Think about a sport you enjoy playing – it most likely involves both offense and defense. What would happen if your team only cared about offense and didn’t practice or develop a defensive strategy? While it’s possible for your team to win some of the time, the odds of consistent success would increase substantially if your team developed and executed both an offensive and defensive strategy.

The same is true when marketing commodities using both the cash and futures market. As a producer of agricultural commodities you will always have an offensive game plan – which is to sell your grain or livestock in a local, cash market at the best possible price available. But don’t forget the importance of also playing defense. You need a marketing plan that helps you use the futures market to lock in prices in advance, and manage your price risk exposure.

Planning and executing a strategy to utilize both the cash and futures market is how every agricultural producer can reduce risk and create a sound marketing game plan.

Which is why we created Grain PhD – it is our new initiative to give you the tools, resources and information you need to create your marketing game plan. Here are 3 important steps to take now:

Step 1. Access your free, easy-to-use GrainBridge software account to better understand your cost of production and various what-if profitability scenarios.

Step 2. Speak with a risk management expert and create a free personalized marketing plan for your operation.

Step 3. Have a futures trading account open to take advantage of hedging opportunities as needed.