With dry weather pushing crop prices higher and farmers expecting to haul in record numbers of corn and soybeans, the forecast calls for a bright harvest season, agricultural experts say.
A rebound in commodity prices and a favorable crop production report from the federal government are fueling a surge in farmers’ attitudes during a year pummeled by the coronavirus, according to the Center for Commercial Agriculture at Purdue University.
Purdue/CME Group’s monthly Ag Economy Barometer posted its highest reading in August since just before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“[August] marked a considerable increase in farmer sentiment,” said Jim Mintert, the center’s director.
Corn production for grain was expected to bring in a record high 15.3 billion bushels, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s August crop production report, up 12% from 2019.
Based on Aug. 1 conditions, corn yields are expected to average a record high 181.8 bushels per harvested acre, up 14.4 bushels from this time last year, the USDA reported.
Expectations were even better for soybeans in the report. Soybean production for beans was forecast at 4.42 bushels, up 25 percent from 2019, the forecast showed.
As of Aug. 1, soybean yields were anticipated to average a record high 53.3 bushels per harvested acre, up 5.9 bushels from 2019, according to the USDA.
Before the pandemic hit, a turnaround in ag export markets had farmers feeling better about 2020 after months of uncertainty over trade, Purdue/CME’s survey found earlier this year.
COVID-19 sank that optimism into the spring until planting conditions improved and farmers received financial aid from the government.
The ag economy barometer is based on a survey of 400 U.S. ag producers.
At the Ceres Solutions office in Whitesville, Bruce Clark has also noticed a boost in sentiment as farmers prepare to bring in their crops, thanks to good conditions in the field and improving commodity prices.
Clark, an agronomy manager, said he expects to see machines in the soybean fields within at least another week.
“Usually after we get into the beans, they get a little better idea of what we got out there and that’ll kind of dictate the rest of the fall,” he said, noting that corn crops seem to be drying well.
After a hot and dry August, this month is expected to be drier than normal, forecasters say.
“At this point, it doesn’t look like there’s going to be a lot of grain drying having to happen, so I feel like it’s going to be probably a pretty good harvest,” Clark said.
