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2017 Logan County Farm Outlook Magazine
LINCOLN DAILY NEWS
March 23, 2017
Page 7
H
uman beings seem to be happiest and
healthiest when they maintain the
illusion that they are somewhat in control
of things. The illusion of control allows
people to not feel powerless in the face
of opposition, not feel as though they are
victims of the things going on around them,
and not feel helpless when things aren’t quite
going their way. A little bit of control in
people’s lives seems to be a good thing.
Most businesses allow the operator of that
business to exert a modicum of control.
Business people can set their own prices,
maintain the level of their inventory, and
advertise for new customers. In a sense, with
careful planning, most business people can
control the profitability of their businesses,
in some measure making them happy and
healthy (and sometimes wealthy).
But it is not so for corn farmers in Central
Illinois. Even though Central Illinois farmers
have the best soil in the whole United States,
a climate that for the most part is cooperative
with raising corn, and the best GMO corn
hybrids ever invented by mankind, they
cannot control their crop, alter the weather,
set their prices, choose their markets, outflank
their competitors, control the price of land.
Corn farmers in Central Illinois have very
little power or control (and yet still seem
quite healthy and happy).
Perhaps the most frustrating thing from the
list of items beyond control is the issue of
prices. Corn farmers have been waiting
for sustainable prices since 2013 when the
market wandered south of $4.00 and has
continued to decline.
Prices are controlled by market forces, not set
by the individual farmer. The farmer must
accept the price the market offers, or take his
chances to enhance his price by feeding his
corn to his own livestock (however, livestock
prices are also controlled by market forces,
The conundrum of corn
By Jim Youngquist
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