This year's harvest is looking good

Agriculture producers in Auglaize County are in the midst of harvesting

crops and many farmers are seeing promising yields and strong opportunity for profit.

“Our farmers have been very, very busy,” Anita Green, director of the Farm Service Agency, said.

Most yields this year are above average and are considered great

quality. She said although prices for crops are volatile, they are staying high

“It’s creating some smiles and some optimism with our farmers,” Green said.

“Auglaize County — even in the state of Ohio — is sitting in a garden spot right now.”

Corn harvested for silage is about 99 percent complete. Corn harvested for grain, which are the majority of the acres farmed in Auglaize County, are about 35 to 40 percent harvested. Soybeans are about 65 percent harvested.

Green said some damp mornings have slowed down soybean harvests and that producers are hoping for an “Indian Summer” to harvest the rest of the crops.

Drought and supply chain problems are part of the reason prices are elevated and volatile. In turn, those issues affect fertilizer and nitrogen prices, as well as feed prices, so while crops may profit this year, farmers may have to spend more in 2022.

“They are going to see that money go out the door pretty fast into increased costs,” Green said. “There’s a lot of concern there.”

Dave Bambauer, with Bambauer Fertilizer and Seed, was impressed by the yields.

“We’ve probably had the best yields of wheat, corn and beans in my 40 some years that I can ever remember,” Bambauer said. “The prices have been really good for the farmers.”

Going forward those input costs will go up. Bambauer said nitrogen costs could be up 50 percent, and herbicide cost could rise 15 to 20 percent.

Bambauer attributes increases to the rising cost of oil and natural gas.

“Petroleum products are used in a lot of the herbicides, and natural gas is a component of the nitrogen market,” Bambauer said.

He said China’s announcement they would stop exporting phosphate has also affected prices globally.

“There are four major nitrogen producers, (and) a couple major Potash miners, that when a farmer has disposable income, they seem to increase their prices,” Bambauer said.

Area farmers’ cashflow will help determine what kind of crop they grow that season.