It’s unusual to say the least. Corn harvest figures for the week of December 9, 2009 showed that there was still much work to be done. Ninety-one percent of the Indiana’s corn harvest had been completed at that point, making it one of the longest periods between planting and harvest since 1972. In Wisconsin, 23 percent of the state’s corn-for-grain crop remained in the fields, the delay blamed on a wet year, late crops, and now snow. In Nebraska, that figure stands at 12 percent. In North Dakota, half the state’s corn crops sit in the field – that’s 785,000 acres of untouched corn. Nationwide, 12 percent of all corn crops are yet to be harvested. Some farmers are expecting to lose part of the remaining crops.

Worse, wet corn has to be dried. Costs of drying corn to acceptable grain elevator storage standards threaten to put a large dent in the profit margins for numerous crop growers across the country. Also, corn must be dried to a maximum 15 percent moisture level before it can be used in ethanol or syrup products. Grain elevators have fallen behind on the demand for crop drying, and farmers are taking a dollar-per-bushel penalty to transport crops awaiting drying to barges, lowering the profit margin to somewhere south of $3.75 a bushel. A farmer needs to net $4 a bushel to break even on planting and harvesting costs. If that weren’t enough, agribusiness owners may be forced to leave corn in the fields until spring, which means spring planting will be delayed as unusable crops are removed.

For insureds holding crop insurance policies, contact your insurance agent immediately. Some policies are set to expire soon, meaning your losses this harvest could be total losses. Even if it’s unclear that your crops are going to be lost, get the notice of loss filed with your agent as soon as possible. For some states, the deadline may have passed, but it’s still advisable to file should any federal insurance claims processes be extended.

Flickr photo credit: David George

Filed under: Agribusiness by afis blogger