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Show Pate m THE DAILY HLRALU Prmo. Ltah, Sunday. January 24. A 14 Citrus farmers battle to survive the if reeze By STEVE KAUFMAN WHEAT (BULLBEAR) In what is possibly a weak analogy I am going to suggest that the wheat market today is like the cattle market was last month. While the cattle market was fundamentally bullish in many ways, it was the hogs which brought the cattle down (too much meat). The wheat market looks fundamentally bullish in many ways, but it is the corn (too much grain) which is sympathetically hurting wheat prices. Wheat prices are holding up better than corn and soybeans, but its tough to go it alone. Prices do appear low enough to now stimulate export demand. I do l(X)k for it to pick up now that the New Year has begun. knight RiikW Newspapers SAN' JOSE. Calif. The cavernous packing house of Airdrome Orchards Inc. stands eerily empty. Only four employees are working, and $750,000 worth of equipment is idle at the only orange growing and packing company headquartered in Santa Clara County. During four days of freezing weather in December, nearly 70 percent of Airdrome's unpicked orange crop was wiped out. "I worked all year to help produce a good product, and most of it is lost in a few nights." complains Tony Buldo, foreman of the company's 650-acrorange groves located in the Central Valley's Tulare County. "Hut that is the nature of farming. You have to go on." The December citrus freeze is expected to wipe out nearly s of California's orange crop this year. There's no question it will bankrupt some farms, since citrus growers will see orange revenues plummet. In addition, they must spend about $1,500 an acre later this year to produce next year's crop. Yet most farmers will survive and ultimately rebound, a III r -t- O e two-third- barring another freeze next winter, say California agricul- tural experts. One big reason is that a freeze in 1990, the worst of this century, wiped out most of the state's marginal citrus growers. Then, Central Valley farmers lost thousands of acres of orange trees and the surviv- ing trees lost their leaves, which meant they weren't mature enough to produce a crop the following season. That didn't happen during the i ..it. . f Strategy: 1 KNAI ;ll-- l AIIMAN S;in J,.w Mcnut Sc Slim pickins: Chuck Fumia, left, and his brother John sort oranges from their own orchards and other growers at their packing plant. A freeze damaged much of California's citrus crops. Normally the rack behind them would be full. December freeze. "Most farmers have already experienced a much more disastrous freeze and are optimistic they can survive this one, too," says Joel Nelsen, president of California Citrus Mutual, which represents about 800 California citrus farmers. "They already know how to restructure their debt and capitalize on market condi- tions." Airdrome and other farmers are helped some by crop insurance coverage and a diversificas tion in crops. Airdrome Orchards, for example, owns a pear orchard in Gilroy, Calif., and a non-citru- 30-acr- e 110-acr- and pear e PROVO Stuart Hite has been appointed director of sales at SuLin International. He is a graduate of Baylor University and is a certified natural health professional studying to be a naturopathic doctor. Stuart relocated to Provo from Elkhart, Ind., where he owned and operated Herbs and More. apple nized as three of the top family friendly companies in the state. The awards were presented at The Utah Employer Conference held at the Salt Palace Jan. 14. PROVO The Women's Business Network installed new board members for 1999 Thursday: Julie Harward, First Security Bank, chair; Chloe Langson, Red Cross, chair elect: Kathryn Shirmer, Create A Basket, secretarytrea- surer: Joyce Johnson, program chair; Jean Hatch, March of Dimes, AthenaConference; Nancy Cluff. Bank of American Fork, Newsletter; Jamie Naulai, Chamber of Commerce; Bonnie Pence. CHUHCF, community highlights. AMERICAN FORK Dr. Douglas Mower has been elected to serve as American Fork Hospital medical staff r term president for a He will serve in 2000. beginning in 1999. as president-elec- t Mower graduated from Brigham Young University and from the Wayne State University Medical School. He fulfilled a three-yea- r family practice residency with UCLA at the Ventura County Medical Center. He set up a private family practice at American Fork two-yea- Z- I II Stuart Hite T orchard in Brentwood, 20 miles north of Livermore, Calif. In addition, farmers can now sell their oranges at higher prices. Consumers are paying $1 to $1.50 a pound for navels four times the usual price and prices are expected to stay inflated well into February.. "That will soften the blow a little bit," said Grant Hunt, chairman of the Produce Marketing Association and an Oakland, Calif., fruit and vegetable distributor. Charles and John Fumia, brothers in a family that has owned Airdrome for nearly 80 years, are used to the setbacks of farming. One reason is Airdrome paid off loans to M K Dave Clifton has joined Brodeur Porter Novelli as an account supervisor. Some of the accounts he will be working including PowerQuest, WordCruncher and US West. He is former director of public and media relations at Ingenix Inc. and is a graduate of the University of Utah. PROVO PROVO Brent Wade, dis- trict manager for Intermountain Financial GroupMass Mutual, has qualified for the company's 1998 Leaders Club. He was selected, based on scope and quality of service to policy owners and clients, from a nationwide field of 5,000 agents. Wade is a principal in the firm Miller Wade & Associates. OREM John Snyder finance their orange groves decades ago and has long been in the habit of stashing away part of its earnings to finance the unexpected. An example of California's 2,000 citrus growers, the Fumias represent a hardy, staunchly independent breed, long accustomed to coping with the vicissitudes of nature and its economic ramifications. Initially, the Fumias hoped to salvage 40 percent of the unpicked crop, but now they expect to recover no more than 30 percent. "It's scary," says Buldo, the Airdrome foreman and Charles Fumia's brother-in-law- . "It's your livelihood." Viewpoint DataLabs International Inc. recently announced that it has been selected by PDI as the primary provider of 3D modeling and digitizing services for the studio's highly anticipated animated film, full-lengt- h "SHREK." The film, scheduled to be - PAIN T W. Steve Fairbanks OREM has been promoted to vice president of marketing at PowerQuest Corp. Fairbanks joined PowerQuest in May 1995 as a roduct marketing manager of flagship software, PartitionMagic. He was promoted to director of product marketing in October 1997. Fairbanks is a graduate of Brigham Young University with a BA in English. He also received his MBA from -- BYU. SALT LAKE CITY Bill Mullen has been named 1999 president of the Utah Society of the Institute of Certified Financial Planners. Mullen held the post of director of education in 1998. As president, Mullen leads a nine member LINDON Medical Center and Orem Community Hospital. He graduated from Brigham Young University and earned a medical degree in 1994 at the University of Utah School of Medicine. He completed an internal medicineophthalmology internship at the U of U as well as a residency in ophthalmology in Tulane, La. He specializes in cataract and LASIK surgery and can at TheLindon- 224-676- TRENDS POLICY Strategy: Hedgers: My hedging advice has been the same since October, which is, "I don't see much potential in storage now even though prices are low." I hope you took the advice and sold your cash corn when prices were higher. We can always buy back later in the futures if it ever appears the fundamentals turn more positive. Traders: We just missed our short sale recommendation by less than a penny (to short March futures at 226) and the profit objective has already been met. So this recommendation is canceled and a sideline approach is recommended at this time. SOYBEANS (BULLBEAR) Outlook: As we enter the New Year, the South American soybean crops are off to a good start. Timely and generous rains have alleviated any weather concerns, at least until the middle of this month. Of course, this is already to a major extent discounted in price. Soybean prided are off 60 cents, more than 10 percent in just over a month. P.O. Box 717 Provo UT 84603 fax: 373-548- AVL 9 who wanted to maintain ownerr ship of cash sales who were long I i onthe January futures from under S5.60 should have rolled ' n to the March. Hold. Traders: I would look to re- buy this month, a crop which has not even been planted yet, on breaks under 555. Be pre- pared to risk 20 cents. update, I suggested cattle prices would begin to divorce themselves from weak hog prices. After all, it was the Chicago Mercantile hog pit which, to a major extent, dictated the price of the cattle , throughout December. Based on the fundamen- - , tals, and the price action, it m appears this market is mak-- . ing a transition from a long-- , term 1998 bear market into a 1999 bull. Despite excellent,,, feeding conditions, and ,Q record-higweights, the packer seems to want cattleiri again. . p, h Strategy: buy-hedge- d 9 mendations presented herein, A are based on what we believe, , reliable information but are ,', opinion only. We dealing with,, the unknown and changing IK market variables can change i price outlooks. Neither this ,u .n publication nor George Kleinman assume liability for their use. Futures and options, trading involve risk of loss. I Past performance is not indicative of future perfor, , -- t mance. 233-444- geocommodity.com. Expires 12399 . A.R.O.M.A. COMPUTERS tt LEARN ITTONIGHT;USE ITTOMORROW! How and when to start business planning. How to organize & better manage your business. How to identify opportunities & market your business. How to understand & get your financials in order, How and where to get funding for your business. How to write a detailed business plan. '.This course $ the best, most comprehensMe, w n I I T $1646 Intel Pentium II 450MH Intel Pentium II 400MHi' Intel Pentium II 350MHz $1414 E Pfcplcim V E L L Sessions Wednesdays 6:30- - 9 p.m. Starting January 27 To register call Utah sole 222-839- 8 For more information call 222-823- , Feeders: At current prices, with a bullish outlook, I would, , suggest the cattle feeder just accept the inherent market risk--. Therefore, no hedges are reconx mended at this time. Cowcalf operators: Aggressive cattle feeders are in the January and' March at an average price in the 68-6range basis the Mareh futures. You should have been able to pick up some at about : the lows a few weeks ago, close: i to, even under, 66. Hold these until you buy your replacemenfc; feeders. Selective Hedgers: are also back in, J: having bought 200 points above, the lows, which would be just under 68 in the March feeder futures. lV, Traders: Look to purchase breaks under 60 in the ; February futures, risking to the'l contract lows for a profit objec;,; tive of 65 or better. The information and recom nblissheraldextra.com - ENTREPRENEURIAL 5 7 CATTLE (BULL) Outlook: In our last bro-kem- Strategy: Send information to: Business Editor George Kleinman George Kleinman is president Commodity Resource Corp., a firm specializing in futures. He can be reached at (800) 5 or Hedgers: Selective hedgers 'Til L relieved my chronic disabling pain, "prtttotberapy so remarkably on some of my patients. " I began to use It Geiwrdl States United Surgeon C. Koop, M.D. former Ctrtifiwl Dr. W. Scott PROVO Lohner has joined the medical staff at Utah Valley Regional board in steering the professional association of certified financial planners in Utah. PAIN CLINIC OQTHOPEDIC 755 East 800 North, Orem 8g?kal Tmfrmt Botri Ruth Hassenfritz is that city's woman of year. The Lindon man of the year is City Councilman Jim Dane and the Lindon woman of the year is Helen Harper. The business of year for both city's is Walker's Oil of Lindon. CORN (BEAR) Outlook: As 1998 came to a close, the Hogs and Pigs Report was released and it confirmed what we already suspected. The hog herd will be drastically lower six months from now, perhaps 7 percent lower, and this portends sharply reduced corn feeding. Since domestic hog feeding is by far the largest source of corn demand, if prices are to rise this demand will need to be replaced. Unfortunately, at this point in time, I do not see where a demand increase will come from. Perhaps Asian export demand will pick up, but at least today this hasn't happened. ON COMMODITIES $1242 System Configuration: 2yr Parts & Lifetime Labor INTEL CPU, 440BX Chip, 64MB SDRAM, 512KB Cache, 6.8GB Hard Drive ATX Mid Tower, 3.5" Floppy Drive, 4MB 3D AGP, Sound Blaster 32X PCI64 Heavydury Keyboard, LOGITECH 2 Button, 450 Wall Baby Subs, 15" Monitor. 0 ' 56 K Modem, Windows 98 Tutorial CD'S & Encyclopedia etc C Intel Celeron 300a.... g:RELIEF Wo 1 Scott Lohner 1 Evrl Pleasant Grove Chamber of Commerce honored community leaders Wednesday at its annual officer induction banquet. Frank Mills, Pleasant Grove public works director, is the chamber's Pleasant Grove man of the year and released in late 2000, is being by PDI and DreamWorks Pictures. John Snyder PROVO has been selected by his coworkers as the team member of the month for December at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. Snyder has worked at the hospital for more than two years as a pharmacist. ill C Douglas Mower Clinic and has been practicing there for ten years. Kencraft, Intermountain Health Care and Employer Solutions Group were recog- ledgers: Continue to hold call opt ions as a replacement for previous cash wheat sales. The calls leave your upside potential open, but limit your risk in bear markets (which is not the case when holding cash grain). Traders: We are long on the March Minneapolis futures, using a stop at 352. We also own March 280 Chicago wheat calls at 12 12 cents with a stop at 5 cents. J BUSINESS TRENDS UTAH COUNTY Too much grain creating bullish wheat, corn, soy marked ,.........$999 business Intel Celeron 333 (128k cache) Intel Pentium II 333 training Intel Celeron 366 J, ..$1125 .'. $1089 course available in the state." $1015 ATX Mid Tower, 3J" Floppy Drive, 4MB 3D AGP, Sound Blaster PCI 64 32X Heavyduty Keyboard, Logitech 2 Button Mouse, Amplified Speakers, 15" Mcmitor xk Modem, MS Windows Tutorial Cuts 4 Encyclopedia etc. WE CUSTOM BUILD SYSTEMS AND SERVERS! : JlPOORC |
