The following is a story from the June 2021 edition of our First on the Farm Newsletter.
Drought…. What a difference a year or two can make. It seems like most every newsletter article I have written has centered on rain and the excess moisture we’ve experienced in a wide area for the last number of years. It seems safe to say that the times have now changed and much of South Dakota is quite dry. As I write this, it is lightly raining with more rain in the forecast for Sioux Falls, so we can hope that we can start getting the water levels recharged.
This spring was one of the fastest years that the crops have been planted due in large part to the dry conditions. With that, we will finally have a lot of areas planted that would likely have been running out of prevent plant eligibility. This is a good thing going forward should we experience a record wet cycle again.
Additionally, with the talk of the drought throughout much of the Corn Belt, corn and soybeans prices have continued to rise. This has made the value of the crop rise to a level we have not seen in the last eight or nine years. Now obviously, it is dry and some folks may elect to try and keep costs as low as possible, but there are some hail insurance products available to capture more revenue, should any summer rain come with some unpleasant ice cubes!
Finally, acreage reporting season is here. It seems the local FSA offices have already mailed or emailed a lot of farmers their maps, and they are set up to handle acreage reporting better this year after what was a challenge during the COVID-19 pandemic. Most all FSA offices will email a copy of your FSA 578s and maps to your crop insurance agent, which can be a great time saver for your agent and for you.
Hopefully we get some rain over the summer, the prices will stay good, and the pastures will grow. Like I stated before, after many trying years I think everyone in agriculture deserves a little break from the doom and gloom. Feel free to contact me with any questions or to chat about summer grilling! My cell phone is always on (605) 999-8011, and you can have FSA email those 578s to me. Have a great summer!