A crop insurance agent who farms in southeast Iowa suggests commodity prices are not what’s sinking farmer profitability.
Logan Lyon tells Brownfield USDA’s projected spring prices of $4.62 for corn and $11.09 for soybeans resemble their respective 10-year averages.
“So when we talk about the farm economy, I have a hard time blaming the price of a bushel right now when really the weight of this crop that we’re putting in is coming from those inputs. Fertilizer specifically.”
he says seed, chemical, and equipment costs are also adding up.
“So I have a hard time blaming the price of the bushel, I wish we could get some kind of E15 (bill) passed and resolved. But I do think that the bushel is doing its job, and we’ve really got to get our arms around some of these input prices.”
Lyon says he supports federal efforts to investigate consolidation and market manipulation by fertilizer companies.
