Area farmers face tough decisions: ‘Worst we’ve ever been’
"The people that have been in this business a long time say this is probably the worst we've ever been in modern agriculture," said
Across
Some farmers who have never made a claim with prevented crop insurance -- which uses a formula that takes into account yield history and average crop price to pay farmers who can't get into the fields -- may have to this year, said
The average
Some who are renting land, though, pay about
"We've never had a year this bad. I think the ones up north are going to be in the worst situation ever. I don't know what's going to happen," Lierer said.
So far in 2019, 23.27 inches of rain and melted snow and ice have fallen at the
"I've always told anyone who's willing to listen to me. We've always got it in the ground before. We didn't know when, but we've always got it in the ground before," Thompson said. "But there's also another saying that says 'never say never.' And it might be the year that it doesn't get in the ground."
The average farmer who can't plant soybeans by the deadline later this month will get
Most
But this year, up to a third of the acres in
But switching to soybeans could hurt farmers too because switching to a second crop reduces the payment from the claim on the first crop and affects crop history, which could in turn impact government payments and insurance payments for crop losses in future years, Lierer said.
"I think almost everybody is going to be taking some," said
Harbage had 90 percent of his corn planted Monday, but he knows others nearby who haven't gotten in the fields at all. For those farmers who have fields still sitting in water, the prevented planting insurance may be the best route, he said.
But Harbages doesn't know if he will need to use his prevented planting insurance. He said he's hoping to get into fields today, but it most likely won't be enough time to plant the remaining 10 percent of his corn.
If farmers hit
For many local farmers choices remain in the air, Harbage said. If the rain misses them Wednesday, they may be able to get many acres planted that will be claimed under prevented insurance if the showers hit farmers' fields.
Others are waiting on details of president
The only other potential relief is if markets respond to the changing supply of corn, increasing prices for farmers who were able to get their crop in the field.
"If you have a crop to sell it's great. But if you can't get a corn crop in and all the sudden the corn prices creep up and you don't have anything to sell, it doesn't really work in your favor," said
Thank you for reading the
___
(c)2019 the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio)
Visit the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) at www.daytondailynews.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Luzerne County still recovering from cyber attack
Consumer Federation of America & PIABA: SEC Chair’s Proposal on Investment Advice Should Be Renamed “Regulation NBI (Not Best Interests)”
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News