Nebraska farmers expecting record yields, but may have lower profits

Posted By: Alden German
agerman@klkntv.com

Harvest season is fast approaching and record yields are expected both nationally and locally, but some farmers might not take home a big paycheck.

The Cornhusker State is expected to have record corn production, as well as soybean and sorghum, among other grains. Nationally, soybeans and corn harvests may have record output, but could we be getting too much of a good thing? Jay Rempe of the Nebraska Farm Bureau explains.

"When you have record crops there’s obviously it increases the supply that’s out there, and given the level of demand that we expect over the next year, prices of come down," said Rempe.

Demand is lower partially because of international tariffs. Combined with already low prices due to supply, farmers’ and even the state’s, bottom line is affected. Rempe says state farmers have lost out on nearly one billion dollars in potential revenue just since June and unless they planned ahead, there isn’t much they can do to increase profits.

"At this point in time when the crop’s pretty well far along and they’ve already got their costs sunk into this year’s crop for the most part there’s not a whole lot they can do if they haven’t already forward marketed their crops," said Rempe.

Selling ahead of time exactly what rural Lancaster County farmer Jim Stewart did.

"We have about two-thirds of our grain sold now," said Stewart. "We sold it earlier at almost two dollars higher than it is today."

While Stewart is ecstatic about the success of his soybeans, he knows he can’t always have a good harvest.

"I’m don’t worry about something I can’t change. There’s some years in farming you make a lot of money some years you lose a lot of money," said Stewart. "It’s just a fact of life. This year’s not going to be a good year."

As far as the tariffs, Stewart says it’s going to hurt in the short term but he believes long term it will benefit farmers.