2016 Spring Farm Outlook

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4 March 24, 2016 2016 Logan County Farm Outlook Magazine Lincoln Daily
Spring 2016 Ag
Perspective
This sounds like a big deal, and it
is! At current market prices, this
translates to a bit over $200 per corn
acre in lost income. What makes this
important is the loss in ability to pay
higher rents, the ability to upgrade
equipment, buy inputs, and to provide
for family living needs. You do the
math on what $200 per acre at just
short of 195,000 acres takes out of
the Logan County economy.
Soybean yields were off of the record
of 63.7 bushels per acre last year by
about 11%, coming in at 56.6 bushels
per acre for 2015. At least soybeans
remained above the 10 year average
yield, whereas corn was below by
about five bushels per acre.
The culprit was water. We just had
too much of it in a short period
of time, and when the crops were
susceptible to damage. Granted, there
were some exceptional yields where
there wasn’t water damage.
On the other hand, there were some
really rotten ones where the damage
did occur. That’s how we get an
average.
For a bit of a comparison,
neighboring counties DeWitt and
Macon both had corn yield averages
over 207 bushels to the acre for 2015.
Many producers will be using some
of the income “safety nets” in place.
The main ones include Federal Crop
Insurance and the Farm Programs
such as ARC or PLC. These become
very important in maintaining income
to help with bills including the inputs
and land rental.
Probably the number one question
we receive annually is “What is the
going cash rent?” And, of course,
John Fulton
County Extension
Director
University of Illinois
Extension
700 South Airport
Drive
Springfield, IL 62707
.
phone 217.782.4617
fax 217.524.6662
Serving Logan,
Menard, and
Sangamon Counties
The results are in, and as heady as the climb to record yields
was last year, the fall to average was just as quick this year.
The National Agricultural Statistics Service placed Logan County
corn yields for 2015 at 172.8 bushels per acre. The fall happened
to be 58 bushels per acre average from the record yield established
the prior year.
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