Page 12 October 25, 2013 2013 LOGAN COUNTY FARM OUTLOOK MAGAZINE LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.com
desired, and lower than they have
historically been for the last couple
of years, and the size of the bean
crop is variably less than hoped for.
Since prices are low and the size of
each bean is less than desired, why
hurry to get it to market.
The corn crop across the nation is
good to excellent, translating into
lower prices for all the producers.
Together with higher input prices,
this means that the producer will
have a much lower net profit per
acre since 2007. Added costs at
the point of sale, such as higher
drying costs and the cost of testing
for quality issues such as aflatoxin,
further erode the profit per acre
The only hedge farmers have
against lower immediate prices at
harvest is to either put a portion of
their crop in on-farm storage at an
additional expense, or put a portion
into storage at the elevator -- again,
an added expense.
2011 was the great change year
for the price of corn. The average
sale price for corn prior to 2011
fell short of the $4 mark, with
2010 averaging $3.83. The average
price in 2011 jumped to $6.01
nationally, and higher regionally,
an increase of almost 64 percent.
Perhaps this jump in prices was
due to the optimism of increasing
local markets for corn with the
expansion of ethanol production
and the federal stimulus for ethanol
production. This jump in prices
continued in 2012 to an average of
$6.67 due to the drought-related
shortfall of the Midwestern crop.
Then the expected glut of corn
in 2013 and the failed expansion
of local markets pushed average
pricing back down below the 2011
mark.
Any increase in cost and decrease
in price shrinks the on-farm profit
and the amount of money available
in farming regions for ag-related
products.
One of the possible dilemmas
for producers is related to the
development of drought-tolerant
corn. Drought-tolerant corn is the
result of selecting varieties of seed
that showed better characteristics
of performance, particularly
valuable during drought conditions.
Drought conditions in both 2012
and 2013 should have dried corn
down to lower moisture levels by
the expected harvest dates, but in
both years, producers found that
their test harvests brought in corn
with moisture levels much higher
than expected.
This year’s initial spot tests in the
third week in September brought in
corn testing at 23 percent, a level
that was rejected at some elevators,
causing the corn harvest to be
pushed back.
Since the killer frost has not yet
hit in earnest in Logan County,
producers put the corn harvest on
hold to allow for further drying and
instead began to harvest beans. The
soybean crop was variable since
the rains crucial to bean production
during the last two weeks of
production were almost
