It’s no secret that American farmers produced another record corn crop, which means overseas market access will be a big key to limiting losses due to depressed corn prices.
The Illinois Corn Growers Association says this is what farmers pencil out on paper to demonstrate why market access is so important to corn farmer profitability.
“It looks like our ‘what if’ scenarios are about to become ‘what now’ scenarios as prices are still below the cost of production, as well as threats to our trading relationships, and deteriorating transportation infrastructure,” says Illinois Corn Growers president Justin Durdan.
The November 9th crop production report puts corn harvest yield at 175.4 bushels per acre. If realized, that number would be a record.
Durdan says he can’t say strongly enough how important export markets are for farmers as they await what could potentially be the second-largest harvest on record. “Secretary Perdue says that USDA is preparing contingency plans in case we lose NAFTA,” Durdan adds, “but at the farm level there is no amount of preparation that will make a difference when it comes to losing a large overseas market.”
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting News Service.