7am News, Sports and Obits

Latest WGIL news
Click to play or
Right click and "Save Target As" to download
Click for Galesburg, Illinois Forecast
Home - Cancellations - Community Events - Contact Us - Mornings - News - Obituaries - Pictures - Programs - Special Events Audio - Sports - Weather
Farmers Squeezed by Production Costs
URBANA, Ill. (AP) -- Illinois farmers already behind in their corn and soybean harvests could face negative returns on their crops this year because of higher production costs.

That's the assessment of University of Illinois agricultural economist Gary Schnitkey.

Schnitkey says central Illinois farmers will see negative returns on corn and soybeans this year for the first time since 1990.

He says net returns could be a loss of $8 per acre of corn and $15 for soybeans, with the projected loss statewide amounting to $98 million for corn and $136.5 million for soybeans.

The reasons include the high cost of fertilizer and seed that went into this year's crops.

Still, many farmers may be able to weather a lower-income season by tapping financial reserves they built up over the previous two years when corn and soybean prices soared and yields were healthy.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
10 09 09 by Newsroom
News management powered by Xpression News

Click here for the WGIL News Archive

Click here for national news

The following provision applies to all visitors (which shall include persons and representatives of legal entities, whether such representatives are persons or digital engines of a kind that crawls, indexes, scrapes, copies, stores or transmits digital content). By accessing this Web site or digital service, you specifically acknowledge and agree that: (i) Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium; (ii) No Associated Press materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use; (iii) The Associated Press will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions therefrom or in the transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages arising from any of the foregoing; (iv) The Associated Press is an intended third party beneficiary of these terms and conditions and it may exercise all rights and remedies available to it; and (v) The Associated Press reserves the right to audit possible unauthorized commercial use of AP materials or any portion thereof at any time.