Farms.com Risk Management’s Chief Commodity Strategist Moe Agostino will visit with farmers in 12 states
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
A popular crop tour will be making its way through the U.S. Corn Belt later this month and into July.
Moe Agostino, chief commodity strategist with Farms.com Risk Management, will tour 12 U.S. states as part of the 11th annual U.S. Corn Belt Crop Tour.
“One of my goals is to help my clients achieve higher profits,” he said. “We’re always looking to see how high prices can go.”
The tour starts on June 30 in Ohio.
From there, Agostino will travel to Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin before wrapping up in Michigan on July 23.
Agostino started the tour in 2012 during a drought year.
And early conditions this year are similar to what he saw back then.
“2012 was one of the worst years in the U.S. for yields because there was a major drought,” he said. “We haven’t started as dry as in 2012 but it sure looks like it’s turning dry in the second half of June.”
Along the way, Agostino will visit with and interview producers at their farms to discuss the season so far and how the 2022 season stacks up against previous years.
Having producers rank the current year provides better context for tour followers, he said.
“I like to have them rank the year compared to other years because when you have other farmers doing that, it can help get a general consensus of how farmers are feeling to date,” he said.
At the end of the tour, Agostino will put out a final yield report about what the thinks the USDA will print in January 2023.
His report in 2020 estimated corn at between 167 – 169 bushels per acre on corn and the USDA’s figure was 177.
“I’m currently at 174.6 bushels per acre for the 2022 corn yield but there’s still a big growing season ahead,” he said.
Farmers interested in following the tour can follow @FarmsMarketing on Twitter and use the hashtag #CornBelt22.
Farmers may also still have an opportunity to have Agostino visit their farm.
Anyone interested in having the tour stop at his or her farm is asked to contact Agostino.