Corn still has potential, but price is down
Staff writers
Corn yield is likely to be down but not as much as initially feared after dry weather in July, corn dealer and farmer Terry Vinduska of Marion said Monday.
“In June, it looked marvelous; it looked like a bumper crop,” he said. “It’s been hurt a lot, but there still is corn out there.”
Part owner of S&V Family Farms, he said some areas of its cornfields have lost half their potential yield while other areas have lost 10 to 20 percent.
“The later-planted corn is worse than the early-planted corn,” he said.
After self-analysis of the farm’s cornfields, Vinduska estimated the best areas would yield 120 to 130 bushels per acre, and the poorer areas would yield 60 to 80.
“It all depends upon the spot,” he said.
The price outlook is not good. Vinduska sold more corn seed this year than last, and there appears to be more corn planted in the area. Farmers in Illinois and eastern Nebraska are seeing the best corn of their lives, Vinduska said. South America, a major competitor, also has produced a lot of corn.
The cash corn price Monday at Cooperative Grain and Supply was $3.44. It was $6.02 a year ago and $7.64 two years ago.
Mitch Guetteran, manager of PrairieLand Partners in Marion, said equipment sales have slowed in part because of declining prices.
Reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture say net cash income for farmers could be down as much as 26 percent after four years of record prices for corn and soybeans. However, livestock producers will be slightly relieved as prices for feed are projected to fall this year. USDA says the drop in feed prices could trickle through the industry and lead to more cattle and lower cattle prices.
County extension agent Rick Roberts reported that silage in the county was being cut Friday and farmers in the area were waiting for ground, wet from weekend rains, to dry before beginning cutting high-moisture corn for cattle feed.
“Large producers love high-moisture corn for feed, but because we don’t have many of them in the county there won’t be much high-moisture cutting of that here,” he said.