Duane Disque or Brian Peiler                              Jon Sperl or Bryce Olson

             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      12/31/09

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

            US $ is weaker this morning, gold up $12.80. Futures called higher, but opened without much enthusiasm. Corn is up 1, wheat is up 1 to 2. Sales report were at least neutral this week, which is a big improvement. Total Wheat sales were 13.6 myn bu which is just on pace with 875 myn bu total sales, the problem is shipments which are far behind (more than normal). Same story for corn. Corn sales actually hit their projections this week at 30.4 myn bu, but here shipments are far behind as well.

            Argie?s corn production is rated up 2 myn mt vs. last year, and with 65% of their wheat harvest complete, wheat yields are doing well enough that the Argie gov?t has approved 8.8 myn bu of wheat for export. Weather continues to favor production in Brazil. We mentioned the other day that their est. corn production was going to be about the same as last year?.with 28% FEWER acres planted to corn. One or two more showers and their corn crop will be set?and the prospects for a record bean crop are still excellent (up about 4 myn mt vs. last year).

            Some ?year in review? numbers. These numbers are based on the Wednesday open for the week. The highest SWW cash bid was the first week of the new ?wheat production year? (June 1) at $6.25. Lowest week was the last week of September when SWW bids bottomed at $4.29. DNS traded over $8 a couple times, with the high the last week of May of $8.62 with the low coming the 2^nd week of September at $5.78. For HRW we had 3 weeks where the price was over $7 with the high coming also the first week of June of $7.13. For HRW, it spent a of Sept/ Oct. in the low $5 range bottoming at $5.14 the 2^nd week of September. Corn hit its peak June 10^th at $4.41, the lows were spread more or less all through July with the lowest coming the week of 7/29 at $3.06.

***Didja Know: ?Once in a blue moon? obviously means rarely. A blue moon is when we have 2 full moons in the same month?it happens about 7x in every 19 years (A lunar month being different than our calendar month). Tonight we will have a ?Blue Moon??

We want thank everyone for the opportunity to serve them through 2009, and wish you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

             Duane Disque or Brian Peiler                              Jon Sperl or Bryce Olson

             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      12/30/09

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

            Weather man sez the weather for most of the US will be clear/ colder than normal through most of the Midwest (where the corn is still in the fields). No doubt there will be some field losses, but one question to consider is: is it 200 bpa or 100 bpa corn that was left in the fields? Either way the market will sort it out in the end. OI in corn was up 26,000 caks the last 2 days?what will funds do after the first is the big question?today the traders that are still at the desk are just churning old news till quitting time.

            Fundamentals (though they don?t appear to matter right now) are actually bearish for wheat/ corn. With about 60% of the wheat marketing year behind us, we are 27% behind sales vs. last year?and some 14% behind the lower USDA numbers. There is always hope that maybe this year, our export business might be ?back loaded? where we can make some significant sales late in the year, but GENERALLY the US wheat is ?front loaded? where we do the majority of our sales early in the year. We have been priced out of the last 9 Egyptian tenders, missing the last one by $6/ ton plus freight differential. Russia and Europe look to continue to be strong export competitors for 2010. Europe says they will increase wheat acres, along with some of the Black Sea regions. Russia says that their wheat production might be down 7%, but with carryover stocks, they expect to be very competitive again for all 2010 biz. The ?weak $$ is good for exports? argument has not translated at all?in fact as we have seen, it has attracted investment $$ which continue to float US wheat pxes higher than world replacement levels. Rising futures levels may provide some GREAT sales opportunities, but are we in place where what we have come to consider ?normal? price relationships being re-written?or is this just a temporary anomaly? Trading premiums will be much riskier in 2010 for sure!

We want thank everyone for the opportunity to serve them through 2009, and wish you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

             Duane Disque or Brian Peiler                              Jon Sperl or Bryce Olson

             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      12/29/09

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

            NOTE: We have rolled to January in the nearby month. Futures are giving back a little this morning from yesterdays huge surge. Corn is off a couple, wheat traded higher early but is now down 2 to 3. Trade will get very lite and thin the balance of the week/ year. OI jumped in corn yesterday by 14,000 caks (meaning that there were many NEW positions established). A crop analyst from Allendale suggested that up to 100 myn bu of corn could be lost in the fields. Today there is an estimated 650 myn bu or so left out there?At the rate we are seeing usage/ export sales, 100 myn bu could easily be absorbed by reduced usage. Nothing new to report concerning wheat this morning?The CME did announce yesterday that they would REDUCE initial margin requirements by 14%?.means more leverage specifically to hedge/ spec funds.

            New GMO varieties of corn have really caught on in Brazil and China. Brazilian corn acres will be down from last year, but due to increased usage of GMO varieties (pest control) they expect production to be the same as last year. China?s Ag minister is projecting a record corn crop in 2010 to 530 myn mt (19.5 byn bu). Argie?s gov?t says they may reduce export taxes to help out the small/ medium grower. If you remember this has been an issue of Gov?t vs. Farmer in Argie for the last couple years, and started with the gov?t trying to increase soybean export duties by 35%?.they also said that they believe wheat production will be up 2 myn mt vs. earlier projections due to better weather.

***Didja Know: 140 banks failed in 2009. Home prices in Las Vegas are down 55% from the peak (a home in Las Vegas costs as much today as it did in 2000, less if you figger inflation).  ?Weisman?s Law on College Exams: If your confident you have done well after completing an exam, it?s because you didn?t know enough to know better?. The rule of Whisper: People will believe almost anything if you whisper it?

             Duane Disque or Brian Peiler                              Jon Sperl or Bryce Olson

             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      12/28/09

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

            NOTE: We have rolled to January in the nearby month. The US $4 is a bit weaker. Midwest has received 15? to 24? of snow?traders are thinking that the corn will have to stay in the field now till spring (they have traded that news so many times that it is actually getting boring).  On the fundamental side of things: Corn usage will take a hit with a report that hog inventories are down 2.3%, export inspections were ?17 myn bu vs. USDA goal. Last weeks total was only 27 myn bu. Wheat inspections were only 10.6 myn bu (1.9 myn bu of SWW). The thing is, that this market doesn?t give a hoot today about fundamentals. This is clearly a spec driven deal. We have heard the rumors and talk about ?re-alignment and re-balancing? of the hedge funds/ spec accounts for weeks. What we don?t have is any tools to measure or accurately gauge how much money or the effect of that money on today?s markets?it all boils down to a guess. Spreads and normal price relationships will get strained, perhaps to levels in some cases we have never seen?.OR maybe the $ will show some strength and re-balancing will be minimal. One thing is for certain risk and costs WILL increase.

            Venture capital apparently is not near as easy to come by as just a few years ago. There are as many as 12 ?cellulosic? ethanol plants on the drawing board, but so far cannot attain the funding to turn dirt. While were on ethanol, a 40 myn gallon plant in Nebraska, was just auctioned off for $30.1 myn. The second place bid was $30 myn. The plant is in ?cold idle?, which means that it is not running, but is being maintained.

            Brazil said that they are still on track for a record bean crop this year. Everything looks EXCELLENT. But in farming there are always perils?today?s biggest obstacles are some small delays in planting due to too much rain (which registers as ?nuisance?), and the possibility that wet weather may trigger asian rust. Barring any catastrophe, they are projecting 64.5 myn mt production.

***Didja Know: ?Animal Crackers? originally came in a box with a string in 1902?so they could be hung from a Christmas tree? There are 12 flowers (each with 4 petals) on each side of an ?Oreo??.Pineapple originated in South America, they didn?t make it to Hawaii till early in the 19^th century?

             Duane Disque or Brian Peiler                              Jon Sperl or Bryce Olson

             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      12/24/09

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

            US $ is down a bit, gold and crude are up?and so is corn. The export sales report came out on time (even though USDA had a snow day on Monday). Corn sales were nothing short of IMPRESSIVE?we sold a massive 58.4 myn bu. There is always talk that some of that may get switched to ship from other destinations?but for today, it gets marked down as sales?and they are HUGE! Wheat sales were equally UN?impressive, only totaling 8.1 myn bu. Only 1.9 myn bu of SWW.  The CCC did buy 403,000 bu of HRW to donate to Haiti. Trade is light. Corn started up 4 but have given up 3 of it already?Wheaties have traded ?6 to ?8 so far this morning. I don?t expect to see much in the way of competitive bids from Portland this morning?everyone will be going home early anyway.

            EPA received 2 petitions asking for Chemical companies to reveal their ?inert? ingredients in the chemicals they manufacture. Result is the EPA will have 60 day public comment period before ruling.

            BPC (Bela-Russian Potash Company) announced they sold 1 myn tons of Potash to China for $350/ ton INCLUDING freight. China also has an option on an additional 200,000 tons at the same price.

***Didja Know: Answers from yesterday: 1) Actually Norway holds territorial rights to Antarctica, so the Norwegian Kroner is the official currency. 2) Lincoln on the Penny is the only president that faces to the right?.3) and Zinc is the most common metal in pennies. 4) 1 million $1 bills weigh 2040 lbs., that?s a ton of money! 5) The only woman whose portrait appeared on paper currency: Martha Washington made an appearance on $1 Silver Certificates. 6) The only currency that does not have ANY people on it: The Euro?..

Best wishes to all our readers for a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

             Duane Disque or Brian Peiler                              Jon Sperl or Bryce Olson

             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      12/22/09

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

            US $ continues to march north. Market fundamentals are weak, most positive thing out there today is winter weather that will keep the last 3-5% of the corn crop out in the fields awhile longer. Longer term, the talk of ?fund re-balancing? is the most positive longer term input the markets have before them today. As funds re-allocate after the first of the year, if a larger % of the fund is allocated to commodities (as indicated by many prospectus?s I have seen) then futures may rally after the first irregardless of what the fundamentals indicate. There goes any idea of convergence. Mexico did buy 6.9 myn bu of corn, but shipments continue to lag. USDA numbers (crop progress, shipments etc) were delayed cuz the USDA had a snow day yesterday. The shipments for corn were terrible with only 17.9 myn bu shipped. We needed to see something north of 42 myn bu to stay on USDA?s pace! Wheat was very weak also with only 13.3 myn bu shipped: 3.2 DNS, 5.5 HRW, 1.1 SRW, and 2.2 SWW. Hawkeye Renewable files for Chapter 11. They have up to 5,000 creditors, up to maybe $500 myn in assets and up to $1 byn in liabilities and say that even with better crush margins on ethanol, it isn?t enough.

            Brazil is the 2^nd biggest bean producer, is estimating that 95% of the beans are in the ground, just a touch behind the 5 year ave. They are projecting somewhere around 64 myn mt or about 2.5 byn bu (the US just completed harvest of about 3.1 ?3.3 byn bu). Argie is number 3 in world production, and after recent rains is expecting a record crop. USDA est says 53 myn mt. Their wheat harvest is now about 40% complete, and have about 80% of the corn planted (also in good condition after recent rains). Russian gov?t bought 78,000 mt (2.8 myn bu) and plans to buy 91 myn bu more before Christmas. They call these purchases intervention purchases, we would know them better as a ?reserve? type program. They use the ?intervention? program to stabilize domestic prices, support the markets for the growers.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

             Duane Disque or Brian Peiler                              Jon Sperl or Bryce Olson

             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      12/21/09

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

            Corn futures are finding a bit of strength from someplace this morning, up 3-4, while wheat is down about 3-5. Beans are mostly even. Trading looks to be light, but COULD be volatile this week. USDA is expected to announce that corn harvest is about 92-95% complete, with North and South Dakota lagging the furthest behind. Cattle on Feed report from Friday showed the lots with fewer cattle. Placements were down, marketings up?and I?m sure that the cattle that are there aren?t being fed to higher weights?all translates into less feeding. COT report this morning confirmed what we have seen in the futures?specs took profits out of Chicago, but still long 50 myn bu. It is almost though, as if they sold Chicago wheat, and walked across the floor and bot corn. The spec/ index position on corn is HUMONGOUS 2.6 byn bu. While on the topic, the CFTC will take a new look at position limits (they of course want to increase them). MGE is right behind them. MGE said in their app ?increase trading activity in index caks and requests from ?market participants? demonstrate the need for increased limits?. It will be important to watch, and monitor as these type of things can allow more market distortion and perhaps serious changes to basis.

            China?s ministry of Ag said that winter wheat acres plantings will be up 460m acres, and overall food production area in China will be up 5.7 myn acres for 2010 (I thought they were about out of arable land that they could expand into). Egypt is looking to sign a long term wheat deal with Russia. They tried something like this with Britain a couple years ago?if this one is structured right and deal is struck, it would effectively remove the world?s biggest wheat importer from the market. Last tender from Russia/ France was for Feb TOS and the Egyptians claim they have stocks enough for 5 months, meaning they will likely tender at least 1 more time before harvest. Turkey returned to ?exporter? status after 2 years of drought. They sold 5.5 myn bu of red wheat and milling quality wheat.

***Didja Know: Today is the Winter Solstice?the shortest day of the year.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

             Duane Disque or Brian Peiler                              Jon Sperl or Bryce Olson

             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      12/18/09

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

            Futures called higher, with wheat following the row crops, but that didn?t happen. When the informa report was leaked wheat went its own way. Wheat futures are up 6-7 while corn is down 1-3, in fact corn may find support from wheat before the day is over. FWIW: We are now 29% of the way through the corn marketing year, and have sold 23% of the revised lower USDA tally. NORMALLY, the US would be ?front loaded? on sales. Informa had this to say: Corn yields for 2009 are proj at 164.5 bpa vs. the USDA number of 162.9. They also had an estimate for beans with 44.7 bpa vs. USDA?s 43.3. Then they estimated the 2010 acreage: Est. corn acres of 89.5 myn acres vs. 86.3 myn this year. Winter wheat acres of 39.5 myn acres vs. 43.3 in ?09. the drop of winter wheat acres isn?t a shock since many SRW acres were prevented due to late corn harvest. So far as I can tell they did not venture a guess on spring wheat acres or beans. Higher futures prices WILL stimulate more plantings?world wide?guaranteed.

            International News: Turkey lifted its ban on GMO beans. ABARE says that wheat production and exports will increase in ?09-?10. They also said that Aussie production and exportable quantities will increase vs. last year, especially if the Aussie $ remains strong relative to other currencies. Aussie also says that their wheat exports are down 20% vs. this time last year (should not be a surprise considering slower world demand, and increased competition and stronger Aussie $). Agri Marketing in Ukraine is projecting winter wheat acreage up 3.7% vs. last year. If your keeping tally; France, Germany, Ukraine, Britain and Russia have confirmed higher winter wheat plantings for ?10. Here is something interesting: Yesterday, the Chinese Ministry of Finance said they will place import quotas on wheat, corn, paddy and rice. Then today the USDA attach? to China said they are sticking with their estimates that Chinese corn production will be down 9% this year vs. last, and Wheat production will be down 6% this year vs. last. In the official Chinese version that they have just had the 6^th straight year of bumper crops?SOMEONE is wrong. China has had no issues with importing beans. Agrium is getting final approval for a massive expansion to their Saskatchewan production. Most of the work will be done by 2014, with a completion goal of 2015. Expansion would increase production from 300m tons to 750m tons.   HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!!!

             Duane Disque or Brian Peiler                              Jon Sperl or Bryce Olson

             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      12/17/09

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

            US $$ much stronger, rebounding off of 3 month lows. Gold and Crude down sharply, and grain futures giving up lots of ground as well this morning. Looking at the COT report and the OI, there is still a ton of air under this market. Air is pretty light, so it takes a LOT of it to make a ton! Export sales report wasn?t too bad this morning. End users were forced to the table and booked 48 myn bu of corn (by far the best week corn has had in a LOONNG time). We are still off pace to hit USDA, but it was a very good week for corn anyway! Wheat sales weren?t too bad either with 12.7 myn bu booked. We sold 3.4 DNS, 5.5 HRW, 1.7 SRW and 2.1 SWW. So while not outstanding, not bad either! By the way, yesterdays TOS on the Japanese tender was Feb?just to give you an idea how far out they are booking wheat?.

            We did get the results of the Egyptian tender yesterday, but it was after our report: Originally Egypt tendered for 2.2 myn bu, they ended up booking: 11 myn bu of Russian wheat at $5.25 FOB and 2.2 myn bu of French wheat at $5.27 FOB?all for Feb TOS. Our SRW was MUCH too high. Argie announced that they will raise projected bean acres by 494,000 acres and will also increase their estimates of corn acres by 247,000 acres.

            Weather roundup: Midwest will see warmer/ drier temps. Areas without lots of snow, and resume, perhaps complete harvest, but will have to fight mud. It will be awhile yet before the Dakotas see much action. Southern plains will be mild. Chances are good for increased rain in Argie (they need it). While it looks to be warm/ dry in Brazil, with more rain coming 5-7 days out (exactly what the crops need at this time). Cold weather will moderate in the Ukraine?too early to tell if they experienced much/ any winterkill. South Africa will dry out, which is good for now, but will need rains to return within 2 weeks (which is uncertain at this time).

***Didja Know: Money isn?t made out of paper, it is made out of cotton?sez here lightening strikes earth 17,000,000 time/ day! Or about 200 times per second. ?The longer you carry a grudge, the heavier it gets??