AKRON, Iowa (KTIV) – Grain trading, marketing, and farm management, every day on KTIV News 4 Today you see the farm markets report.
For the last few months, a local Ag expert from Akron, Iowa has been weighing in on the market numbers.
David Ericson is an Ag Optimus from Akron, Iowa. Each Thursday you’ll find him on air sharing his thoughts on the ever-changing commodity prices trying to help the public navigate the markets.
Ericson said, “There’s a reason for it. You know, it just doesn’t happen out of thin air.”
Ag Optimus is a commodities brokerage working with several different people, whether it be a grain farmer, a cattle producer, or day-to-day customers who want to be involved in the commodity market.
There are customers from all over the country but work with a lot of people in their home states in Siouxland.
He said it feels good trying to give back to the Ag community in Siouxland, explaining those numbers a bit more.
“There are so many different things that go into these market moves. And if I can help people understand why it does this, or why it does that,” Ericson said.
Ericson explained a bit of his background, his passion comes from his upbringing, “When we would bring grain into the elevator. I always knew, you know that we were getting X amount of price for it, right? But I didn’t take that much interest in it until I was probably in high school. On the business side of things.” He continued, “My dad is a farmer. He’s, he would be like a third he’s a third-generation farmer. So even though we grew up in town, every morning, Dad would wake up and he would drive to the farm, and so that’s what got me interested.”
Ericson said he works with farmers in case there is a need to adjust anything, “If they’re a grain farmer, and if they need to take protection, or if they need to re-own some grain that they just sold or try and formulate a strategy for them, or a plan for them.”
Across state lines to South Dakota, Ericson still spends most of his days on the farm after finishing up at the office taking care of crops, and cattle.
“We have some corn, we have some soybeans, we own some cattle together,” Ericson explained while out in the corral with the new calves. He continued, “So that’s the nice thing about this job. You know, usually by the time that the markets close, which is at 130 I might have some back office stuff I need to take care of, but I can go out there, and I do go out there almost every day and kind of help him with whatever needs to be done out there.”
Timely grain markets matter to Siouxland farmers, “How are these markets going to move today? Or what’s going to be the big story, or what needs to be done and make sure that customers are either positioned for it correctly or if they have a position and we need to make a change, try and reach out to them, you know, prior, before the market opening up.”
Ericson wants to make sure these farmers have the information they need for their day-to-day decisions, “At the end of the day, the spot that I do every Thursday morning, a big part of my job, in my opinion, is to tell a story or to paint a picture.”
David Ericson joins KTIV’s Al Joens and Taylor Deckert every Thursday morning on KTIV News 4 Today.
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