Low prices, high yields for local farmers

GRUNDY COUNTY – Across the county, area farmers are wrapping up with soybean harvest before moving on to corn in the coming days. So far, farmers are dealing with discouraging prices, but high yields for both corn and soybeans.
As of Monday, corn was selling for right around $3 throughout the county with some variations by a few cents, but above average yields – with many reaping 230 to 240 bushels per acre in the western portion of the county, and above 220 in the eastern portion.
Soybeans were worth between $8.70 and $8.80 as of Monday, with many farmers in the area seeing mid-70 to 80 bushels per acre throughout the county.
“In general, farmers are discouraged by the prices but happy with their yields,” said J.R. Kennedy, manager at Snittjer Grain Co. in Wellsburg, adding that he heard from one area farmer that ‘these are the best beans he’s ever had in the 60 years he’s been farming.’
According to Grundy County Farm Bureau President Brian Feldpausch, who also farms near Beaman, farmers are settling into the new reality of lower prices after corned peaked as high as $7 a bushel in 2012, when beans were selling at over $14 per bushel.
“I don’t know if pessimistic is the right term, but (farmers) are cautious. A year ago, there was still the idea that it was going to be a shorter duration of the down swing in the market, but now I think we can all see it’s probably going to be around a little longer than we thought,” Feldpausch said. “The good news is that the yield is pretty good… we’re at least benefiting from a bigger crop.”
He added that many farmers may store their grains and hope for prices to go back up, but that also comes at an additional cost at a time when farmers are tightening their belts on inputs.
“Three dollars (a bushel) probably doesn’t cover a lot of guys’ costs,” he said. “So they’re going to hold or just accept it and go on.”
For the full story, see the October 13 edition of The Grundy Register.