Farmers Gather To Learn About A Wet Spring And It’s Impacts

Dozens of farmers gathered at the Boender this past week to hear from experts about the current corn planting season, and what options are available to them.

Beacon, Iowa – The sun happened to be shining at the time dozens of area farmers sat down to share a meal at the Boender Farm south of Beacon, Iowa last week.

The incredibly wet spring is one that farmers say they will be telling their grandkids about one day.

Steve Boender invited the guests, and his family cooked a meal to share with all their friends.

Boender and his family have many interests in the farming industry, from their own crops to providing services to farmers, such as custom planting, to drainage and more.

On hand was a panel of local experts. They were there to help provide basic information to farmers on a range of topics. Soil nutrients, crop insurance, banking, and a word of encouragement to remind everyone to enjoy life every day were among the topics.

The panel spoke for approximately an hour, and then those in attendance had the opportunity to ask the panel questions.

The stress that farmers may be facing during this wet spring is a concern, and Boender added a word of encouragement. “It’s pretty easy to get down and say I’m not enough. There’s a lot of good people that think you are. Don’t let your emotions get in the way of your intelligence. You guys have done this for a long, long time. Just make sure that you continue to do what you are good at.”

Josh Van Kooten was one of those farmers in attendance.

Van Kooten is one of the farmers that’s been able to get his corn crop planted, while he’s ninety percent completed on planting soybeans.

Marketing his crop is one of those things he’s looking at to help make his year successful. “Had some opportunity in the past week or so, if you’re behind on sales, to catch up on sales.”

Van Kooten said they are finishing up sales of last year’s crop, this year’s crop, and planning for next year’s crop. “Starting to lock in some prices at some possibly profitable levels, whereas a week or so ago, it was break even at best or losing.”

It could be a rough year for those farmers who haven’t been able to get their crops in the ground to this point.

Some farmers may have to swap their seed for one that has a shorter growth cycle. Choosing such a hybrid runs the risk of reduced yield, but helps to guarantee to help keep the farm financed through the year.

In other cases, crop insurance may be the only option left for some farmers. Van Kooten calls that option a band-aid to help the farmer survive to farm another year.

Van Kooten says he’s not seen anything like this in his farming career. “I’ve of course grown up on the farm all my life. I basically started when I was a senior in high school back in 2006. This would definitely be the latest, most challenging planting season that I’ve experienced. I guess the worst one I would maybe remember when I was a kid was 1993 for my dad and grandpa.”

When it comes to the tariff’s, Van Kooten says that it hasn’t helped his operation and bean sales. “Being able to sell beans right now for the last couple of weeks and the rally, about $7.50, I was losing money. I have the hope that they will get the trade deal straightened out with China, and then in the long run and it will end up being a better deal, and help profits for years to come.”

A bailout was being put together the day of the meeting, and the details of how the bailout money would find its way to farmers was being discussed in Washington.

For Van Kooten, “I guess I’m not one to rely on money from the government to make a profitable year, I’d just as soon not get any money from the government, but to make it myself.”

Boender said that about a week-and-a-half before the meeting, “My wife and I got to thinking. Farmers were just in a lot of wondering and questioning stages of what the year was going to bring. Back then, the markets were thinking about China and the tariffs. A week ago last Tuesday, they switched thinking about the tariffs to thinking about the delayed planting and the wet weather.”

“A big plus has been the corn market has rallied around 50 cents here in the last 11 or 12 days, which is just about unheard of. The cause of that rally, has been because of the wet-cool weather.”

“We’ve had a significant amount of not just wet weather, but cool weather. So our crops are just now emerging and our family is about 90% complete on corn and about 50% complete on beans.”

Steve’s wife and daughters-in-law “are wonderful cooks” and they planned an in-season meeting. “They [guests] never go away hungry from here.”

Boender said the time together was a way of helping those farmers who are experiencing the stress, and questions associated with this unusual growing season. “We had a very good meeting today.”

For the Boenders, Steve says, “We’ve always felt that we were put here to help people. We get to do that in the custom work business when we plant other people’s crops. We get to do that in the seed business when we sell them their seed. A lot of times, there’s a fair amount of people that just come to visit. We get in on a lot of conversations, and as the conversations tend obviously to trend for the weather when it’s wet and cool. I just wanted to be a help to people.”

“I just wanted a place where people could get together, and I think you’d agree, a lot of times when people get together and share, it brightens their day, and they know their not the only one.”

“I don’t want people’s emotions to get ahead of their intelligence. These are good farmers. They raise some of the best crops in the world here in Mahaska County, in the heart of Iowa.”

“I just wanted to encourage them to stay the course.”