Planning For A Year Of Low Prices
Trent Brandenburg does not foresee any big corn and soybean market moves upward in 2018. He believes careful management to maximize yields will provide enough cash flow to maintain most farm businesses. A combination of low yields and lower prices will be challenging for operators paying very high cash rents.
Trent plans to keep his 50-50 corn and soybean rotation. “There’s more money in beans right now,” he mused, but he’s sticking with the equal split because of cultural advantages. Since he has no control over prices, he will use offsets to protect himself. He will not cut back on fertilizer because he needs the highest possible yield due to the low prices. He will be very careful with crop protection chemical use, applying only if his field scouting shows enough economic damage to justify the expense.
Trent views crop insurance as a not very good safety net, because of the low market prices making the available insurance coverage lower. He sees it as providing some limited help in a major crop damage event.
More from The Field Report
Replanting Done, Corn and Beans Look Good
Trent Brandenburg has replanted his few ponded field "wet spots" as many as three times. The replanted areas are "thin," Trent observed, because "It has been too wet. But at least [replanting] will keep the weeds down." Trent is now [...]
First Round Of Planting Done, Ponds Need Replanting
Trent Brandenburg is done with his "first round" of planting, as he puts it. The corn and soybeans he planted in April are up and growing in excellent condition. Trent's later-planted crops are germinating but not as far along as [...]
Not Much Field Work This Week
Trent Brandenburg does not plan on much fieldwork for this week, starting April 29, 2024. The huge squall line that extended from Texas to Green Bay, Wisconsin, over this past weekend, was far enough west to spare central Illinois from [...]