FROM THE MANAGER
Dear members
& patrons
A
s of the last issue, we
were still ginning cotton.
We finally finished up
on December 19 after
shutting down and
waiting for a couple of producers
to finish picking. Our final total was
a new record for United Ag —
153,737 bales.
We were still able to return our producers
an average lint turn out of 40.66 percent. This
means to make a 480-pound bale of cotton
took our producers only 1,180 pounds of
seed cotton. This is the average on 153,737
bales, which means there were some turn outs
better and some worse, but we are very proud
that our gins have been updated with all the
latest ginning technology that adds value to
our producers cotton.
Besides a record ginning year, your
cooperative had a record grain year, handling
4,922,349 bushels of corn, 1,820,931 bushels
of milo, 29,034 bushels of wheat and 100,100
bushels of soybeans.
The only sad thing about these beautiful
crops is that, for the most part, our producers
didn’t receive record prices.
As we look to the 2015 crop this issue,
prices look even bleaker. In my last letter, I
wrote about missed opportunities in pricing
crops and cattle. Since that time, we’ve seen
nothing but more deterioration in prices.
December corn futures in December 2014
hit a high of $4.39. Today, they are $3.99.
December cotton futures in December 2014
were a high of $66.23. Today, December
cotton futures are at $64.14, which is not a
huge loss. September feeder cattle futures
were $2.34 and today they closed at $2.15.
We continuously ask our producers to
look for opportunities for profits. To do this,
producers must know their breakeven cost
and this must be imprinted in their minds.
When the opportunity shows that it may be
possible to lock in profits, we must act.
years of low prices, barring away drought or
weather-related issues. Therefore, we must
really study where our costs and returns are to
survive this time of high carryout of grain and
cotton supplies from one year to the next.
Your United Ag Farm Supply Stores at El
Campo, Danevang, Eagle Lake and Edna
have enjoyed a good season thus far. Our
employees work hard to have the products
available that our customers need. Please feel
free to inquire if there is anything you feel
we should stock. We really appreciate your
support of your cooperative.
We will end the 2014-2015 fiscal year on
April 30, 2015. Because of your patronage, we
will have another profitable year. Our annual
membership meeting will be on Thursday,
June 25, so watch for the announcement.
Hopefully we will get our crops in the
ground and prices will rise, making our 2015
year profitable for all of our producers.
Most analysts predict that we