2021 Spring Farm

2021 Logan County Farm Outlook LINCOLN DAILY NEWS March 18, 2021 Page 5 industry to assist with labor and production costs in the challenging market times. A year later, commodities in general have increased in value dramatically. Groceries, paper products, metals, and anything made from oil have now climbed above the levels of when the pandemic began. Commodity prices for corn and soybeans are at levels which seemed impossible last fall. We do need to remember one reason for these prices is that much of the crop was priced at lower prices earlier in the marketing season. Add to the mix that a new administration is now in place in Washington, and there will be some changes to policy. That part is inevitable. However, with many familiar names filling positions from the Secretary of Agriculture on down, these changes may at least be predictable. Logan County yields rebounded somewhat as well with corn yields for the 2020 crop averaging 210.7 bushels per acre, compared to 194.2 in 2019. The soybean yield was 67.6 in 2020 according to the Ag Statistics Service, and there was no reported yield in 2019 for the county due to a low number of survey responses. If you are keeping score, the corn yield was 6th in the state and the soybean yield was second. The top corn yield was in Menard County with a 216.3 average, and the top soybean yield was Piatt County at 70.5. McLean County continued as the top production county in total bushels of corn and soybeans produced. Out of adversity, came many opportunities. Who would have thought anything relating to gardens, crafts, or online networking would have been the hotspots for the past year? Or at a more basic level, things such as toilet paper, meat, face masks, and hand sanitizer would be among the most valuable items to have stock. Many of the local meat producers working with specialty markets, and doing order fulfillment at locations such as farmers markets, struggled to keep up with demand, as major suppliers had issues with processing capacity due to virus outbreaks in the workforce. Of course, local processing plants could not fulfill all the requests for additional processing either. Ethanol use for gasoline blending ground to a halt as travel was greatly curtailed. However, the bright spot for ethanol was its use in making the hand sanitizer which was in such high demand. The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well. Niche markets are being created, and fulfilled, by individuals with vision. Timing is one of the major conditions of being successful in these niche markets, and the pandemic has made the timing right for many of these specialty enterprises. Continue 4