Surviving the markets; still a lot of corn to harvest Crop insurance helps out this year

Nov 8, 2008      Ottumwa Courier

Scott Niles

Nov. 8, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- OTTUMWA -- Crop insurance could be a savior to some southeast Iowa farmers this year.

As more fields have been harvested, numbers are starting to change in the yields from last month.

What seemed to be a decent year for the state could turn out to be good for some areas and now bad for others.

"I had to use some crop insurance," said Matt Stocker, a Monroe County farmer.

And that's unusual for him. He said every time crop insurance is used, it brings down the guarantee and farmers get less money back on their insurance.

"That is why you hope you never have to use it," he said. "I hope I don't have to use it again. I am below average [in yields] this year, though. It has been due to excessive rainfall and flooding."

He said where there was good drainage, the crops were average, but the other areas suffered dramatically.

"I think insurance will kick in many fields, with soybeans, especially. Some of it is because of prices and some is because of yields," said Mark Carlton, southeast Iowa field specialist for Iowa State University Extension.

"Beans are down in yields this year," Carlton said. "I know I have been harvesting plots in Mahaska County and corn is surprisingly good, but beans aren't doing as well."

Carlton said he would have to guess that Mahaska County is above average compared to other southeast Iowa areas.

"Much of it depends on how quickly water moves through the soil. Better-draining soils are yielding better. As you move south in Iowa, the soil becomes poorer drained. The higher the clay content in the soils, the slower the water moves through it," Carlton said.

Stocker said Monroe County is below average compared to rest of the state.

"The bottom two tiers of counties were really bad this time around," he said. "Our soil doesn't dry as good as other places; it's more clay-based soil and stays wetter for longer periods of time."

Stocker said he was late planting, but that didn't really make a difference.

"People who got planted late had to replant in a lot of places," he said. "So, it didn't make a big difference."

Stocker said places south of Monroe County were worse, like Appanoose and Wayne counties; but Wapello and Mahaska counties seemed to do a little better than where Stoker is at in Monroe County.

Carlton said some of it depends on marketing strategy and how the markets come out down the road.

Many farmers marketed some of their crops early and the market still has a lot to do with it, Carlton added.

"We still have a lot of crops to get out of the fields. We are usually finishing up corn by now, but there are still a lot of fields where they still have about 50 percent of the corn to come out," Carlton said.

Stocker said he is still harvesting.

"I usually finish harvesting around Thanksgiving," he said. "If you finish before Thanksgiving, you didn't have enough to do."

"The price could still go up ... don't know whether it will or not," Carlton said.

"I just hope everything turns around in the markets, and people can survive this year," Stocker said.

Scott Niles can be reached at (641) 683-5360 or via e-mail at sjniles@mchsi.com.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0395-29376173

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