26 March 24, 2016
2016 Logan County Farm Outlook Magazine
Lincoln Daily
News.comA Hartsburg native, Cross earned an Ag Business
degree from Illinois State University. With his years
of experience and vast knowledge of the farming
industry, he has seen that supply and demand works
historically, and in agriculture one just has to ride out
those highs and lows.
Particularly in his implement business, Cross depends
more on parts and service in times like these when
decreasing farm income has a direct impact on his
sale of new equipment. “We had this in the middle
‘80s, the same type of income problems and the over
supply of equipment. Back then there was a lot of
new equipment sitting on the ground that had not been
sold. This period of time there is just a lot of used
equipment around, and there has been for probably
about two years. When the farm economy slows
down, farmers tighten their belts.”
“That’s just what they do because they are
businessmen and they are good at what they do. They
understand the dollars per acre that they are getting.
And, the dollars per acre with the grain prices what
they are now, compared to anywhere between 2007
and 2014, their gross per acre is down a lot. The
insurance part of it has changed a little bit through the
government, and that affects income too,” Cross went
on to explain.
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