Looking out across an expanse of richly-green soybeans or a field of corn jutting upward, it feels like a good time to be a farmer, and, indeed, region farmers are enjoying good quality yields, high commodity prices and enormous product demand.
Still, those that press the point of greater incomes for Indiana farmers need to look at the bottom line, farmers in the region say.
"Our expenses will also pretty much triple. They've already doubled since 2004," said Tom Keithley, a West Creek Township farmer and president of the Lake County Farm Bureau.
A report generated on behalf of Farmers National Company the largest farm management firm in the nation, predicts that high land values partnered with record prices and demand will cause Indiana farm income levels to triple by the end of 2009.
Yet the income forecasted for Indiana are mind-boggling
"At this time, we are predicting record farm income for 2007. We will see similar increases in 2008," Chris Hurt, an agricultural economist at Purdue University in West Lafayette, said. "The typical benchmark is $1 billion, and we are expecting a figure of over $3 billion for 2007 and again in 2008."
Still, Hurt noted that the highest commodity prices come following strong weather events, and the flooding across the Midwest earlier this year was enough to drive commodity prices to record highs in July.
But those record highs are coming down. On June 30, corn was yielding $7.24, but three weeks later had fallen down to $5.73, Hebron farmer Susie Hayden said.
"Corn is going down because it kind of follows the gas," she said.
From a grain farmer's perspective, Hayden said "there is so much more risk now." She pointed to anhydrous ammonia, for example, which cost $625 per cubic ton earlier this year and has ballooned to $1,000 per cubic ton.
The Hayden farm operation farms acreage they own and cash rent additional acreage. The cost to cash rent has risen about 25 percent, Hayden estimated.
The Land Values and Cash Rent Survey conducted by Purdue last summer found that land values had increased 17 percent to 19 percent across Indiana.
Accordingly, Roger Hayworth, Indiana Area Sales Manager with Farmers National Company, said the increase has led to some Hoosier farmers adding to their land ownership portfolio.
However, Keithley said that doesn't apply to Northwest Indiana, where inflated land values are priced for development. Only those getting out of the farming business benefit, he said.
Paul Kleine, one member of a multiple-family farming operation that covers 2,300 acres in Hanover Township near the Indiana/Illinois state line, said prices on corn and soybeans may be up, but they're not stable.
"It's a very volatile market. Timing is everything," he said.
