20 November 4, 2014 2014 LOGAN COUNTY FARM OUTLOOK MAGAZINE LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.com
year is slim. But, and there is always a but,
if that same farmer can hold on to his crop
and sell after the first of the year, he may
squeek by
this year.
So the real
question
becomes, can
they afford
to wait? It
depends on
what they
have in cash
reserves, and
how their cash flow will be affected if they
do.
In the late part of September, which was the
edge of being a late harvest this year, corn
prices dropped to a sickening $2.80 to 2.90
per bushel on cash. The fall in price was
disheartening to area producers who were
looking at some of the highest yield figures
this area has seen in several years, if ever.
Perhaps the most disheartening part of
this story was in looking back at 2012
when yields were horrible but prices were
remarkably high, and realizing that the
potential for profitability that year was
better than it is now.
In 2012, the
year of the
drought,
harvest figures
for corn in
Logan County
came in at
96.5 bushels
per acre. But
cash corn at
the country
elevators was at a record high of
approximately $7.63 per bushel, yielding
approximately $735.00 per acre in gross
revenue.
According to figures published by the
University of Illinois cost of production that
year was $851 per acre, so even the very
best fields lost about $116 per acre.
In June of this year, the U of I predicted fall
harvest would come in at 196 per acre on
corn. With that as the basis, area farmers
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