Another year, another record harvest for this Iowa farmer
Another year, another record harvest for this Iowa farmer
Farmers in Iowa are done harvesting most of their corn and soybeans for the year, according to the USDA. Over the summer, Iowa farmer April Hemmes was expecting her corn and soybean yields to be below average due to drought conditions in the state.
Hemmes wrapped up her harvest earlier this month, so “Marketplace” host Kai Ryssdal checked in with her about how it went. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.
Kai Ryssdal: Last time we spoke, I said we’re gonna call you back at harvest time to see how things have been going. So, how have things been going?
April Hemmes: Well, if you remember I was whining the last time because we hadn’t had any rain. And this is one thing farmers do, we lose our crop at least twice every year. So I had half the rain I normally have. And Kai, I am here to tell you only if you keep the secret, don’t tell USDA, I had a record harvest. I beat my corn yield by 10 bushels an acre, and I beat my soybeans by five.
Ryssdal: Is 10 bushels an acre, is that a big “beat?”
Hemmes: That’s huge. That’s ginormous in farming terms.
Ryssdal: How did that happen if you had a drought and everything was terrible?
Hemmes: I don’t know. I had rains at the right time is all I can think of. Now five miles north of me they’re 10 bushels less than average. And 10 miles south same thing, so it’s very, very spotty. And you’ll find that all over the country with farmers. I feel like Goldilocks, everything was just right for me.
Ryssdal: So with the understanding I guess that you sell a lot of your crop in advance right, what does this all this mean for your bottom line?
Hemmes: So last year was the best year I ever had. This one, I thought I’m gonna have so much income, but my inputs were all that much higher. So I’m not looking to buy a Rolls Royce like I said once. Or a tractor, which tractors are more than cars. But so those inputs are just that much higher. They’ve come down a little bit, but they’re still impactful for the bottom line.
Ryssdal: So again, you sell most of your crop in advance, and I get that, but price volatility has been a thing for you and all farmers. Are things steady-ish? Or you’re just taking whatever the market will give you?
Hemmes: Well, taking whatever the market’s gonna give me. I kind of backed off selling, I didn’t sell as much as I usually do. Because, you know, the weather’s wonky all over. And so the carry in the market is really good. So, I’ll sell some more later. So I’m storing what I can at home and kind of waiting.
Ryssdal: Sorry, what’s the carry in the market? What does that mean?
Hemmes: That carry in the market means like the price now. And what I can sell it for in March is higher. It means it pays to store.
Ryssdal: You are a global participant in the markets. You go to conferences, you talk to people in other countries.
Hemmes: Yup, I’m headed to China on Friday.
Ryssdal: Okay so there you go. So let me ask you this. The planet right now, things are not great globally. We’ve got wars, we’ve got tension. So you as a key participant in American agriculture, what are you thinking about the next harvest and season to come for you?
Hemmes: Yeah. Well, as farmers we just we have to roll with the punches. You know, you just keep doing what we’re doing. But yeah, I have to tell you these these markets are so volatile that it really is hard to plan. And globally, you know, I was just reading an article on Ukraine. We’ve kind of forgot about Ukraine since Israel’s come into play here. And China, I was at the World Food Prize, which was a phenomenal event, and we signed memorandums to buy for China worth billions. You know, that’s encouraging to know they promised to buy things
Ryssdal: So you go to China in a couple of three days and then you come back and it’s wintertime and what are you gonna do with yourself? What does a farmer do in the wintertime?
Hemmes: Well, we plan. In fact I was just like looking today what varieties did the best because I’ll tell my seed guys what I want. And then we call it meeting season. So it’s always busy. I have to get my financial stuff in order for the banker and go in and beg for more money for next year so he lets me farm. So we do do all that and then figure out the tax situation.
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