Looking Forward To Warm Weather
Arctic Temperatures Dip But Crop Prices Spike
Trent Brandenburg was working on his combine this morning in his heated (he emphasized) machine shed. His farming operation is in the middle of the typical central Illinois “zero stretch” of frigid February weather. Trent wants rain because the soil is very dry. “Now, not the day after planting,” he added. Trent is very happy with the recent spike in corn and soybean prices and is hauling grain from his on-farm storage to the elevator.
Trent bought some additional farm ground a year or so ago, and is happy with his purchase. He sees the farmland market as “pretty firm” despite recent low market prices. “It should get better with [market] prices going up.” Trent does not plan any changes to his corn-soybean rotations this year. Trent, like many farmers, is looking forward to spring tillage and planting for the new crop year.
Photo by Bruce Nessett
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Dry Weather Speeds Harvest
Trent Brandenburg is trying to get his field work done "before it rains". Much of the area Trent farms is in "extreme drought" according to the Illinois Drought Monitor https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?IL map, which is updated every Thursday. The very dry soil [...]
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