View from the Cab: Low markets & big crops

The gang from AgMarket at this year's Farm Progress Show in Decatur.

By Kent Casson

One good thing about these lower markets is that they usually come with bigger crops.

Since we can’t depend on the prices of corn and soybeans anymore to be profitable, let’s hope the yields are there when we head out with the combines this fall. Harvest has already started for a handful of farmers in the region and we hope to begin soon.

All of us can’t help but wonder what kind of numbers will flash across the combine yield monitor in the coming weeks as we head up and down those rows of corn and soybeans.

I visited with Sam Trainor and the folks at Ag Market.net during this year’s Farm Progress Show in Decatur. He acknowledged the doom and gloom surrounding the ag economic picture but says there is optimism as growers head to the field this fall.

“We are starting to see that maybe some of this corn crop isn’t there like we needed,” Trainor explained.

There were places to our south that really didn’t get much rain at all during August so the soybean crop producers were hopeful for is not quite there.

“There is that renewed optimism that maybe we’ll get a little bit of a bouncer here,” added Trainor.

Last year, we made a low in the corn market during late August and it is starting to feel like we may have a repeat of last year. Historically, we fall into the harvest pressure this time of year and then rally into the South American growing seasons in November, December and January. We usually always get some sort of a weather scare or market rally during that time of the year.

Trainor has some advice for farmers this fall. If you don’t have the ability to store grain on the farm, look at considering cash sales and re-ownership opportunities.

“A lot of times, it’s cheaper to re-own your bushels on paper with a call than it would be to pay that commercial storage.”

I have yet to hear of any official yield reports coming out of the fields around here, though we should know more in the next couple of weeks as more growers begin the 2025 harvest.

For the latest ag news, podcasts and reports from the field this harvest, check out www.centralillinoisfarmnetwork.com and follow the CIFN on social media.