03/06/25 Afternoon CommStock Report – Standing in for Dr. Elwynn Taylor This Year

I tried to put a phone call through to Dr. Elwynn Taylor that his wife took. We have shared some time together over the years. She told us that he was no longer following events or the news as he had the onset of Alzheimer’s. That is regrettable news. All that we can do is keep him in our thoughts. Taylor was highly respected by the farm community. He had a down to earth demeanor and conversation that some academics struggle to master. For many years Dr. Taylor would bring up his forecast based upon the 89-year drought cycle to peak around 2025. He said that he confirmed his drought cycle with studies of tree rings and pond sentiment. Now, because of this disease, he will be unaware of whether it comes true. He would say that if it didn’t happen it would be the first time in 600 years. Due to bearish charts and tariff wars, I am not ready to position for weather in the market yet. Maybe climate change will interfere but there is a lot of weird stuff going on weather-wise in the world. I would define ‘weird’ as events outside of the range of expectations that people had…