Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Steve Johnson
Paid Letter to the editor: Would like to see assurances and transparency
To the editor, I have been following the commentary about the two referendum questions for the C-I schools. The information and photos provided by the schools leaves little doubt that work is needed, however I wonder why this maintenance has been neglected for so long? I understand school districts are funded differently than government organizations, but it seems maintenance could still be planned to prevent deterioration to the level they are experiencing today.
10 Best practices for insurance customer retention
White Paper Sponsored by Total Expert How to Transform Your Insurance Marketing with Generative AI Generative AI, a cutting-edge tool within AI, is unfolding before us, and its impact is reverberating across industries. From marketing strategies to HR practices, generative AI is reshaping the way we work. The insurance sector, often seen as traditional, is not immune to this transformative force. Download this white paper to learn how GAI is transforming insurance marketing. Browse More Resources ›
Crop insurance harvest prices released
Content ID 335741 You are here Provide actual crop production numbers to insurance agent immediately after harvest; Note indemnities typically paid in income tax year received The final harvest prices for crop insurance for the 2022 crops are $6.86 per bushel for corn and $13.81 per bushel for soybeans, respectively. These are the average futures prices for December CME corn and November CME soybean contracts during the month of October.
Letter to the editor: When is enough?
Again kids are killed sitting in a classroom. When is enough the answer? Every American should be ashamed to not do better. —Steve Johnson, Bakersfield
The Best Snow Pants for Hikers of 2022
Whether you're snowshoeing, skiing, or postholing, these four pairs of winter pants are up to the task. Join Backpacker Create a personalized feed and bookmark your favorites. Join Backpacker Create a personalized feed and bookmark your favorites. Join for free Columbia's Kick Turn snowpants will keep you warm on the chilliest days. Get access to everything we publish when you sign up for Outside+. Columbia’s Kick Turn II snowpants will keep you warm on the chilliest days.
Consider margin protection for the 2022 crop, farm specialist says
Content ID 317122 You are here MP coverage is focused on the ’22 spring planted crops. 8/19/2021 Photo credit: USDA Growers should consider use of Margin Protection crop insurance for managing ’22 crop revenue risks. Margin Protection (MP) provides coverage against an unexpected decrease in operating margin (revenue less input costs). It is area-based, using county-level estimates of average revenue and input costs to establish the amount of coverage and trigger revenue.
Steve Johnson: Honored to serve Larimer County
Steve Johnson By Steve Johnson In three months, I will retire after 24 years of service to the people of Larimer County in elected office — 12 in the Legislature and 12 as a Larimer County Commissioner. This opportunity has been one of the highlights of my life, and I am grateful for the support through eight election campaigns. Serving in both local and state government, I am more convinced than ever in the ability of local government to do great things.
Wind damage and crop insurance
By Steve Johnson - Columnist , Farm News Wind is a covered event in Multi-Peril Crop Insurance. Farmers whose insured crop acres have been affected by the recent derecho may be eligible for indemnity payments. Affected farmers should file a Notice of Loss (NOL) with their crop insurance agent within 72 hours of the initial time of discovery of damage or loss and follow up in writing within 15 days. When filing a timely NOL is not feasible, a delayed NOL may be accepted.
Estimate corn yields; understand crop insurance
By Steve Johnson - Columnist , Farm News Losses due to weather are an insurable loss under multiple peril crop insurance. Crop insurance claims are expected to be large this fall, especially with the drought conditions in western Iowa. These losses will likely result from both corn and soybean yield declines in addition to a drop in the harvest prices used to calculate indemnity payments. Until you harvest your crops, you won't know the amount of your crop insurance claim.
Steve Johnson: Working together on Larimer County COVID-19 recovery
By Steve Johnson Larimer County is no stranger to disasters. In the last decade, we have faced the two worst natural disasters in the county’s history with the 2012 High Park Fire and the 2013 floods. Now we face a new and different challenge, an unseen enemy, COVID-19. While previous events were of relatively short duration and then over, the virus continues to plague us even as we work to recover and keep life going. Steve Johnson Much of what we learned from past disasters has been helpful.
Hope springs eternal for corn prices
By Steve Johnson - Columnist , Farm News The global impact of the corona virus devastated most commodity markets this winter. However, the spring months are typically the timeframe when corn futures prices rally with the uncertainty for worldwide corn production. That is because nearly 85 percent of the world's feed grains are produced in the northern hemisphere. The U.S. is the largest producer of corn and most soils in the Corn Belt are extremely wet with the likelihood of delayed planting.
Guest opinion: County-town joint planning
Breaking News Estes Park Health CEO Search: First Candidate January 10, 2020 at 2:17 pm Everyone I know agrees that Estes Park is a very special place. This doesn’t just happen by accident. It takes a lot of effort by many in the community to keep the environment healthy, the economy vibrant, and the community safe. A big part of what makes a community a good place to live is appropriate land use planning.
Steve Johnson: Larimer County looking carefully at oil and gas regulations
Colorado is a state born out of mining and resource extraction. The discovery of gold around 1859 set off a wave of settlement that led to statehood. Significant discoveries of molybdenum, silver, and uranium fueled additional growth. Although the first oil well drilled in the Western U.S. was near Cañon City in 1860, significant oil and gas production came later, with the discovery of oil in the Denver-Julesburg basin 1901 and the Wattenberg gas field northeast of Denver in 1960.
Steve Johnson: What does a half-penny buy for Larimer County?
Steve Johnson Recently I ate lunch on a local restaurant patio and watched a penny lying on the sidewalk. Hundreds of people walked by it, stepped on it, and even kicked it. But no one picked it up. It seems a penny doesn’t buy much anymore. Larimer County is asking for a 20-year half-penny sales tax this November. Added up from all of us, even this small amount can do a lot for our community. So, what could this half-penny buy? Fix Interstate 25.
Steve Johnson: Larimer County summer fun
Summer is my favorite time of the year. The days are longer, driving in snow is gone, and it’s warmer. But the main reason is all of the fun things there are to do in Larimer County during the summer. It’s a great time of year to be outdoors. We have some of the very best parks and open spaces in the state. Horsetooth Reservoir is one of the most visited destinations in Colorado.
Steve Johnson: Financing future Larimer County services
There's an old saying that no one plans to fail, but they fail to plan. That's certainly not true in Larimer County government. We believe it is important that we take a long-range view of our duty to provide essential services today and into the future if we are to be proactive in creating a great community in which live, work and raise a family. We know our community will continue to grow. The question is, are we adequately preparing to maintain our quality of life as this occurs?
Slight changes in new farm bill
KEY PROVISIONS: Crop insurance, conservation and commodity programs will continue to provide support for agriculture for the next five years. USDA farm programs provide much-needed risk management tools for farmers. Steve Johnson | Jan 21, 2019 The Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018, aka “the 2018 Farm Bill,” was signed into law on Dec. 20. It continues the farm programs created in the 2014 Farm Bill, including the commodity crop programs Agriculture Risk Coverage and the Price Loss Coverage.
Providing production evidence for MFP
If you’re applying for a payment from USDA’s new Market Facilitation Program, keep a couple of factors in mind before heading to your local Farm Service Agency office. Form CCC-910 requires an actual production number by crop and the source of production evidence. You do not need to submit your records to FSA. MFP is a self-certification program, subject to spot-check of your production evidence. This is similar to the loan deficiency payment farmers used extensively from 1996 through 2006.
Storing this fall’s soybean crop
By Charles Hurburgh and Steve Johnson Large amounts of soybeans will be stored on-farm and commercially this fall and well into 2019 — perhaps even through 2019. As with all grains, spoilage of soybeans will occur quickly if storage moisture is too high. High oil content makes beans more susceptible to spoilage than corn. Thus, soybeans need to be about 2 points drier than corn for proper storage.
Storing a record soybean crop
The Oct. 11 USDA Crop Production report forecasts Iowa farmers to harvest a record 606 million bushels of soybeans and an average yield of 61 bushels per acre. Many grain elevators and a few farms were already carrying over more old-crop soybeans than normal. USDA reported that U.S. soybean stocks on Sept. 1 stood at 438 million bushels, up 45% from a year ago. Come Sept. 1, 2019, U.S. soybean stocks are forecast to increase to 885 million bushels, which if realized, would be a new record.
Iowa Soybeans: Harvest Strategy for Securing Market Facilitation Program Payment
The lion’s share of payments under the new Market Facilitation Program (MFP) are going to pork and soybean producers. Given the most recent USDA production estimates, Iowa producers stand to gain more than $550 million from this program. The MFP will be administered by USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices and the deadline for signing up is Jan. 15, 2019. The MFP payments have a $125,000 cap per person or legal entity, but the cap works separately between crops and livestock.
Harvesting your soybean MFP payment
The lion’s share of payments under the new Market Facilitation Program are going to pork and soybean producers. Given the most recent USDA production estimates, Iowa producers stand to gain more than $550 million from this program. The MFP will be administered by USDA Farm Service Agency offices; the deadline for sign-up is Jan. 15. The MFP payments have a $125,000 cap per person or legal entity, but the cap works separately between crops and livestock.
Overcoming cash flow challenges
The cost-price squeeze for many farm operations means tight crop profit margins and cash flow constraints. With crop market price uncertainty, expect cash flow management to be a bigger challenge. Farms that did a good job of preharvest-marketing their 2018 crop bushels or self-financing their farming operation will likely avoid most cash flow concerns. Other farms with debt might be holding large quantities of unpriced old-crop and soon new-crop bushels.
Boston’s Six Sweetest Apple Orchards
Goodbye, watermelon. So long, corn on the cob. Zip up your fleeces and cradle a pumpkin spice latte: Autumn is nearly here. So, of course, you want to take your kids apple-picking! But where to go? Some places are hideously crowded with parking that rivals a Phish show in 1997. Others are too intense (you want doughnuts, tractors and scarecrows, not creaky ladders and flimsy paper sacks!). Others are sprawling and overwhelming.
Steve Johnson: Working to address the opioid crisis
Here's a riddle for you. What kills more people than car accidents or firearm deaths each year and is one of the leading and growing health epidemics in our nation? The answer is opioids. Drug overdose is now the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S. with more than 50,000 lethal drug overdoses each year. Opioids are driving this epidemic with more than 20,000 deaths due to prescription pain relievers and 13,000 deaths due to heroin.
Protect your revenue guarantee
With revenue protection crop insurance, most Iowa farmers have between $400 and $600 per acre as a guarantee for their planted 2018 corn and soybean crops. Farmers can use that revenue to help withstand crop losses due to yield declines or falling futures prices or both. Those potential crop insurance indemnity payments could prove important this fall when cash flow might be extremely tight. Flooding, high winds and hail have damaged crops in some areas of Iowa.
Considering more grain storage for farm?
With the large drop in corn and soybean prices since late May, many farmers may be caught with large amounts of unpriced old- and new-crop corn and soybeans. The need for a structured marketing plan with reasonable time and price objectives has proven to be invaluable. Farmers who are faced with the decision to sell at a low cash price or endure commercial storage costs are now wondering if they should consider building more on-farm grain storage.
A closer look at farmland leasing trends
Results of two different surveys recently compiled by Iowa State University Extension confirm trends in farmland ownership and cash rental rates. The 2017 Iowa Farmland Ownership and Tenure Survey finds that 55% of Iowa’s farmland is rented, while 45% is owner operated. Of the rented land, over 80% of those acres use a cash rent arrangement. Also, 82% of the land has no debt against it.
What’s in your crop marketing plan?
Imagine four straight years when both corn and soybean futures prices peaked somewhere between early April and mid-July. Farmers could preharvest-market a portion of their new-crop corn and soybeans during the growing season at prices that proved to be much higher than those received at harvest. Those farmers could have delivered priced bushels at or shortly after harvest and avoided additional storage and interest charges and generated necessary cash flow.
Boil order for SIRWA customers
(Creston) -- The Southern Iowa Rural Water Association has issued a boil order for counties in its service area. The boil order, which is effective at 8 a.m. Friday, includes SIRWA customers in Union, Taylor and Ringgold counties, and parts of Adams, Clarke and Decatur counties. Taylor County Emergency Management Coordinator Mick Ware tells KMA News the boil order is due to a filter problem at the Twelve Mile Water Plant near Creston. Ware says the boil order is effective until further notice.
Preharvest marketing favors spring
Consider that each year since 2013 both corn and soybean futures prices have peaked somewhere between early April and mid-July. Farmers could preharvest-market a portion of their new-crop corn and soybeans during the growing season at prices that proved to be much higher than those received at harvest. Those farmers could have delivered priced bushels at or shortly after harvest and avoided additional storage and interest charges and generated necessary cash flow.
Midwest Traveler: New Missouri aquarium and museum turns the conservation knob to 11
The new Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum and Aquarium in Springfield, Mo., doesn’t have just one multistory mega-tank parading exotic fish species. There are at least three, and that’s not counting the Bait Ball, a basement-to-second-floor, see-through aquatic sheath in which thousands of little herring swim around in what I can only imagine is abject terror while a handful of sharks circle them and sometimes glide through them.
How Larimer County can improve mental health care
How can we really and truly celebrate Mental Health Month this May? We can work together to create a mental health care to equal our excellent physical health care in Larimer County. We can dramatically reduce the teen suicide rate, which has reached a 10-year high in our community. We can give hope to the 40 percent of students who feel down, depressed, or hopeless for at least several days during the past two weeks. We can provide alternatives to jail for those with mental illness.
Crop insurance decisions
The cool, wet early-spring weather conditions mean some corn and soybean fields will be planted later than normal. Producers might be wondering what options they have under their multiple peril crop insurance coverage. Insured acres that have already been planted but need to be replanted may qualify for a replanting indemnity payment. This assumes the acreage was planted after the initial planting dates, which for Iowa are April 11 for corn and April 21 for soybeans, respectively.
Grab the basis on corn, soybeans
If you have corn or soybeans stored unpriced this spring, here’s a marketing opportunity to consider. It’s especially helpful for bushels stored in on-farm bins, especially if those bushels aren’t going to be dry enough to safely store into summer or fall. Using this marketing strategy on at least a portion of those bushels, you can lock in the basis and still stay long in the futures market. You simply deliver the grain when basis is attractive.
Selling weather rallies
Here’s a quick quiz. Dry conditions in Argentina reduced the size of its corn and soybean crops. During late winter this year, old-crop soybean futures prices rallied more than $1.20 per bushel, and new-crop soybeans rallied by more than 70 cents per bushel. Select the best answer that describes your marketing plan for old-crop bushels: A. Stop selling; wait to see how high futures prices rally and try to sell at the top. B. Rotate to more soybean-planted acres in 2018, with fewer corn acres. C.
Lower premiums set for 2018 crop insurance
Less volatility in corn and soybean prices recently means most farmers are paying slightly lower crop insurance premiums for 2018. Iowa farmers will benefit from these lower premiums. In February, USDA’s Risk Management Agency began tracking December 2018 corn and November 2018 soybean futures price averages for the month. Those are the figures used to calculate projected prices for crop insurance.
Managing 2018 tight crop profit margins
Iowa farmers can expect to face another challenging year of managing tight profit margins for both corn and soybeans. Managing costs needs to start with good farm financial records and focus on the big three fixed costs: land, family living as well as machinery and equipment. On average, most Iowa farms have seen a reasonable decline in total crop production costs in all of these categories.
Be ready to sell on seasonal rallies
By Steve Johnson The latest USDA estimates show U.S. corn stocks forecast for the end of the current marketing year at levels not seen in 30 years. And soybean ending stocks forecast for Aug. 31 are greater than seen in a decade. Not all of this huge supply of corn and soybeans is stored in on-farm bins and in elevators. There is a lot of corn in temporary storage this winter — big plastic bags on farms dot the countryside.
Be ready to sell on seasonal rallies
By Steve Johnson The latest USDA estimates show U.S. corn stocks forecast for the end of the current marketing year at levels not seen in 30 years. And soybean ending stocks forecast for Aug. 31 are greater than seen in a decade. Not all of this huge supply of corn and soybeans is stored in on-farm bins and in elevators. There is a lot of corn in temporary storage this winter — big plastic bags on farms dot the countryside.
Few crop insurance changes for 2018
By Steve Johnson The USDA Risk Management Agency has released rates needed to calculate a 2018 crop insurance premium. The Revenue Protection rate changes suggest slightly higher corn premiums and lower soybean premiums. Given that 2018 projected prices and volatilities are trending lower than the February 2017 values, premiums in 2018 could be near or slightly lower than those of the previous year.
Few crop insurance changes for 2018
By Steve Johnson The USDA Risk Management Agency has released rates needed to calculate a 2018 crop insurance premium. The Revenue Protection rate changes suggest slightly higher corn premiums and lower soybean premiums. Given that 2018 projected prices and volatilities are trending lower than the February 2017 values, premiums in 2018 could be near or slightly lower than those of the previous year.
Few crop insurance changes for 2018
By Steve Johnson The USDA Risk Management Agency has released rates needed to calculate a 2018 crop insurance premium. The Revenue Protection rate changes suggest slightly higher corn premiums and lower soybean premiums. Given that 2018 projected prices and volatilities are trending lower than the February 2017 values, premiums in 2018 could be near or slightly lower than those of the previous year.
Few crop insurance changes for 2018
By Steve Johnson The USDA Risk Management Agency has released rates needed to calculate a 2018 crop insurance premium. The Revenue Protection rate changes suggest slightly higher corn premiums and lower soybean premiums. Given that 2018 projected prices and volatilities are trending lower than the February 2017 values, premiums in 2018 could be near or slightly lower than those of the previous year.
Few crop insurance changes for 2018
By Steve Johnson The USDA Risk Management Agency has released rates needed to calculate a 2018 crop insurance premium. The Revenue Protection rate changes suggest slightly higher corn premiums and lower soybean premiums. Given that 2018 projected prices and volatilities are trending lower than the February 2017 values, premiums in 2018 could be near or slightly lower than those of the previous year.
Our Ranch Rocks - Loveland Reporter-Herald
Here's a riddle: What state of the art facility attracts almost every resident of Larimer County, invests in kids of all ages, hosts sporting and cultural events of all kinds, brings millions of dollars into our local economy, and is owned and supported by the people of Larimer County?
Larimer County helping to save our farms
"Whiskey's for drinkin' and water's for fightin'," so goes the old expression which accurately describes how contentious water is and has been throughout much of our history in the arid West. Water is perhaps the most precious resource in the West, being essential for agriculture and a growing population. How to satisfy the growing demand for a scarce, finite resource has and will continue to be a public policy challenge. Colorado developed a complex body of law to govern water in our state.
New technologies harvest energy from movements, sound and more
– Fed up with constantly having to recharge or replace batteries in your ever-expanding trove of electronic gadgets? The solution may be just a few steps away. “Energy harvesting” promises to power innumerable consumer devices, often with nothing more than your body’s movement or heat.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Steve
Contact Steve, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack