Several times over the past several years the Register has included a few paragraphs about cost of production in harvest stories.
Before a kernel of corn is dumped at an elevator, most farmers figure they have at least $350 an acre invested. It’s perhaps even more if they figure in taxes, insurance, land costs, equipment fatigue and other costs that slip notice.
This year’s yields are averaging 130 to 150 bushels per acre, which some are hailing as a windfall.
Not so quick. The price farmers are being paid for their corn is about half of what it was two years ago. In Kansas corn is fetching $3.50, give or take, a bushel. In 2013 the price was $7 — although then higher fuel and fertilizer costs took a bigger bite.
The good news is that we have some of the best farmers in the state who are our friends and neighbors — to complete a crop cycle, tend livestock or make sure the hundreds of acres it takes to turn a profit these days are up to snuff.
The Kansas Farm Bureau often mentions that a Kansas farmer raises enough to feed 150 — or however many — people, which includes many living far beyond the state’s borders.
This weekend will feature the lion’s share of Iola’s Farm-City Days celebration, with focus Sunday on the Strickler Dairy Farm. That would be a good time to thank a farmer for the fact we are enjoying some of the best food in the world at the lowest prices.
— Bob Johnson
Thank a farmer
