KANKAKEE — Paul Hogan had a problem in last fall’s harvest. It’s a good problem, but one nonetheless.
The manager of the Farmers Service Grain facility along Lehigh Road in western Kankakee County had days in autumn when he did not know where he could take in just-harvested corn from numerous points throughout the region.
With corn harvest largely ranging from 180 to 260 bushels per acre and soybeans coming in at 50 to 75 bushels per acre, a chief problem for the region’s agriculture community was where can all this grain be unloaded as farmers hustled to bring in the harvest?
“It’s a very good corn crop,” Hogan said. “The soybeans were strong as well.”
Statewide, Illinois’ harvest was projected to average 210-per-acre corn yields and 64 bushels for soybeans, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The Farmers Service Grain location has a storage capacity for 1.8 million bushels of corn and 1.2 million bushels for soybeans. And there are occasions where he’s been filled.
“As soon as the mid-August rains came in and finished out the [corn] ear development, you knew it was going to be a big harvest,” he said.
Hogan said he does not even need to man the weight scales of incoming trucks to determine if the harvest is a success or something less than inspiring.
He only needs to see the face of the farmer.
“I can tell by their demeanor. They are relaxed and there are a lot of smiles. The weather has been good. There has not been a lot to be unhappy about. It’s a lot more fun to do this job when farmers are happy.”
And the area’s ag professionals appear to be in good spirits. Not only has the harvest been bountiful and the weather been cooperative, commodity prices have been strong.
Per bushel prices for corn have hovered in the $6.50 to $6.60 range while soybean prices are in the $13.50 to $13.60 range this week.
These type of prices mean there is definitely room for the agriculture community to spin a profit — a nice profit — and that is substantial for Kankakee County, a region in which 17% of the economy is based on ag, noted Kankakee County Farm Bureau Director Chad Miller.
Miller stressed farmers are not unlike any other business this past year. While their earnings are strong, expenses have also sharply risen — notably fertilizer and fuel — which eats into profit margins.
And, of course, Miller said, not all farm fields were blessed with timely rains.
“There are pockets in the county which missed the rains and where the soil is sandy, the yields are below average. Not everyone is experiencing a bumper crop,” he said.
But, Miller said, the vast majority of county farmers are doing well.
“I’ve been getting good reports. And when ag does well, it supports the Kankakee County economy,” he said.
In eastern Kankakee County, Momence-area farmer Paula Karlock noted yields are strong, perhaps not as good as 2021, but solid nonetheless.
Karlock had also been idled by the Grant Park Co-Op Grain Co., which had no more room for a short period of time.
Her expectation is 2022 is going to be remembered in a positive light.
