Published: July 18, 2008 10:16 pm         

Area farmers face variety of concerns

Worries include production costs, crop results

DANVILLE — Farmers this season face a variety of concerns as they continue their operations against an uncertain economic backdrop.

“I think the biggest concern is whether these grain prices will remain at these levels because our inputs are increasing,” said Old National Bank Farm Manager Brian Neville.

Round-Up herbicide has increased 40 percent this year, and some fertilizer prices have gone up 100 percent or more, he added.

On top of inputs, it’s unknown what kind of a crop is going to turn out this year, he said.

“I think we’ve got the potential for a decent corn crop, although we have a lot of areas that have holes in them,” he said.

Late-planted soybeans and re-planted corn would be very vulnerable to an early frost, he said.

“We’re kind of concerned about selling any more grain ahead,” he said, because this year’s harvest is already a concern.

“We don’t know what these yields are going to be. We’ll be 50 to 70 percent sold on a five-year average. This year, we’re concerned about doing it. I don’t know what it will be like with late plantings and early frosts. We want to take advantage of prices, but we know our inputs won’t go back down,” he said.

“If we have decent yields, we may see gross dollars we’ve never seen before, but not lower because of increased input costs.”

Paul Janosik, a retired farmer in the Westville area, says he’s not a bit concerned about his income from cash rent.

Although the tenuous nature of the economy would make some cut back on their operations, many farmers will continue in the industry because of the high prices of commodities.

Cash rents are likely to stay strong, he added.

As for other factors in the industry, Janosik only remembers one other time when uncertainty reached today‘s heights.

“The only time that I ever was in a predicament like this was when I was farming and interest rates went to 20 and 21 percent in the early ‘80s,” he said.

He thinks prices could be very strong, despite the recent dips corn and oil have taken lately.

Some have predicted that corn could go to $10 a bushel if there’s a short crop because the rain and drowned-out spots in fields across the Midwest, he said.

He said he’s also heard some experts predict a possibility of $20 soybeans.

University of Illinois agriculture experts say production costs for 2009 are going sky-high.

In a report by the U of I Extension, experts have predicted production for corn will be $243 per acre higher than the 2003-07 average, an increase of 85 percent.

For soybeans, overall production costs could rise 78 percent, according to the study.