A north Iowa grain farmer suggests there are few if any pathways to profitability this year.
Caleb Renner grows corn and soybeans near Klemme and was recently asked by Brownfield what he might do to try to improve margins.
“Yeah I’m going to be pretty brutally honest, there’s not a lot on the table.”
Low commodity prices and high input costs are squeezing the bottom line of many growers.
“We saw a little bit of relief in urea prices last I heard, which is good. But I think as your audience knows, the corn and soybean markets have plummeted lately.”
Renner says his hope was higher energy prices resulting from the conflict in the Middle East would lift the corn and soybean markets.
“But that doesn’t seem to be the case, so we’re here saddled with higher diesel prices and back to below-average commodity prices.”
Renner says if inputs don’t soften soon, he’ll be scraping by for the foreseeable future.
