Despite Harvest Challenges, Farmers Remain Optimistic

By Emily Lenore

Local farmers are preparing for what they expect to be a challenging harvest this fall. A lack of rain, combined with severe wind storms, has resulted in dry fields and down corn. Brad Smith, a farmer located in Carroll County, says that some of his fields look a lot different than last year. “Fields that normally look really good are a mixed bag this year,” he said. 

Charlie Blackburn, who his fields located in Lee, Whiteside, and Ogle counties, says that he’s expecting similar or better yields than last year. “That’s what has me really surprised, the way things hung in without the precipitation.” 

Both farmers say that more rain would have been better. “We’re roughly six inches of rain behind during the growing season than what we usually are,” Smith remarked. Blackburn agrees,. “If we would have had more rain, I think we would have had a tremendous crop.”

Another challenge for farmers this past year has been higher input prices, including an increased cost of chemicals and fertilizer. Smith reports that the price of nitrogen has doubled, while dry fertilizer prices have also rapidly increased. Blackburn also says that high input prices have been a challenge. 

Despite the challenges, both farmers see a bright spot: commodity prices. “We had some really good prices for both corn and soybeans through the winter and spring,” Smith says. 

Smith tries to remain positive. He remarked, “It’s always worse somewhere else. We don’t like to complain about not getting enough rain. We could be down in the hurricane in Louisiana or in some of the floods in New York. We live in a pretty good part of the world for growing crops, even if the weather isn’t ideal.”