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| Crop 'inputs' increasing, farmers worried |
By: By Sabrina Bates, Chief Staff Writer
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Posted: Thursday, September 25, 2008 2:34 pm
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| As the second largest producer of corn in Tennessee, Weakley County farmers are now re-evaluating the economic feasibility of corn planting next year. “farmers right now cannot enjoy this year’s harvest because of fear of next year’s prices,” Weakley County Agricultural Extension Director Jeff Lannom said on Wednesday. Lannom explained the cost of crop “inputs” have increased dramatically this year with no comfort of those prices decreasing for the 2009 planting season. “With the increased input cost for corn, many farmers are evaluating if they will be able to afford to plant corn next year. The prices of seed, fertilizer and fuel will make for a very tough year next year,” Lannom added. Factor in a sluggish growing year for high yields this season and grain farmers are finding it difficult to come out ahead. “Corn yields are very erratic this year. I’m hearing ranges of 25 bushels to over 200 bushels per acre. The consistent numbers show 80 to 13 bushels per acre. I think yields will be lower this year than last year,” the ag extension director shared. The 2007 planting year offered an unseasonably warm during the first weeks in March. Farmers took advantage of early corn planting. April dealt a tragic blow when temperatures dropped causing a late spring freeze which damaged early crop germination. Last summer farmers were faced with a significant drought creating low crop yields. Even with such an erratic year in 2007, this year has dished out even more heartaches for area farmers. “We had a wet, cool spring which forced farmers to plant later than normal. There were pollination problems when the weather turned warm and dry this summer. And a lack of recent rainfall has impacted our harvests,” Lannom offered. He said that Weakley County has missed significant rainfall amounts from one tropical storm and two hurricanes this season, posing soil issues for wheat planting and pasture seeding. “It’s just too dry to plant winter wheat and reseed pasture and hay fields right now. Nothing would come out of the ground.” Weakley County is one of 28 counties in the state to receive federal disaster assistance due to dry weather conditions. Gov. Phil Bredesen made the announcement on Tuesday. A designation from USDA would allow qualifying farmers to receive federal farm disaster assistance that could help them manage losses and plan for next year. Bredesen made the request in a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer. “Farmers in these areas have suffered two and sometimes three years in a row of difficult growing seasons due to lingering drought conditions,” said Bredesen. “Anytime you have this kind of long term impact to agriculture, it makes it doubly hard for farmers to keep farming and make ends meet. We want to ensure that our state’s farmers have access to any assistance that will help them manage through this agricultural disaster.” The counties include: Anderson, Bledsoe, Blount, Bradley, Cannon, Coffee, Fentress, Franklin, Grainger, Greene, Grundy, Hamblen, Henry, Jefferson, Knox, Lake, McMinn, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Overton, Pickett, Polk, Scott, Unicoi, Warren, Washington and Weakley. Farmers in these counties have reported crop losses, as much as 35 to 70 percent, due to below normal rainfall, low water levels and a cumulative rainfall deficit that has carried over from last year. In some areas of the state the rainfall deficit for the year is 12 inches or more and portions of East Tennessee remain under extreme drought conditions. The lack of rainfall has affected major crops including corn, soybeans, tobacco and hay, as well as some nursery and fruit and vegetable crops. Although early season hay production was much improved from last year, agriculture officials are expecting late season hay production to be significantly reduced. The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service last week rated nearly three-fourths of the state’s pastures as in very poor to fair condition. According to state Agriculture Commissioner Ken Givens, other counties are expected to request federal agricultural ****istance in the coming days as the full extent of this year’s drought is realized during harvest season. “Although this year’s drought is not as widespread as last year and crop production has been favorable in some areas, we know that many farmers are struggling from persistent drought conditions,” said Givens. “We expect that other counties will likely qualify for an agricultural disaster designation and we’re prepared to work with our federal partners to make sure that Tennessee farmers have access to federal assistance.” Once a county is approved, eligible farmers can apply for a variety of federal farm disaster programs including supplemental farm revenue payments, livestock assistance and low-interest emergency loans through their local USDA Farm Service Agency office. Lannom also said farmers are at least a week behind average harvest dates due to strong winds from Hurricane Ike’s impact. “There was a lot of downed corn in the fields and combines are having to run slower to get that corn out.” A sign of relief comes in the form of soybeans and grain prices. Lannom shared that full season soybeans are looking “fairly well considering the dry weather.” While grain prices are good this season, farmers are looking at 2009 numbers trying to determine if they can afford to plant corn or how much they can afford to plant. “I expect next year will be a tough year as prices continue to increase on everything, especially transportation,” Lannom said. WCP 9.25.08 |
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