A View from Farm Country

I was shelling corn the other night when I looked down at my monitor—322 bushels per acre it read. My jaw just about hit the floor. But they say not to count your chickens before they hatch. They should also tell you not to count your bushels before you get to the elevator.

You see, yield monitors are a lot like some of the folks in Washington. You can’t always trust them. It may say 322 bushels to an acre on the monitor, but it might only be 150 by the time you average the whole field and get the grain to the elevator.

That’s why I’ve always listened to what folks have to say here in North Missouri and represent that reality to Washington. While some might have seen farmers getting good yields, heard about high commodity prices, and figured we all must be doing pretty well for ourselves, the reality isn’t quite as simple.

Sure, corn and soybean prices are up. Yields have been good for some but not others. There’s still plenty of problems keeping farmers up at night. Fuel and fertilizer prices are sky high. Interest rates are heading up. Water levels on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers are dangerously low. Supply chain issues continue to hamstring us. And, if there's anything I've learned in my years of farming, it's that high commodity prices are guaranteed to go down—usually at the worst possible time.

With that in mind, I've been working to do whatever I can to help. I helped write a bipartisan water resources bill earlier this year that will help focus more of the Corps' resources on keeping barge traffic moving on our rivers. That's critical with the water levels where they are today. The House and Senate have both passed separate versions of that bill and I'm hopeful we can get it done soon.

I also introduced the Transparency and Production (TAP) American Energy Act to fight back against rising fuel prices that are hitting farmers and families hard. And I successfully pushed back against the Biden Administration's tariffs on fertilizer imports that were driving prices up even more.

All of this is critical because it's a matter of when, not if, grain prices fall. If that happens while fuel costs are still sky high, fertilizer costs are through the roof, and our river traffic is hamstrung, that could be a recipe for disaster for a lot of family farms.

The yield monitor might be reading 322 bushels per acre right now, but it won't stay that way forever. We have to be prepared for when it doesn't.

Sincerely,

Sam Graves