‘So many things you can’t control’: Farmers face cost increases amid fall harvest

Harvest season was delayed this year due a slow start planting crops but farmers over the past week have been making hay, so to speak, under ideal conditions.

However, the big picture this year for local farmers likely won’t be as glorious as the recent weather.

Corn and soybean prices are doing well, but higher costs for fuel, fertilizer and other needs will offset the bounty, said Andy Yarc, a member of the Lake County Farm Bureau board of directors and fourth-generation farmer.

“We’re going to be very average, like a regular year,” said Yarc, a Libertyville Fire Department lieutenant who uses off days and vacation this time of year to clear the fields.

“It could be worse. Farming is a weird thing, there’s so many things you can’t control — the weather, politics, prices,” he added.

Yarc gave an interview Thursday from his combine, as he harvested soybeans on a 600-acre field in Mundelein. Late planting delayed the harvest but he said he was “clipping through” and about halfway done in that field.

About 900 acres of corn in another location is still drying down and will be next on the list, Yarc said.

Weather has been a factor all year, with a cold start followed by the wettest spring on record. A hot and dry early summer was followed by more record rainfall as fall approached.

“We’re probably close to a couple of weeks behind average,” said Chris McKee, president of the McHenry County Farm Bureau, who started harvesting about Oct. 1.

“It was wet early on in the spring, then it was cold,” he added, leading crops to emerge slowly.

According to an Illinois crop report for the week ending Oct. 18, 63% of corn and 66% of soybeans had been harvested across the state.

McKee, who farms in the Marengo/Woodstock area, estimates yield could be down about 10% to 15% or more on corn and about 5% to 10% on soybeans.

“Most people I’ve talked with so far are kind of middle of the road,” explained Dan Volkers, McHenry County Farm Bureau manager. “I don’t hear anybody bragging too much.”

Lake County avoided huge storms but got rain at the right time, according to Greg Koeppen, executive director of the Lake County Farm Bureau. In fact, growing conditions this year couldn’t have been much better, he added, setting the stage for “very encouraging” corn and soybean yields, he added.

But a bumper crop doesn’t always mean a bumper paycheck, according to Koeppen.

“While we’re seeing encouraging yields, the prices farmers receive for corn and soybeans haven’t kept pace with rising fuel, fertilizer, equipment and other operating costs,” he said. “Farmers can have one of their best harvests in years and still struggle to make a profit.”

Koeppen said harvest conditions have been just about ideal, with dry days allowing farmers to get in the fields and bring in the crops. He said farmers need a good harvest this year amid their many challenges.

“The (commodities) prices are doing well,” Yarc said. “Input prices — that’s what we’re struggling with.”

mzawislak@dailyherald.com