Well, another season is almost behind us. In agriculture, there’s really no such thing as a “typical” year, but if there was ever a season that could be described as “atypical,” I think 2008 might qualify.
We got a full taste of the international nature of agriculture today, as decisions about manufacturing and raw materials in China rippled through the crop protection and fertilizer markets with significant price consequences. Our sister publication, Farm Chemicals International, got a front row view of the developments. While it will likely take some time to get there, the crop protection side is expected to settle back down in China by 2010.
As for fertilizer — I hope you got a chance to see the fertilizer market coverage in the September issue of CropLife® magazine. If not, give it a spin. The global evolution in agriculture will be weighing on that segment for some time to come.
Then there was the price run-up on commodities, pushing corn north of $8 a bushel and causing margin calls that in some cases led to retail consolidation. Eric Sfiligoj is putting together the CropLife 100 research, and it looks like we’ll be adding several new companies to the list because of the number of consolidations that have taken place (not to mention the granddaddy of all mergers, the Agrium-UAP deal). There were a number of mergers of equals, not just for the reason stated above, but also to increase buying power and capacity.
And these don’t even begin to address the weather challenges in the Midwest — first the devastating spring rains which delayed planting, forced a change in crop plan, or necessitated a replant. I got to do some traveling through Illinois and Indiana in June, and it’s remarkable that anything got planted at all in some areas. Just goes to show the resilience of U.S. ag.
I also got to tour some soybean fields in northwest Ohio at the end of August on an invitation from Syngenta. These fields were earmarked for 100-bushel-per-acre yield through a comprehensive agronomic regimen. What it revealed was the power of weather, and what can happen to pod formation when only a half-inch of rain falls in August despite all the best efforts man can employ.
That touches on a few of the myriad events of 2008 that impacted growers and retailers. In recent days, Eric and I have been reviewing these events and many other from “the year that was” as we plan for our PACE Advisory Council meeting this month.
This group of 24 industry luminaries travels to Chicago once a year and spends an entire day with the CropLife magazine team dissecting U.S. agriculture. Our primary goal is to establish the current state of our industry, determine the big trends, and create a vision of the season ahead for the retail channel. From this view, we’ll construct a communication and education plan that helps you identify the challenges and opportunities in retail.
We look forward to bringing you the details in upcoming issues of the magazine, as well as our soon-to-be relaunched www.croplife.com Web site. The site will feature news, print issue archives, and many ways you can participate in the content and provide feedback. The redesigned Web site goes live in November, so be sure to check it out.
