What Does a Grain Market Coach Actually Get Paid to Do?

A market coach's job is not predicting where grain prices go. Derek Squair, who has coached Terry Aberhart's grain marketing since 2006, lays out what the job actually is: setting budgets, managing cash flow, and making sure a farm never gets so exposed to one contract that a bad year turns into a lost farm. Recorded during the 2021 drought, with forward contracts turning into the single biggest risk on the table, Derek walks through what separates a farm that survives a brutal year from one that doesn't, then takes real, unfiltered questions from producers on Twitter. What's Inside - Why the job is optimizing, not maximizing, and what that distinction actually protects - What separates a farm that survives a drought year from one that gets buried by its own forward contracts - How act of god contracts and futures buybacks cover a farm when production falls short - The sustainability premium already showing up in producers' pockets, and where Derek sees it going - Carbon credits: what the regulatory and voluntary markets were paying, and where he expected that number to go - A live Twitter Q&A where producers ask Derek to defend his own value, directlyConnect with Growing the Future Website: growingthefuture.ca YouTube: Growing the Future Instagram: @growingthefuturepodcast LinkedIn: Growing the Future Register for the Convergence Conference at convergence.ag and stay updated by subscribing to the Growing the Future Podcast at growingthefuturepodcast.ca.