The land market of late 2013 deserves special attention depending on which area of our trade territory is being considered. Basically, divide the area into east and west of Storm Lake using US Highway 71 as the dividing line. East of Highway 71 are the glacial till soils. To the west are the rolling loess soils formed in windblown deposits. The Loess Hills just east of the Missouri River are basically silt dunes with rugged topography. As one moves east or north and east, the topography levels out into gently rolling fields which are naturally welldrained and highly productive.
While the final results of this year’s crop will not be known for a while yet, the net result will likely be a doubling of corn carryover from last year’s drought-reduced crop, thanks to much improved yields and near-record planted acres, even taking into account large areas that were prevented from being planted this spring. The financial incentive to plant corn was strong this spring, and farmers in non-traditional corn areas of the mid-South and the Plains switched many acres into corn from cotton and wheat. In addition, a lot of corn following corn was planted in the Corn Belt.
The Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008, commonly called the Farm Bill, expired on September 30th. This actually expired a year ago and was extended as part of the “fiscal cliff” legislation on January 2nd, until the end of the federal fiscal year. Farm program payments such as the annual direct payment, scheduled for extinction, were extended into 2013 and payable in October. All payments were delayed until late October. DCP and ACRE direct payments were reduced 8.6% due to sequestration.
2013 is a year that reminds us how weather keeps our jobs in agriculture interesting. This year had a little of everything. It started with a wet spring which delayed planting, followed up by a cool, dry mid growing season, and finished with a very warm and dry late August and September. While there were certainly variations in weather throughout Northwest Iowa that resulted in varying yield results, in general crop performance has been better than we would have expected given the weather challenges we faced.