Page 12 - Logan County Farm Outlook - Spring 2013

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3 LOGAN COUNTY FARM OUTLOOK MAGAZINE. LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.com March 21, 2013
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Farming, like any other career, has
multiple aspects ingrained within.
Farming is more than just the
buying, growing and storing of crops. It
is a complex business requiring tough
decisions year-round.
Whether it is a new
farmer needing to
pay for land and get
an operation set up,
buying equipment,
tools and entering
a first year of inputs,
or if it is one who is
experienced, needing
to replace equipment
or a get bridge loan, there usually
comes a time to borrow, especially in a
low production year.
The drought of 2012, while not
necessarily a deterrent for any new
farmers who would join the agricultural
fray, did leave most farmers of Logan
County with a much smaller yield than
in previous years.
The average corn yield for Logan
County’s 2012 harvest was 96.5 bushels
per acre, a significant 44 percent drop
from the 2011 yield of 173.4 bushels of
corn per acre.
Beans fared in a similar manner,
but better. Due to some late-season
rainfall, the soybean harvest did not
fall as sharply as expected. With the
average yield for Logan
County dropping from
54.6 bushels to 47.3
bushels per acre,
beans were down by
only 13 percent.
There are people
who say that weather
often occurs in cycles.
If that is the case,
there is the possibility that a drought of
similar magnitude could occur again,
especially if the relatively dry winter is
any indication.
The decrease in corn and beans per
acre hit the farming community rather
hard, but this is not to say that people
were unprepared for such an event.
Quite the opposite. With the aid of
federal programs and crop insurance,
farmers were prepared for a drought
like that of 2012.
To insure or not to insure