News

Iowa farmer holds off on new crop sales, for now

Southwest Iowa Farmer Kevin Ross says he’s hoping to build on a couple of good crop years during the 2023 season.

“Hopefully we can keep that going this next year,” he says. “Prices are good and that’s nice to see. There’s low carryout so we’re keeping the 2022 prices high.”

Ross says he’s waiting to market new crop corn and soybeans like some other farmers.

“A lot of farmers are waiting on marketing that 2023 crop,” he says. “Part of that is because of prices not being quite as appealing because they’re talking about big acres.”

High costs of production are also top of mind.

“These input costs are really high. We’ve seen a little bit of a break in the fertilizer markets compared to what they were, but at the same time chemical and fuel costs and a lot of other inputs are high. That’s not even talking about seed or land rental rates,” he says. “There are interesting things developing in the agriculture industry and hopefully we can keep profitability in the positive spots. But, there are exciting times in ag though, there’s no question about that.”

Ross has a cow/calf operation and grows corn, soybeans, and hay in Minden, Iowa. Brownfield interviewed him during the recent Clean Fuels Conference in Tampa.