Market Ends 2014 Just About Where It Started

Dec 31, 2014

While 2014 has been a wild ride for the futures market, according to Dan Hueber, with the Hueber Report, corn prices are at the same level at the end of 2014 as they were in the beginning, “Last December we were all in the dumps because corn prices had hit the $4 level, and we were all projecting a 2 billion bushel carryout. Here we are a year later and we are still projecting a 2 billion bushel carryout.

” The difference is that last January we were hoping for a return to $5 corn while this January we will are hope we don’t revisit the $3 level. Hueber is recommending that producers look for opportunities in the early part of 2015 to market their 2014 crop, “The corn market still has some carry in it. We should see some chances to sell in the $4.25 to $4.50 range between now and July.”

As for soybeans, Hueber sees a large South American crop coming, “Early yield results from Brazil indicate they will likely produce a record large crop.” In addition, he sees 2 million more soybean acres in the US in 2015. This will pressure soybean prices, but fewer corn acres are not likely to raise corn prices, “We could do just fine with 2 million less corn acres. The market would not go into a panic mode.” He does not see the market offering corn growers any price premium to plant more corn in 2015.

One crop Hueber is bullish about is sorghum. He told HAT that 2014 saw sorghum exports to China soar. He sees an expansion in sorghum acres in the US in the coming year, ”2014 saw a 19% jump in sorghum exports, with over half of that going to China.” He sees sorghum acres in the US increasing in 2015.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.