when drought conditions persisted across the region.

Locally, Wes Nelson, executive director of the Farm Service Agency in Kandiyohi County, estimated that 90 percent of the soybeans had been harvested and that farmers were plugging away at the corn, with an estimated 25 percent of that crop out of the field.

Nelson reported that farmers reported both corn and soybean yields better than they had expected, but with variability based on soils. There have also been reports of lighter than normal test weights in the corn.

Like Hultgren, Nelson stressed that the biggest concern is getting the sugar beets harvested. “We need a dry stretch to get that done,” he said, noting that the piling sites have only small piles so far. “It will be a challenge for the sugar beet producers.”

Nelson was back in the office after the government shutdown and noted that the staff was processing the annual rental payments for the Conservation Reserve Program and then would move on to the Direct and Counter-cyclical Program and Average Crop Revenue Election program payments. He estimated that the CRP payments would show up in landowner’s accounts next week, and the DCP and ACRE payments would be completed in the first full week of November.

Jodi DeJong-Hughes, University of Minnesota Extension crops educator for the region, said that soybean yields were running a lot better than most farmers expected. The usual average is about 40 bushels, but this year’s yields are in the 50-bushel range.

As for corn, most farmers report their crop yields would be good if they could take both the drowned-out low acres and the drought-burned hills out of the equation, she said. “Mother Nature was definitely in control this year,” she said. “There’s not much a farmer could do this year to change that.”

DeJong-Hughes estimated the corn yield at 180 bushels per acre, but cautioned she’s heard reports of yields all over the board. As part of her work in extension, DeJong-Hughes took aerial photos three times this summer to observe and record crop conditions. The fields began the season yellowed by wet conditions, then greened up, and later dried out in the dry conditions.

Even if a field looks green and healthy from the roadway, she said, the view from above and ultimately, the yield totals at harvest time, show what’s really happening on that piece of land.
“Fly over with a plane and the field tells you a different story,” she said, noting that the fields never did catch up this year and that the combine will slow that lost potential at harvest.

Ask a farmer: What is the difference between sweet corn and field corn?

I recently wrote an article for the Minnesota Farm Guide, about the difference between sweet corn and field corn. Take a look at the article below, or here: http://www.minnesotafarmguide.com/news/crop/article_bd236186-093a-11e3-9c90-0019bb2963f4.html

August 19, 2013 8:49 pm • By Noah Hultgren, Minnesota Corn Growers Association
“Ask a farmer” is a new column written by a different Minnesota corn farmer every month. It will be sent on the third Monday of each month and cover farming issues and questions that farmers often hear from the non-farming general public.

Sweet corn. It’s almost as American as apple pie.

If you’re barbequing with friends and family on a sunny weekend evening in Minnesota, chances are good that corn on the cob is part of the menu. Or maybe you’re celebrating Thanksgiving with a plump turkey and all the fixings – mashed potatoes, dressing, cranberries, and a nice big serving bowl filled with sweet corn.

When most people think of corn, it’s sweet corn that comes to mind. But the fact is, of the 97.2 million acres of corn planted in the United States last year, sweet corn made up less than 1 percent of the total crop. The rest was field corn.

When driving through rural Minnesota or any other Corn Belt state, it’s usually field corn you see out your window. Although field corn kernels start out soft like sweet corn, it’s not harvested until the kernels are dry. Field corn is used to feed livestock, make the renewable fuel ethanol and thousands of other bio-based products like carpet, make-up or aspirin.

Sweet corn is harvested when the kernels are soft and sweet, making it ideal for eating. If you grab an ear of field corn and try to take a bite, you’ll probably break your teeth. It’s hard and dry (and only tastes good to cows, chickens, pigs, turkeys and some wild animals).

U.S. corn farmers harvested 10.8 billion bushels of field corn last year. Minnesota corn farmers harvested a record 1.37 billion bushels. In contrast, 158.7 million bushels of sweet corn was harvested throughout the entire United States.

While sweet corn satisfies our taste buds, field corn improves our lives in many other ways.
One bushel of field corn weighs 56 pounds, and if it isn’t used directly for livestock feed, it is likely to be exported or made into ethanol that is used to fuel your car. Each bushel produces 2.8 gallons of ethanol, 18 pounds of dried distillers grains (a high protein livestock feed), 14 pounds of corn gluten pellets, 1.8 pounds of corn oil and 17 pounds of carbon dioxide (used in dry ice, the beverage industry, water treatment facilities and other applications).

The remaining field corn crop is used to make other food products, manufactured goods, exported to other countries and put into storage.

Sweet corn holds a place in American dining lore. Field corn nourishes livestock, powers our cars, cleans our air, creates jobs and builds strong local economies.

So, even though you can’t slather a cob of field corn in butter and eat it, it still touches our lives in many ways.

Noah Hultgren is on the Minnesota Corn Growers Association board and is a field corn, sweet corn, soybean and sugar beet farmer in Raymond, Minn., in Kandiyohi County.

US Home Prices Rise 12 Percent

I saw an article in the St. Paul Pioneer Press today stating that home prices in the U.S. rose 12.2 percent compared to last year, which is the biggest gain in the last 7 years - essentially prior to the start of the recession in 2007.

Mortgage rates have also been rising, so now seems like a good time for buyers and sellers to meet in the market. If you're ready to sell your house, please give me a call at 320-894-7528. I'd be happy to help you find a buyer!

Take care,
Noah Hultgren
noah@farmlandman.com
320-894-7528

The cure for high prices is high prices

I just came across another very interesting article written by Dan Piller in the Des Moines Register, titled "Iowa farmland prices hit new record, but boom won't last". The article shows that although farmland prices have soared in the last couple years, farm input costs have risen even faster, commodity prices will eventually come down, and interest rates will also eventually go up. Some combination of these events should lead to a slowdown in the market, or even a slow decline in farmland prices.

The article includes quotes from Mike Duffy of Iowa State University Extension, who recently published an "annual land price survey that showed a 24 percent rise to an average of $8,296 per acre in Iowa" in 2012. Check out the map below for more details - and note that the biggest increases in land prices were all in Northern Iowa, which means similar trends are likely spreading into Southern Minnesota.

Perhaps the most telling quotes in the article are from Bill Davis, chief credit officer with Farm Credit Services of America. Davis "said the increases in farmland values have been driven by three factors: strong domestic and export demand for commodities, historically low interest rates, and strong farm income."

"We believe at least two of these three factors will reverse over the next three to five years,” Davis explains. “The most likely event is a significant reduction in net farm profit levels as we see supplies respond to higher demand levels for commodities. Interest rates also are likely to increase eventually, making alternative investments more attractive than they have been recently.”

Many people remember the farm crisis of the early 80's, but not many believe that it will happen again. As the article states: "Iowa farm values soared in the 1970s in a commodity and land boom similar to today, only to crash spectacularly in the first half of the 1980s. Not until 2010 did Iowa land values return to an inflation-adjusted level of $5,770 per acre."

"Duffy said that because farmers are in better cash positions today than three decades ago, he didn’t think Iowa farmland values were vulnerable to a steep dive. “High land prices kept going higher in the 1970s, even when farm profits narrowed,” Duffy said. “That won’t happen this time.”

If you are interested in selling your farm land at high prices, please contact me. I can perform an appraisal on your land or help you list and sell your property quickly for a fair price. 

Have a great week!

Sincerely,

Noah Hultgren

noah@farmlandman.com

320-894-7528

New Year, New Lows

Happy New Year everyone!

New low rates for 30-year mortgages have come with the New Year. I just read an article from the Associated Press about how "Fixed mortgage rates fell once again to a record low, offering a great opportunity for those who can afford to buy or refinance homes."

According to Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate fell to 3.89 percent, while the 15-year fixed mortgage rateinched down to 3.16 percent. That was the lowest rate on record, which have been kept since the 1950s.

The article goes on to state that "Builders are hopeful that the low rates could boost sales next year. Low mortgage rates were cited as a key reason the National Association of Home Builders survey of builder sentiment rose in December to its highest level in more than a year."

However, the article also acknowledges that fewer people have been able to take advantage of the low rates because of high unemployment rates and stagnant wages. Our area has fared better because of the strength of the farm economy, presenting a unique opportunity for buyers in the region to take advantage of lower sales prices AND lower rates.

If you are ready to buy a house, please give me a call at 320-894-7528.

Take care,
Noah Hultgren
noah@farmlandman.com
320-894-7528

Hole in One

Hey everyone,

I hit my first ever hole-in-one last week at the island green - hole #18 - at Island Pine Golf Course in Atwater, while playing in the Aggie Open. I dropped it on the green and rolled it in from about 10 feet or so. It was a lot of fun.

I celebrated by buying a beverage for my member friends on league night at Hawk Creek Country Club in Raymond, my home course.

If you want me to get results for you on your home or farm sale, call me at 320-894-7528.
I can get it done!

Take care, and have a safe and Happy 4th of July!
Noah Hultgren
The FarmlandMan
noah@farmlandman.com

Ethanol Policy

I received a press release the other day that I thought would be worth passing on. It is copied below, including contact information if you'd like more information:

Ethanol: The Right Policy for Combating Oil Prices for Food and Energy Security
WASHINGTON (April 14, 2011) – The following statement was released today by the National Corn Growers Association, the Renewable Fuels Association, Growth Energy and the American Coalition for Ethanol in response to Thursday’s Policy Forum on Corn Ethanol Policy in the 112th Congress.
“Any energy policy forum must include comprehensive and adult conversations about America’s entire energy agenda, including subsidies and other supportive policies for mature and aging technologies like petroleum. Unfortunately, it is unlikely this ‘forum’ will include any of those discussions. Rather, this is yet another example of defenders of the status quo wasting the time of Congress focusing on bogus claims against the ethanol industry instead of finding solutions to the real problems.
“Anyone who has filled a gas tank the last few months has unwittingly witnessed the prime cause of soaring prices for all consumer goods, especially food. The last time corn and food prices rose, the Congressional Budget Office found that factors other than biofuels were responsible for as much as 90 percent of the hike. The World Bank and the government of the United Kingdom have concluded that speculation and energy prices were chief drivers of the 2007-08 spikes in commodity and food prices. How anyone can point fingers at farmers for driving up food prices when they receive less than 12 cents of every food dollar defies common sense.
“Ethanol is the only viable solution we have today to help with our country’s energy security and independence. Today, when it can easily cost over $50 to fill a gas tank, critics would be wise to remember that domestic ethanol actually has helped motorists by lowering gas prices by estimates as high as 40 cents per gallon. To put it in even better perspective, the value of the crude oil displaced by U.S. ethanol amounted to $34 billion in 2010 – money that stayed in the American economy. In the end, that’s the best way to support food and energy security, not through holding make-believe one-sided policy forums.”
The group pointed out that, according to the Institute for Local Self Reliance, 75 cents of every dollar spent on biofuels re‐circulates through the local economy while 75 cents of every dollar spent on oil exits the local economy and, in most cases, the country.

For More Information Contact:
Janice Tolley Walters, NCGA, (202) 628-7001 or walters@dc.ncga.com
Matt Hartwig, Renewal Fuels Association, (202)289-3835 or mhartwig@ethanolrfa.org
Kristin Brekke, American Coalition for Ethanol, (605) 334-3381 or kbrekke@ethanol.org
Stephanie Dreyer, Growth Energy, (202) 545-4000 or sdreyer@growthenergy.org

About the National Corn Growers Association
Founded in 1957, the National Corn Growers Association represents 35,000 dues-paying corn farmers nationwide and the interests of more than 300,000 growers who contribute through corn checkoff programs in their states. NCGA and its 48 affiliated state associations and checkoff organizations work together to create and increase opportunities for their members and their industry. For more information, visit www.ncga.com.

About Growth Energy
Growth Energy is a group committed to the promise of agriculture and growing America's economy through cleaner, greener energy. Growth Energy members recognize America needs a new ethanol approach. Through smart policy reform and a proactive grassroots campaign, Growth Energy promotes reducing greenhouse gas emissions, expanding the use of ethanol in gasoline, decreasing our dependence on foreign oil, and creating American jobs at home. More information can be found at GrowthEnergy.org.

About the American Coalition for Ethanol
The American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE) is the grassroots voice of the U.S. ethanol industry, a national advocacy association for the ethanol industry with nearly 1,500 members nationwide, including farmers, ethanol producers, commodity organizations, businesses supplying goods and services to the ethanol industry, rural electric cooperatives, and individuals supportive of increased production and use of ethanol. For more information about ethanol or ACE, visit www.ethanol.org or call (605) 334-3381.
About the Renewable Fuels Association
The RFA is the national trade association for the U.S. ethanol industry. Since 1981, the RFA serves as the voice of the ethanol industry, providing advocacy, authoritative analysis, and important industry data to its members, Congress, federal and state government agencies, strategic partners, the media and other opinion-leader audiences. For more information visit www.EthanolRFA.org.

Another good year?

The Minneapolis Star Tribune ran an article today looking at the prospects for "Another Bumper Year for Farmers", written by Mike Hughlett.

According to Hughlett's article, "With planting just around the corner, Minnesota farmers are feeling particularly optimistic. They're coming off bumper crops in 2010, and the federal government is predicting record farm income for the agricultural marketing year that ends Aug. 31. Perhaps best of all, prices for major grains are currently near highs not seen since the big commodity price run-up of 2008."

The article notes a couple reasons for concern, however. Apparently grain reserves are low, perhaps meaning "a bad crop could propel already high corn and soybean prices to heights that would hammer the livestock industry with higher feed prices and ultimately hurt consumers through higher food prices." Bad weather would obviously negatively impact the industry as well.

As farmers are gearing up for the planting season, the article notes that "There's extra reason for getting fired up this spring: Corn and soybean prices, as measured by May-delivery futures contracts, are respectively about 65 percent and 45 percent higher than they were a year ago." 

The article includes some quotes from Greg Schwarz, who grows corn and soybeans on about 1,000 acres near Le Sueur, and is president of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association. He believes that farmers are in a good position to lock in good profits, which is a "good feeling" for farmers. 

"Farmers across the country are considerably more positive this March than they were a year ago, according to a survey by DTN/The Progressive Farmer," the article continues. "The study is based on farmers' attitudes toward their input costs, profit margins and household income."

Obviously, this is a good time to be in farming, and that is good for farmland values. If you are interested in having your farmland appraised, or you think now is the time to sell your farmland, please contact me. I can be very helpful in meeting your farmland real estate needs.

Sincerely,
Noah Hultgren
noah@farmlandman.com
320-894-7528

p.s. Congratulations to the MACCRAY boys basketball team for finishing 3rd in the state Class A tournament last weekend. We went down and watched all three games - way to go Wolverines!