Trent Has A Farmer’s Perennial New Year Hope
Trent Brandenburg is happy with the 2022 results of his farming operation. He looks forward to 2023 “if the prices stay up.” “With the cost of inputs going up, there can be a real squeeze. Farmland prices are high and slightly increasing, which means land investors think the prices will stay up long enough to pay for the land purchase.” Trent speculated that if corn were $2.00 nobody could afford a combine to harvest it. “You couldn’t even afford the diesel fuel to start a burnoff,” Trent wryly concluded.
Trent’s long experience with the challenges and rewards of cash grain farming in central Illinois has given him valuable persepctives on markets and weather and cropping, to maximize the profit from land he farms.
Recent rains at the end of the year have pushed December rainfall totals to near-normal. After zero weather over Christmas, temperatures in the 50s have partially thawed the upper few inches of soil, permitting rain and snowmelt to soak in and help alleviate the long-term abnormal dryness affecting the land Trent farms.
Trent Brandenburg and his family wish you a Happy and Prosperous New Year.
More from The Field Report
From Drought To Ponding And Replanting
In barely months, Trent's challenges have gone from extreme drought to repeated ponding and replanting. Trent has replanted some corn and soybeans twice, only to have the ponding return yet again. "I don't think I will try to replant corn [...]
Corn And Soybean Planting Done, Some Germinated, More To Come
Trent Brandenburg is happy to have completed his corn and soybean planting by the 15th of May. "It's slow," he said, commenting on the germination delay by the recent cool temperatures. Moderately heavy rains the last few days have caused [...]
Worked Some Fields, With A Sunny Day Could Begin Planting
Trent Brandenburg has "worked a couple of fields, they're barely ready" after several days of rain last week. "If we get a sunny day tomorrow I could plant some," Trent continued. The long-standing extreme drought in central Illinois has been [...]