Freese-Notis Introduces New Professional Weather Services Providing Vital Information to Agricultural Interests

Beginning immediately, customers can sign-up for professional weather services from one source with special coverage that crop producers and marketers will find particularly useful. Once again this year, we are experiencing suspense about the weather pattern as we approach the July 4th holiday.

PRESS RELEASE

Press Contact
Michael Speltz
Freese-Notis Weather
pressrel@weather.net
(515) 282-0233
http://www.weather.net

Freese-Notis Introduces New Professional Weather Services
Providing Vital Information to Agricultural Interests

DES MOINES, IOWA, July 1, 2002 - Freese-Notis Weather today
announces that it has expanded the range and depth of web
weather services it offers to customers online. Beginning
immediately, customers can sign-up for professional weather
services from one source with special coverage that crop
producers and marketers will find particularly useful.

Once again this year, we are experiencing suspense about the
weather pattern as we approach the July 4th holiday.
Changing (and sometimes threatening) weather forecast models
have prompted some forecasters to warn of 100 degree heat in
the western Cornbelt during early July. Many of us can
recall years when similar early summer outlooks were
followed by a sudden turn to a wetter and cooler pattern
prompting a sharp fall in grain prices. Considering that
most years do not see extended hot and dry conditions (and
the formation of El Nino suggests such weather is unlikely
to be of long duration this summer), can producers afford to
wait through the holiday weekend before selling some of
their stored 2001 crop or pricing the upcoming 2002 crop?

Even though the past six growing seasons have been
remarkably devoid of severe summer crop problems we can find
no instances during this period when the futures price of
November soybeans went "straight down" after July 4th. In
fact, three of the past six years saw higher closing prices
for November soybeans on August 4th than on the last trading
day prior to July 4th. In two cases, (1997 and 1999)
November futures gained more than 40 cents during the month
following Independence Day. Only one year of the past six
(1998) saw the summer highs reached in June, while the other
five years saw "summer" highs between July 12th and Labor
Day. A very careful look at the last six years reveals that
the average gain from the July 3rd close to the highest
price in the month following the holiday was nearly 47
cents-- even with none of those years having widespread
crop-damaging heat and dryness in the Midwest!

Based on the evidence of the past six years, producers will
likely have some excellent opportunities for pricing old and
new crop soybeans during the coming 30 days.

With summer developments in the weather so key to
agricultural producers, it is necessary to keep an eagle
eye out in the U. S. and overseas. Freese-Notis Weather
professional weather service provides subscribers with
online access to weather maps of North America's main crop
producing zones. Canada and Mexico are also featured, plus
coverage extending down into the soybean belt of South
America. Also, added maps of China, South Africa, Western
and Central Europe, plus much of Southeast Asia round out an
extensive set of views to economically significant
atmospheric conditions complete with cogent commentary by
Freese-Notis's respected meteorologists.

Automatic online sign-up with description of services can be
found at http://www.weather.net linking to new account
activation or direct login. This new service is immediately
available.

About Freese-Notis Weather - Freese-Notis Weather,
headquartered in Des Moines, IA provides comprehensive
weather forecasting services and doppler radar for
agriculture, commodities, construction, energy, media,
television, and custom meteorology. For more information,
please contact Michael Speltz (515-282-0233) or see us on
the web at http://www.weather.net.

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