Local farmers struggling with weather patterns and the inflated prices of supplies

 

ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. -- A fifth generation Elkhart County farmer shares how the 2022 weather patterns, supply chain issues, and inflated overhead prices are providing a long list of challenges for his farm’s corn production this year.

Brent Reed has four prior generations of farming knowledge, dating back to his great-great-grandfather, that will be put to the test in 2022.

Planting, growing and harvesting corn on the Reed farm will come with additional challenges that his lineage could have never prepared him for.

“I’ve never seen anything like this, and my dad’s never seen anything like this either. The spring, we started off slow, it was wet and cold, but the last couple of weeks we got a lot accomplished,” said Reed.

Unfortunately, the everchanging weather conditions are just the first round of challenges for this year’s farming efforts.

Higher commodity prices this year, in a perfect world, would mean more profit for farmers. However, with record-high diesel prices, inflated input costs, and supply chain shortages brought on by the pandemic have farmers everywhere feeling stressed and seeing profits shrink.

“Our fertilizer is doubled or more, our chemistry is double or triple of last year, and so far we’ve been able to get everything. But, there’s talk some places that they can’t get everything they want,” said Reed.

While the cost of everything currently sits at an expensive price, Reed says that the worry of the whole situation is more focused to what will happen next year.

“Next year is the year we’re already thinking about. Our input prices went up since we purchased this year’s inputs. Can we get everything we need for next year,” said Reed.

Reed added that avoiding heavy rain and flooding, similar to the water levels sustained in June of 2021, will be another factor that will have an impact on his farm’s corn production this year.