For Farmers Success Isn’t Always Easy
Posted: January 13, 2010
This summer, after a five state tour, I boldly predicted the largest corn crop in history. Of course there was a qualifying comment – “if the weather cooperates.” It didn’t and a massive crop resulted none-the-less.
Yesterday’s USDA crop report sends perhaps the strongest signal yet that when it comes to corn production, times have changed. Despite abysmal planting and harvesting conditions and a less than ideal growing season, it appears a record crop may be sitting in farmer’s bins…and in their fields.
Yes, that’s right…in the field, un-harvested from Illinois to North Dakota. (Note to USDA…a frozen cornfield in the Dakotas doesn’t constitute official storage). These now weather battered and rattier by-the-day fields offer forlorn testament to the tough year Mother Nature served up for farmers in 2009.
For many it was the most expensive crop they ever raised due to fuel and, high fertilizer costs, and LP bills for drying grain that would make your heart stop. The only person that stopped by the farmer’s operation more than the mailman this year was the grinning gas guy. Factor in the increased wear-and-tear on machinery and equipment (and farmer’s psyche) due to wet grain and it was – and is still – a brutal, lingering growing season.
That’s why in many corn production areas celebrating is not on the agenda over the projected 13.2 billion bushel crop. There is little doubt the technology and innovation that made a 165 bushel-per-acre national average yield possible is a modern marvel that should evoke pride in Americans; or that we will once again have plenty of corn for all uses. But it also seems appropriate to acknowledge the dark side of this victory for some.
And this tale of woe is not over. With the Winter Solstice behind us and the days getting longer, planning for a new crop is well underway. But unlike most years it includes harvesting the remnants of the 2009 crop and doing field preparation work that normally takes place in the fall. In some northern states growers face the nightmare of harvesting the bedraggled crop, knowing that when they are done there may not be a sufficient window to plant a new crop in those fields.
For nearly all concerned the 2009 crop is one best viewed in the rear-view-mirror. Let’s do these stalwart farmers the justice of making a resolution for 2010 that this record crop in the face of such adversity will serve as a reminder of the tenacity and productive capacity of our farmers. The next time a naysayer or a food elitist says we can’t grow enough corn to service food, feed and fuel markets, just laugh or kick them in the shins and say remember 2009.