Chris, west of Topeka but east of Salina and Emporia, we have come through all the flooding well. No serious problems for us. But all this rain has made the corn and soybean growing season a real problem. It may come back on all of us as consumers. Before we (farmers) went into the season everyone from the gov. down were saying the U.S. needed a good crop. We'll see at the end of harvest. USDA is still confident, but it is not matched by nearly enough growers. Increasing concern as spring and summer went on. Late cool way too wet spring with late planting, with more flooding rains after the crop was in the ground from Missouri to Ohio and parts of Kansas. Replanted again and some got flooded the second time and didn't replant, no seed to be found, the inputs too costly, and then a dry August. The remains of Ike just added insult to injury by blowing down flat or part way the corn where the plant is dead and it is drying down. For us it is Sept. 19 and we have not had the combine out of the yard yet. In my 22 years as a farm wife this is the first year we weren't in the field by now. Corn is still too wet to harvest. There are some reports where it rained in the last few weeks like southern Kan. the ears have kernels sprouting on the ear and some strange fungus issues from being too wet too long. If it is just an ear hear and there it will worth the harvest, but if it gets too bad the dock will be too high to spend the money on fuel. There are going to be fields where the corn is down and it will just rot. Not many of us in farm country are really confident about this year. Price volatility in commodities after a lot of hedge fund money left housing and moved into commodities, just hurt the farmers. We couldn't sign an early grain contract this year with anyone for the longest time. Now all the hedge fund money has pulled out prices are dropping. We went into the season knowing corn per bushel had to be at least $5.00 for us to break even and that was before diesel went up.
I spent one day this week talking to adults about food and farming. A few things I learned again in some cases.
1. Average American adult often assumes a farmer plants a seed and comes back in 6 months to harvest. No, it doesn't work that way.
2. No idea that 1 in 5 Americans are directly involved in growing, moving, processing and deliverying food to your table.
3. No idea that farmers and ranchers, unless selling directly to a consumer, does not set the price of their crop. We have to accept for the most part what is offered us.
4. The smart farmer often knows more about international money and political policy, and world trade than the average U.S. businessman. How many of you know why Rio Grande do Sul, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Mato Grosso are important to me and you too? How many of you know where they are at without looking it up?
And I know if it does stay wet and if a bunch of farms wives down my gravel road don't get husband's in combines soon, there will be a Come to Jesus Saturday morning coffee and the the prayer will be "Lord, if you don't stop the rain, get the corn and beans dry, and get our husband's in the combine cab, there may be divorces or murder, so please dry down crops quick."
And Chris that is my farm country report for this fall. About the only thing we haven't had this year is an earthquake. Lets not say it too loud, its been century and a half since we had a 5.5+ and no one has a clue on how long we go between them.