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Dairy Today editors bring you the latest research on the production and management challenges that directly impact your dairy’s profitability.

Thomas A. Grisafi is a 20-year veteran trader and member of CME, CBOT, NYMEX, COMEX, MGEX. Grisafi currently serves as President and CEO of Indiana Grain Company, LLC and is a regular contributor to Futures Line. Not a Broker, Not an Analyst. Follow me on Twitter @indianagrainco

Kevin Van Trump has over 20 years of experience in the grain and livestock industry. Van Trump traded professionally at the Chicago Board of Trade and the Kansas City Board of Trade, often advising some of the biggest players in the market. Van Trump recently launched Farm Direction in an attempt to help farmers improve their overall marketing efforts. In this blog, he’ll help guide you through some of the pitfalls and mistakes associated with marketing in today’s volatile markets. He will help you build and execute a plan that is right for you and your operation, while providing you with his specific marketing thoughts and current positions.

For the last 33 years I have farmed in south Oxfordshire England UK – in partnership with my wife. We have four grown up children. Our ‘downland’ farm is located in the Thames Valley on the outskirts of a village called Brightwell-cum-Sotwell in an area classified as one of ‘Outstanding Natural Beauty’. The farm has an extensive range of traditional and modern farm buildings but a limited land base which has demanded intensification and diversification of the business over the years. We have been through the gambit of livestock enterprises breeding and fattening pigs, beef at all levels and now run an early lambing flock of sheep in-wintered with straw as the base fodder, grow wheat, oilseeds, potatoes and have an extensive diversification enterprise letting traditional farm buildings as workshops. Marketing is through cooperative or group resources and we also sell produce directly from the farm-gate. My formative years were spent at the Royal Agricultural College Cirencester with a post-graduate at the University of Reading and worked as an Advisor with the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food and in Farm Management Consultancy before having the farming opportunity – which was never intended to be a full-time job! I am a Nuffield farming Scholar. My wife and I are very involved in our local community and with many wide ranging farming committees and bodies. Currently I am a Director of a Farm Buying Group and for the last five years have been stretching myself writing a monthly ‘Farmer Focus’ column for the Farmers Weekly Magazine one of the leading farming journals here in the UK. The aim is to have more holidays and wind down – but this seems to demand in the short term greater involvement and a winding up!

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He’s a great guy.

Mary K. Corp has been an Area Agronomist for Oregon State University in the inland wheat producing region of the Pacific Northwest for the past 12 years. She holds an Associate Professor appointment in the Oregon State University Crop and Soil Science Department and splits her time between research and extension education. Mary’s career in agriculture spans over 30 years and she is a recognized expert in dryland production systems, weed science, agronomy, and farm business management. Mary has a Bachelor of Science degree from Eastern Oregon University and a Masters in Business Administration from Portland State University. She is a member of the American Society of Agronomy. She has just completed a 4 year study comparing various types of fallow systems and their impacts to water storage, weeds and economics. Her current research is in organic cereal production, new variety selection, and insects impacting cereal crops such as the Wheathead Armyworm. Research results and newsletters can be found at her website www.cerealcentral.com. When not chasing the latest problem facing wheat farmers, Mary pursues her artistic side with her watercolor paintings. Her love of the rural lifestyle and agriculture can be seen in her paintings of local rodeos, horses, and landscapes. To view her paintings visit her gallery www.kaycsartcollectible.com/artgallery .

Jon is Managing Partner of Market Wise Ag Services. He is a 1984 graduate of Iowa State University in Agriculture Business. Jon has had a passion for farming and agriculture since childhood. His career path has included companies such as PHI Marketing Services, Inc., a subsidiary of Pioneer Hi-Bred Intl. Inc., Garst Seed, the GROWMARK Cooperative System and Cargill. Jon has over 14 years of experience in agriculture marketing and serves clients in Iowa and Minnesota.

Dave Fogel spends his day serving as a mentor to our Ag Risk Management Consultants/Marketing Advisors. He has been with Advance for 29 years and has extensive experience helping farmers manage risk and solve problems in all ag commodities. The Advance Trading team believes strong caring relationships built on trust and education leads to farmer knowledge and increased knowledge of managing risk.

John Blue, as Chief of Community Creation for Truffle Media Networks, has responsibility for developing the ability to engage audiences through marketing, technology, and in person interactions. Truffle Media Networks provides high-quality, turnkey production and distribution of agriculture business-focused podcasts. Truffle Media Networks produces BeefCast®, CropVillage™, DairyCast®, PoultryCast®, and SwineCast® for the agricultural industry.