MARKETING

                                                                             JAEDN YOUNG

            Marketing is an important part of agriculture. When my dad and father-in-law were active in farming/ranching, marketing was mostly regional. I remember Dad being on the phone with sheep people, buying and selling his sheep. Boyd’s dad worked with regional grain elevators to get rid of his harvested crop. But we now live with global markets. There are a lot of seminars available to help farmer/ranchers learn about marketing. We have often attended workshops on this subject when we’ve gone to wheat producer conferences. We always came home with good intentions. But it is hard to change old habits.

            I guess I hadn’t thought too much about our marketing strategies until recently. Our grandson, Jaedn, is in the FFA program over in Baker City, Oregon. Jaedn and his brother, Skyler, have moved pipe here on the valley farm, fixed fence at the ranch, and done general farm work where and when needed for quite a few years.

            Well, they were studying marketing in FFA, so Jaedn had to answer some questions on a test about marketing cows. His answer to a question on the marketing plan for cattle was: “Sell when you need the money or sell a cow if her calf dies.” That wasn’t the correct answer. When asked who owned the cows on the ranch he worked on, he told them Grandma and Grandpa. “What cows belong to Grandma?” another question. He answered, “The dead ones.” He had heard us talking one day and I mentioned that whenever a cow died Boyd looked at me and said, “That was one of yours,” so I guess his answer was correct; the dead ones are mine.

            Janna, his mom said that Jaedn was in danger of failing FFA because of the things we have been teaching him. So I had to talk to Jaedn more about our marketing procedures.

            Boyd spends a lot of time at the Wednesday livestock sale in Idaho Falls, and often travels to Blackfoot on Fridays for the sale there. He watches, listens and makes decisions. He is good at watching the ups and downs in the sales of the cattle and determines through this on-site research when he is going to sell his calves. Then he gets on the phone calling potential buyers. This past year he, our son Derrald, and nephew Jay, worked with a company to sell the calves via an on-line auction. That was interesting and educational. The day of the auction, my laptop computer was put on the kitchen counter, chairs placed around it, and we had about 8 people watching the sale.

            Boyd always weeds out some cows each year. He takes into consideration their age, their ability to raise a good calf, and their health. This also is considered part of his marketing plan.

            Now, selling wheat seems to be a bit different. I’ve often accused Boyd of waiting until the price of wheat hits bottom, and then he sells. When the price is up, he says he thinks he had better watch it awhile. This might be when it is true that he “sells when he needs the money.” Although Boyd does read market reports, gets weekly news briefs on-line with the price paid for all grains, and visits with local elevator owners.

            But to put a marketing plan on paper just doesn’t seem to work for us. Those long-range plans don’t seem to take into consideration weather changes, drought, hail, early snow, no snow, or when we might need money. So Boyd’s wheat marketing plan is in his head.

            Jaedn needs to realize that his grandfather does know how to market his cows and wheat. And maybe when he comes back to be with us this year, we can talk a little more about this with him. Jaedn and Skyler each have a cow now, so he needs to learn more, not only about the care and treatment of the animal, but the potential of marketing. And we don’t want Jaedn to fail FFA!