What’s the advantage of pre-buying, one might ask? Once again, the adage applies: A goal without a plan is just a wish.

Pre-buying or pre-paying is all about the plan. “It’s a step that you get taken care of early,” said Craig Gustafson, Federated’s director of agronomy operations. “It you get the planning done early, you can pre-buy your products,” he said.

If you pre-buy the products, they are locked in and ready when needed come spring. Plus, “there are savings involved with pre-buying,” he said, adding that “you can pre-buy year-round, not just in December.

The most common products for pre-buy are the inputs, but “ask us about petroleum pre-buys,” said Gustafson. “We can set growers up on petroleum pre-buy at any time, for Fieldmaster® or Roadmaster® diesel fuel.”

And the best part: Pre-buying is easy – and safe. “Federated is very well established and your money is safe,” he said.

Growers are asked, at the point of pre-buy, to let Federated know when the product will be used. Pre-buys have expiration dates. When the contract expires, the money is still there, but the contract has an end date.

Talk to your Federated Agronomist to get started with pre-buy planning for 2019. Don’t let your goals be reduced to good wishes.