Dave Bauer
Dave Bauer has been providing market analysis and risk management advice in the grain and livestock markets for over 30 years. Dave holds a B.S. degree in Agriculture Industries from the University of Illinois College of Agriculture. His journey started on the floor of the Chicago Board of Trade with ADM Investor Services, passed through the U.S. corn belt as a grain merchandiser for ADM Corn Sweeteners, and back to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange with Packers Trading Company where his focus on the swine industry took hold.
The combination of a deep fundamental understanding of the grain and livestock markets, blended with his passion for the technical analysis of these related commodity price trends, led to his working with some of the industries’ more progressive producers. After a decade, Dave left Chicago for Wisconsin and Brock Investor Services, and a few years later founded Brite Futures Inc., a market analysis and commodity hedging business, catering to both a domestic and global clientele.
It was there that Dave first started leveraging data and creating digital applications. His focus was to support swine production systems and their risk teams in focusing on their margin profile to initiate margin-based decisions, rather than over-spending emotional capital on futures trends that were becoming more volatile in nature.
In August of 2010, Dave answered a call to return to the corporate world as a registered CTA and spent the past 13 years with Cargill, providing market analysis and risk management services for Cargill Animal Nutrition’s swine, dairy and poultry clients. Dave developed a strong reputation for delivering valuable market insights for both internal and external partners, with an emphasis on data resources that can help in making more informed decisions.
In one of Dave’s early podcasts, he liked to end it by saying, “success is a journey, not a destination. So, make sure you are planning today, for tomorrow’s success.” Growing up a 4-H farm-boy in the rolling hills of southern Illinois, through FFA in a small-town high school, the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity in college, and also living a year working on a farm in central Europe, Dave has developed a strong appreciation and respect for learning by doing and creating a better world through agriculture.
Three years ago, after their 4 children finished college and started their own careers, Dave and his wife Ursula left the Milwaukee area and landed in the driftless region of southwest Wisconsin, where Ursula teaches at the school and is the town clerk, and Dave is involved with the high school athletic program. Getting involved in a small community again has fed Daves soul, and he’s excited to take some of that energy into collaborating with the team at Swine Insights International. From those early days in Chicago to working throughout the heartland and beyond, Dave is excited to continue providing market analysis and strategic insights to a global audience.