It’s Harvest Season
Dear Friend,
We started shelling corn on our farm last weekend. The moisture was still pretty high, but we had an early contract to fill. Even though our harvest started earlier than most, most folks are in the field now or will be soon.
This year has been a bit different than most in recent memory. If you would have told me we’d have $14 beans and $6 corn this time a couple years ago, I’d have called you crazy. It was unthinkable then.
Even with high corn and soybean prices, farmers are still facing a lot of challenges this year. We’ve been blessed with good yields in the far northwest corner of the state, but I know a lot of folks in Missouri have struggled with drought conditions this year, particularly to the south of us.
On top of that, fertilizer prices, seed prices, fuel prices, and the price of just about every other input a farmer needs is still sky high. Rising input costs combined with the decreasing value of the dollar have led the University of Missouri Food and Agriculture Research Institute to project farm income will fall this year, next year and every year until 2027. That’s a tough pill to swallow, but that’s not the worst of it.
On top of all that, the Biden SEC is attempting a massive power grab to require corporations to collect greenhouse gas emissions data from family farms, the Biden EPA is attempting to rewrite the definition of “waters of the United States” again, and there are still some folks in Washington trying to supercharge the Death Tax. In a good year, each of these problems would be a massive headache for farmers. But, with spiraling farm incomes, skyrocketing input prices, and no end in sight, it could mean disaster for many small family farms.
We always hear liberals in Washington, including President Biden, talk a big game about supporting family farmers. Looking at the facts on the ground though, it looks like their agenda is a playbook for driving us out of business. As a sixth-generation family farmer, I’m going to fight them every step of the way to make sure we can keep this dream alive.
Sincerely,
Sam Graves
