The big headlines about tariffs cause everyone in agri-business to fear that foreign countries who buy so much of American ag production will impose tariffs on us in retaliation. Trent is concerned about corn and soybean prices being driven lower by the impact of foreign tariffs on U.S. export sales. “After all,” Trent says, “the […]

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.

 “Spring planting took forever, so harvest took forever too.” Trent recalled a lot of extra work in replanting after the ponding from the May rains. “The April-planted beans did great,” he happily noted. Overall, Trent’s soybeans did better than expected, because the late harvest of the replanted beans left more time for pod fill. Trent […]

Trent rated his corn crop “better than expected. Not a bumper crop and not below average.” Trent had completed his soybean harvest several weeks ago. His corn harvest was delayed due to frequent rains making field conditions too muddy.