2012
LOGAN COUNTY FARM OUTLOOK MAGAZINE. LINCOLN DAILY NEWS.com October 23, 2012
24
ROUNDUP: How the drought has
and will affect the local economy
on all sides
E
very year farmers gamble against
the odds. Their winnings are not
secure until they have delivered
and sold their product. Concerns for this
year began early and mounted as extreme
drought set in over the entire country.
The community watched with the farmers,
wondering what the impact
would be. Here in the
Midwest, what happens to
the farmer and the local
economy are inextricably
linked.
Midseason grazing lands
dried up early, creating
an early demand for what
was left of last year’s
grain crops. At harvest,
crop yields were down
everywhere. Both conditions increased the
demand for grain and raised market prices.
While grain yields in this year’s harvest
have been variable across Logan County, like
elsewhere, corn suffered most and soybeans
not so much.
To ask the hard questions, we queried a
couple of local farmers we’ll call Green and
Brown on how they and their neighbors
responded to the extraordinary
conditions.
Corn is the favored crop for Logan
County. However, for some farmers, this
was the year to have had more beans
than corn. Beans had better, closer-
to-normal yields in
some areas of Logan
County.
Farmer
Green
is a grain producer
who puts in a lot of
acres and always
does a mix of corn
and beans. “We got
lucky,” Green said.
“
We raised a lot more
soybeans this year
than we normally do.”
And, it “so happened” that the yields
on his beans were good in comparison
with bean yields elsewhere in the county.
The reason Green put in more beans:
“
We had a total disaster last year where
we did corn-on-corn because it was so
dry in August and September. So, we
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