Local Farmers and Co-ops are Feeling the Heat

Written by Morgan Larson

The 2020 derecho/ drought is affecting more than local farmers. Local co-operatives have seen various changes in this year’s crop production.  Area farmers have carried out their seasonal functions to keep their operations going, even with COVID-19 hitting early this year.   Although nothing could predict the changes of everyday functions, mother nature does not sit idling by. To put this all in perspective, a local farmer and NuWay-K&H Cooperative gave his input. His thoughts provide better insights on how this will affect the upcoming fall season.

The surprising thing that most people do not understand is the impact local markets have on local communities. Being able to understand that factor, plays an important role to the surrounding area. Speaking with Dan Schley, an area farmer from Sherburn, MN, works alongside his nephew with their personal farming operation. Dan is also employed as an Account Manager with NuWay-K&H Cooperative, located in Trimont, MN.  “My main responsibilities include purchasing fertilizer products and making sure they are in place for retail. I also have around 50 accounts that I work with on a day to day basis to provide ag supply products sold by NKH. These would include fertilizer, crop protection products, fuel, oil, and propane.” says Dan.

Mother nature can affect each farmer differently. Upon asking Dan where this derecho/drought had affected him, personally and professionally, Dan had this to say. “The drought has had minimal effect on both my farm and business area. The lighter soils have suffered the most with the corn dying and drying up prematurely. The soybeans are also dying in those areas.”    It is not just the outer appearance of these crop need to be looked at.  “The unseen effects will be pods that do not develop on the upper nodes of the plant.”  With this occurring in our fields, its important knowing when to see results of the crops effect from derecho / drought. This will determine when machinery will be in fields. 

This can all factor into a guessing game for area farmers and cooperatives. Taking into consideration how this falls weather can alter how these crops will be harvested and when to expect dust to fly. “The drought/dry weather may turn around this fall,” says Schley, “There seems to be a lot of storm/hurricane weather in the Atlantic this summer. That seems to help to bring moisture north into our region. We will see if that happens. Some farmers are cutting sileage now. I am hearing that the moisture is actually lower than they would like, but the tonnage is ok.”  Although it may be weeks until these fields get a proper rain to settle the drought down. Other regional weather patterns can also increase the chance of derechos up in our area before harvest begins. If everything goes smooth from today, Dan does not foresee any harvesting going on until about the 20^th of September.  This would be a little ahead of schedule than in recent years.

This drought and impending derecho will likely provide us with why it will affect soybeans more than corn.  “I think soybeans will be affected the most because of the pods not filling in the top nodes. Corn may have lighter test weight because of shallower kernels. Any reduction in yield has an impact on both our farmers and business’ in town.” says Dan. If this is true, there would be less profit available for after expenses to be paid and to spend on extras. To continue, local growers could decrease their fertilizer rates.

From this informaton, the derecho/ drought can have huge impacts on our fields and communities. Dan explained to us how this all would impact him as a farmer and NuWay-K&H as a cooperative. “It all depends on commodity prices as to what the final impact will be on both my operation and NKH. There will be less purchasing of newer equipment if there is less profit. At NKH, if we sell less fertilizer, the net margins will be heavily impacted.”  Dan does not see any job layoffs any time soon, but he does see a foreseeable decrease in service and an increase in applicant fees to stabilize NuWay-K&H’s business operations. You can clearly see that this derecho/ drought has and could have exceeding impacts on local farmers and even cooperatives this fall. All that can be done is hope for better weather conditions and keeping that target date for harvest in mind. For living in this local community, it takes a huge chunk of how things function as Dan mentioned.  Even though mother nature is unpredictable, working around it, and letting it be what it is, can drastically alter our way of life.  This year may not be the same as last year, only hoping for a better year next year for our farmers and cooperatives.