BISMARCK, ND (KXNET) — According to North Dakota Farmers’ Union President Mark Watne, low commodity prices and dramatically changing weather patterns have had a negative impact on farm income in the state in the past year.
With an abundant harvest, commodity prices are down across the board for most crops grown in the state, including wheat, soybeans, corn and sunflowers.
“Usually, when the markets are oversupplied with some commodities, they’re oversupplied with them all fairly well, and the markets tend to move somewhat together,” Watne explained.
Watne notes that historically, prices tend to remain low when the supply of crops is larger than the demand for them. However, prices are not the only factor farmers have to keep an eye on when planning for the upcoming growing season.
Since the weather has been unpredictable the past couple of years in North Dakota (especially with last year’s drought) some farmers did well, while others saw less than favorable harvests due to where they farmed.
“So last year, for example, there was a lot of hit and miss. We had drought conditions, but there were small rains that came across. There were pockets in the state that did actually quite well,” explained Watne. “But, we did have areas that stayed dry and their yields were down dramatically. They were at that timeframe we started seeing these commodity prices start backing off, so they got kind of a double-whammy.”
After a mild winter with little snow for much of the state, things have changed once again this Spring with wet weather and some flooded fields.
“Again, an unknown that nobody expected. I think I’m talking of most farmers [who] are down to their last few crops to get planted, and in some cases, are having the worst trouble. How you’re kind of relying back on crop insurance and what we call preventative planning,” said Watne.
Watne explains that with smaller harvest yields due to bad weather and lower commodity prices, farmers face less income, which in turn has led to less spending by farmers on things like machinery and fertilizers.
“Now, in a year like this, what you tend to do is you fall back on what you know and you try to get by on what you have,” noted Watne. “You’re probably finding that a purchase of another piece of equipment for efficiency when you can’t gather that much back of an increase in your price, probably makes that not as viable.”
Watne says lower commodity prices will continue to have an impact on farmers here, but he does not foresee North Dakota farmers being hit as hard as some in other states, since he notes that farmers in North Dakota tend to be more conservative with their spending.
Watne adds that Congress is currently working on a new Farm Bill to help farmers and he expects they should have it finalized for passage, sometime later this year.
