By Tracy Sayler

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Prairie Grains is the official publication of
the Minnesota
Association of
Wheat Growers,
North Dakota Grain Growers Association,
South Dakota Wheat, Inc., and the Minnesota Barley Growers Association.

Lockhart, who farms near Ulen, MN, will be the first to tell you he’s not responsible for it: heck, he just facilitates the meetings. There weren’t any super-secret marketing tricks, and nobody pulled a fast one either.

Plain and simple, the profits came because they did their homework, and made timely marketing decisions. They met regularly as a group, and priced their grain before markets fell. They studied up on loan deficiency payments, and did their best to lock in LDPs at their highs.

"The guys say they definitely profited from participating (in the marketing clubs) this year. We’ve had a lot of fun and made money that we wouldn’t have made otherwise," says Lockhart, who leads a club in Ulen that’s been meeting for about five years, and one in Mahnomen, MN, that’s been going since 1983.

Lockhart ties meetings with participation in the Thief River Falls, MN-based Northland Community Technical College’s farm business management program, of which Lockhart is an instructor. "Some are enrolled in the program specifically for the marketing information," he says.

Sue Martin, a regular analyst on the nationally broadcast TV program, "Market to Market," will lead three marketing seminars Jan. 5 and 6, as part of a joint marketing education effort of the Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, that will also be used to gauge producer interest in forming marketing clubs.

Lockhart prepares a topic for discussion at each meeting, from understanding charts and technical jargon to different market strategies. "The sharing of ideas and information is the big thing. Some people contribute newsletters and articles, some bring charts. I don’t care how big or small, it’s just that they contribute."

There are spouses that participate too. "The best marketers can be farm wives. They can often make more money from marketing than from off-farm income," he says.

The clubs usually meet once a week, without fail. If Lockhart has other commitments, the meetings are still held, led by someone else.

That’s the key to making marketing clubs work, says Sue Martin, president of Ag & Investment Services, Webster City, Iowa. Martin says she notices a renewed interest in marketing clubs, perhaps because of Freedom to Farm or as a response to lower commodity prices. But commitment is needed to sustain a marketing club, says Martin, a regular analyst on the nationally broadcast TV program, "Market to Market."

Martin will lead three marketing seminars in Minnesota Jan. 5 and 6, as part of a joint marketing education effort of the Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. The meeting will also be used to gauge producer interest in forming marketing clubs. The seminar schedule:

Jan. 5, 9 a.m. to noon, Northland Inn, Crookston, MN

Jan. 5, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., American Legion Club, Roseau, MN

Jan. 6, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Waage Auditorium, Fergus Falls Community College, Fergus Falls, MN

There is no fee to attend. For more information, contact the MWRPC, at 1-800-242-6118.

How to form a marketing club

The educational emphasis of marketing clubs should be practical information that can help members gain the best price for their products, according to David Bullock, senior economist, Minneapolis Grain Exchange. A secondary function of marketing clubs is to serve as an emotional support mechanism for dealing with the psychology of markets.

Bullock says a marketing club can take on several different forms: it can concentrate on providing information to its members from sources such as extension specialists, brokers, market newsletters, futures exchanges, and other marketing clubs. It can also simulate trading on the various futures, options, and cash markets, with the club serving as a facilitator of simulated trading by providing clearing house functions.

One person should function as the club organizer: good public speaking skills, familiarity with parliamentary procedure, and college coursework or knowledge in ag marketing would be helpful. This person will preside over the first few meetings, supervise the election of officers, locate a meeting place, and publicize the meetings. County agents, extension specialists, vo-ag teachers, experienced brokers, lenders, and leading producers in the area can provide valuable assistance in organizing the club.

The first meeting should be heavily promoted and held at a conveniently located meeting place, says Bullock. The major purposes of the first meeting are to stimulate interest, and distribute information about club objectives. A guest speaker to discuss the importance of marketing for profit is worth considering. The nuts and bolts of the organization’s structure, including club officers, can be discussed at later meetings. The organization should consider bylaws, goals, objectives, and dues.

Most marketing clubs meet at least once a month and the following agenda should serve as a model for each meeting: 1) a formal short discussion of club business 2) commodity group presentations, 3) an educational program consisting of a guest speaker or a video presentation, and 4) a question and answer session with the guest speaker (if the meeting has one) present.

Subjects discussed should be based on the members’ interests and needs. An education committee might be established to determine program topics. Different individuals or groups might be responsible for tracking markets for particular commodities and making an outlook presentation at each meeting.

Wheat growers lobby EPA for more efficient chemical approval

Leaders of the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers, North Dakota Grain Growers Association, South Dakota Wheat Inc., and US Durum Growers Association met with top Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials in Washington, D.C. recently to discuss concerns over the registration backlog on crop protection products essential to growers in the region.

Among the EPA officials visited: Stephen Johnson, Director of EPA’s Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP); Donald Stubbs, Chief of OPP’s Herbicide Branch; Susan Lewis, leader of OPP’s U.S.-Canada Harmonization Task Force; and Jackie Gwaltney, of EPA’s Section 18 Division.

Rick Vallery, executive director of South Dakota Wheat, Inc., said the group encouraged EPA to speed up the approval process for products available to growers for the 1999 growing season, including two herbicides, Puma and Achieve; and Folicur, a fungicide. All three of these products have received Section 18 or emergency use approval in the past and have proven to be effective. But the time-consuming research process required of EPA for full registration approval of products can take up to four years.

Growers did receive good news from EPA officials: Puma, Folicur and Achieve are all scheduled for full approval by March 1, 1999 — in time for growers to know before planting that the products will be available. Both Folicur, effective in suppressing scab, and Puma, a controller of pigeongrass, have been awaiting registration for several years. Achieve, effective against wild oat and foxtail, is scheduled for full approval January 1.

Another key topic discussed was harmonization of product approval between the US and Canada. "Harmonization would eliminate a production and trade disadvantage existing between the US and Canada by making the same crop protection products available to growers in both countries," says Richard Magnusson, a MAWG board member from Roseau, MN.

Some products, such as Puma, are currently available to Canadian growers but not to US growers just across the border. EPA officials told the wheat grower delegation that they plan to be fully harmonized with Canada on new product registration within the next few years.