It is mid-November but some area farmers are still trying to get their crops out of the field. Tom Fricke, Public Information Spokesman for the Vermilion County Farm Bureau, and Jerry Askren, who handles farm loans at Iroquois Federal, talked about this tough year for farmers on WDAN Radio’s Newsmakers program.
Fricke says the harvest is advancing….
{‘’The harvest is getting done in some parts of the county. And some farmers, as they were able to move through last week, were able to get finished up. There is still quite a bit out there,’’ said Fricke. ‘’Statewide – corn harvest at the beginning of the week was 71-percent complete. That compares to a 93-percent five year average. Soybeans – last week 87-percent compared to 93-percent five year average. So we’ve caught up a lot in the last three weeks,’’ added Fricke.}
Askren (on right in photo) says farmers did receive a federal payment for the market drop caused by trade wars, but now they are faced with a loss in yield….
{‘’Not only are yields down, in some places 10 to 15 bushels. And the price, of course, as we’ve seen is down because we’re still in the midst of economic problems with the trade wars,” said Askren. “And then you have the stress of this harvest because now you can start looking at additional losses – field losses. How well is that corn plant going to stand out there in the field, or is it going to drop to the ground?’’}
Fricke (on left in photo) says once a corn stalk gets wet it begins to deteriorate making it susceptible to the wind….
{‘’Any soybeans that might still be left in the fields, the freezing and thawing cycle can tend to make those pods – the soybeans grow inside pods on the stalk, you know. And then can tend to make those pods pop open – (and) then you lose everything,’’ added Fricke.}
Both men also noted the added cost of drying down the crops this year once they are out of the fields. And Fricke noted propane supplies are going to start getting tight. He says that could even have an impact on heating people’s homes. But Fricke says it is more because of a transportation bottleneck than a propane shortage.
Askren added that although farming has never been easy, he is encouraged to see the vastly growing number of young people getting involved in agriculture.
