Iowa Farm Bureau economist warns uncertainty looms large


By Filed Under: Crops, Iowa, News

An ag economist warns of further uncertainty as farmers prepare for the next growing season.

Sam Funk with Iowa Farm Bureau tells Brownfield many questions surround commodity prices, input costs, and input availability.

“So a big aspect of what we need to think about is really what kind of margins can we try to start locking in. With all the uncertainty, sometimes we just want to make sure if there’s any sort of profit to be had that we can start to think about (taking advantage).”

He says there’s also upside risk with markets fueled by volatility.

“If the output prices go up higher and you didn’t have enough of the income from it, then maybe you couldn’t compete for maybe some of the cash rents later on. So there’s a lot of different challenges and people really need to think long-term (about) where are they trying to head and what are they trying to do right now just to continue to operate.”

Futures are entering record territory with the all-time high for corn on the continuous chart at $8.13 and $17.68 for soybeans.

Brownfield interviewed Funk during the Coalition to Support Iowa’s Farmers Farming for the Future Conference in Osceola Wednesday.