With corn prices near their one-year low and bean prices only marginally higher than their low point over the past twelve months, farmers who have started to harvest are beginning to calculate how much money they’ll make, or lose, from this year’s crop.

Adair County Extension and Outreach Farm Management Field Specialist Tim Eggers says there are many factors and costs that determine how much profit will be left after a year of farming. “You might see an operation that could have some older equipment and perhaps a producer who is somewhat frugal in their ways, and their equipment and land is completely paid for. Plus, they’re not cash-renting additional ground. In that extreme case, where they’re not servicing debt and they’re not paying cash-rent, they wouldn’t have those associated costs. In the opposite direction, look at somebody who has been keeping current equipment with a significant amount of debt, renting a fair amount of ground with cash-rent, and at market rate. Of course, those costs would be cash costs for them.”
Eggers will provide an economic and financial preview of this year’s harvest today on Let’s Talk Guthrie County. It airs during the 9 a.m., noon and 5 p.m. hours on K107.9 and www.raccoonvalleyradio.com.