by Jim Offner (WCFCourier.com) … “With crop prices going down, we think leases are going to have to start being adjustable and they’re going to have to lower land prices and lower rent prices, and that’s coming in the next couple of years,” she said.
That’s especially important for younger farmers who, perhaps, haven’t endured tough times before, Sell-Bakker said.
“So, we’re focusing on stress in farming right now and help the young guys through the tough times,” she said. “If they’ve got some cash reserves, older farmers who have been in awhile are going to be OK, but younger ones who maybe just got in in the last five years that are paying really high rent prices, it’s not going to pencil out.”
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“Ethanol is very important to us — Wow, it’s not just the fuel we get but the feed we get out of the same corn, so we’re double-dipping into the same product,” Cannegieter said. “It drives the whole economy of Iowa.”
As such a driver, the now-delayed Renewable Fuels Standard. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced in December it was delaying release of renewable fuel standards until sometime this year.
Iowa’s ethanol industry is healthy enough to thrive even without an updated RFS in place, said Brian Grete, market analyst and editor of Pro Farmers newsletter in Cedar Falls.
“When we talk about profitability, let’s be honest, as long as they can cover the cost of production and their operation, they’re going to keep going,” he said. “In a time of high profitability, you produce as much as you humanly can, and that carries you through leaner times. Ethanol is going to continue on. You talk about the RFS, it could go on without it.” READ MORE