Northern Vanderburgh County Kron Farms Manager Ben Kron is lubricating the hubs of their sprayer, as part of routine winter maintenance projects. With the negative financial forecast, he say's they'll be carefully watching expenses this year.
(Tim Jagielo / WNIN News)
Most farms in Vanderburgh County are crops — soy and/or corn. (Tim Jagielo/WNIN News)
At Kron Farms in northern Vanderburgh County, Farm Manager Ben Kron and longtime employee Steve Glaser are opening and lubricating the giant individual hubs of their sprayer.
These are the half-a-million-dollar machines with tires the height of an adult. It sprays fertilizer like nitrogen for their corn crops, Kron said.
“That way we don't have leaching issues and just general waste in general with it. We spray herbicides and fungicides with it for weed control and disease control …”
They really only have one thing on their mind — preparing for spring planting just six weeks away. Winter precipitation has made them hopeful for this next crop.
But arecent USDA forecastsuggests Kron Farms and many others will have reduced income in 2024 for myriad reasons.
According to the USDA, net farm income in 2024 is forecast to decrease further from the 2023 level by $39.8 billion or 25.5 percent to $116.1 billion.
“I would say we're in a unique situation,” said Daniel Munch, economist and writer for the American Farm Bureau. “There's never really been sort of this situation in the ag industry, really the broader economy.”
He’s referring to things that can affect the industry, like the economy post-pandemic, the turnover in the US speaker position,interest rate hikes and even the war in the Ukraine.
The negative forecast blames higher expenses, lower prices for their crops and reduced government aid.
“It's a pretty negative first look, going into the next year,” he said. “So across the board, very guarded, and lots of uncertainty. And that's really what the These numbers show is a lot of uncertainty.”
Longtime employee Steve Glaser (Tim Jagielo/WNIN News)
In Vanderburgh County there’s some livestock, but mostly corn and soybeans — the main crops of Kron farms. Glaser commented on those prices.
“Last week, the bean markets really been going down hard,” he said. “And that's probably got a lot of farmers concerned too, on price ...”
Indiana Farm Bureau President Randy Krone, Ben’s father, said this data is concerning for farm families everywhere.
"Production costs remain high while payments to farmers for crops and livestock aren’t getting any better,” he said via email. “However, if you’re a farmer you know this industry ebbs and flows.”
He tries to keep these reports in perspective.
Just in January, the Purdue University Center for Commercial Agriculture released an article reporting that farmer sentiment was actually stable amid subsiding inflation.
“Everybody farms a little different,” he said. “We had good, good solid yields. You go into Central Indiana, they had phenomenal yields up there. And it just depends what area you're in.”
Famers have seen that high inflation, high interest rates and certain material costs increasing — such as seeds. Ben Kron said the costs of fertilizer and other chemicals are down, at least partially offsetting that increase.
They use dry potassium, for example. “They were up to between $800 and $1,000 a ton. And they're back down to about $500 a ton this year,” he said. Depending on acreage, this really adds up.
“You could be spending, last year, $200 an acre, and now we're down to fertilizer being $100 or less.”
Ben said basically with forecasts like this, they’ll just have to watch their expenses, hold onto their money and push those tractor tires one more year.
Randy echoes this.
“Most of us try to stay optimistic while also being smart with our operating expenses,” he said. “You plan for the rainy days so that when you get sun you’re pleasantly surprised. I try to take these predictions with a grain of salt …”
Munch said it’s also pretty early in the season, and things could improve.
While farming is increasingly high tech — economic forecasts aside, there’s one forecast that always matters more — the weather.
Ben Kron (left) and Steve Glaser stand for a photo in Mid January in their Owensville Road garage. The winter is nearly as busy as the rest of the year, with myriad preparation projects. (Tim Jagielo/WNIN News)
