Morrow County Grain Growers                             Pendleton Grain Growers

             Duane Disque or John Ripple                                      Jon Sperl

             1-800-452-7396 or 541-989-8221                           1-800-422-7611 or 541-276-7611

              or Dan Steiner 481-6614 (office), 571-3798 (cell)  graingrowers@centurytel.net

                                                            GOOD MORNING!!!

            Below are the best indicated market bids as of:   9:00  on      4/18/08

***NOTE: Corn values vary depending on delivery location PLEASE call for updates.

                SURVEY SEZ: Where will grain prices be on August 15^th? Guesses are due by Friday nite.

            SWW values are basically down to new crop offers as exporters are still trying to figure out the implications/ impact of the latest BEHT announcement. Wheat futures are down 23-25 in Chicago and KC, Mpls is off hard, with all exchanges looking to go lower. Good rains continue in the east, mostly dry in the west. Rain is in the forecast for the northern plains this weekend. News service picking up lack of N being applied particularly on the eastern crop…maybe need to watch protein scales. HRW scales are already to the point of being ‘Brutal’ simply because there aren’t any blenders. DNS scales are pretty narrow, so there is some risk exposure there. Congress did agree on a 1 week extension of the Farm Bill, the prez isn’t happy with the lack of measurable progress, but is expected to sign the extension.

            International: In a perfect example of where political decisions on markets can have far reaching consequences…Kazakhstan’s decision to ban exports till Sept. 1 could de-stabilize at least a few of their neighboring states that don’t happen to have the same ‘grain resources’. Gov’t intent to keep food prices in check, certainly can effect things on the other side of the border. A quote from the article “It is better to allow grain pxes to seek a level and help the socially vulnerable”. Kazi produced 22 myn mt last year and uses about 15 domestically. They are projecting up to 26 myn mt this year. AWB lowered their pool estimates for ’07-08 by $8/ mt. Iraq has indicated they will import 2.5 to 3 myn mt (vs. 2.1 last year). Iran will import 2 myn mt. South Korea has agreed to open up its markets to US beef/ all ages, effective mid May.

***Didja Know: The longest grain elevator in the world is in Hutchinson, Ks…2,577 feet long, 230’ tall. SWW exports are actually behind (69%) last year. The Dangers of Bread: more than 98% of conviceted felons are bread eaters. HALF of children growing up in bread consuming households score below average on standardized test. Bread is baked at temps as high as 400°, that kind of heat could kill a human in less than a minute. Bread is a proven “gateway” food item leading the user to ‘harder’ items such as peanut butter, jelly and even cold cuts.  “If it weren’t for electricity, we would all be watching TV by candlelight”…George Gobel

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND