Good Yields + Good Markets = Merry Christmas!!
Trent and his family wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy and Prosperous New Year
Trent Brandenburg expects a Merry Christmas this year. His farming operations have brought in good crop yields. Recent strength in the corn and soybean markets have improved his return. The continuing increase in central Illinois farmland values have enhanced his investment. Trent looks for an increased cost of crop inputs for 2022. He expects the market to remain strong enough that he will be able to absorb the increased cost of inputs this next year. He foresees a possible “rough year” in 2023.
Trent does not plan any major changes in his corn-soybean balance nor in his fertility and crop protection programs. He has them well-tuned to his established operations and sees no reason for major changes. The remarkable improvements in corn and soybean genetics in recent years have provided here-to-fore unknown consistency and reliability to Midwest cash grain farming. Weather remains the big variable, and now the biggest risk factor, and beyond the farmer’s control.
More from The Field Report
Dry Weather Hastens Harvest
September in central Illinois was one-to-three-inches short of average rainfall. Trent Brandenburg took full advantage of the natural drydown and good field conditions to get his crops from the field to the bin. Trent has completed his soybean harvest. He [...]
Not Quite Harvest Time Just Yet
Trent Brandenburg's earliest-planted corn is "about a week away" from drying below 25% moisture. At that level, he could lower his drying expense at the grain elevator. "Now, if there's an incentive..., " Trent indicated that an elevator offering a [...]
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 [...]