Editors' Notebook

The government shutdown, as many have pointed out, is no picnic for much of the nation. At DTN, we've watched market reports trickle and stop, and we've heard from many who both are missing the information and from those who just shrug at the issue.

In the meantime, the newsroom here has redoubled its efforts to create market intelligence and supporting ideas to fill the void. I'd call attention to a couple.

Not all that interruption is bad, as editor-emeritus Urban Lehner notes in his An Urban's Rural View blog. His latest post "Traders, A Few Weeks Without Government Data Won't Kill You," points out a break from long pulls at the Federal data pipe might do a market body good.

Markets Editor Katie Micik on Tuesday took a quick look at fallout should the Oct. 11 Supply and Demand report be cancelled due to furloughs in D.C. You'll find it in her Market Matters blog.

Micik also has a great marketing advice piece running in our Top Stories sections on most DTN products, "Dust Off the Storage Hedge." She walks through that classic, and timely, post-harvest strategy with some new twists from DTN Senior Analyst Darin Newsom and Minnesota farmer Kenneth Eckhardt.

Speaking of Newsom, his latest Newsom on the Market Column casts a somewhat celebratory look at the stoppage of government reports, and offers advice on how to steer through the current market with or without

It's the kind of unique, proprietary coverage DTN has always been known for, but the current situation has us digging for more.

Let us know what insight you're looking for.

Greg D. Horstmeier l DTN/The Progressive Farmer l Editor-in-Chief

© Copyright 2013 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.