An agricultural economist says farmers should have a better year in 2021.
Kevin McNew works for the Farmers Business Network. He says weather and COVID-19 hit farmers hard last year, especially the ethanol sector.
(:25) “And so I think farmers kind of scaled back last year pretty aggressively on corn. And so I think this year with returns much better, we are seeing ethanol return to close to normal. So I would expect by this summer, the ethanol sector is probably humming along, you know, we'll see driving pick up, that's a really good season for ethanol sales. So I do think things look a lot more favorable for the farmer that wants to plant corn this year.”
He adds that China is aggressively buying U.S commodities, which will make for good market prices.
“You know, we knew once they got the trade war issues kind of put behind them, they will be buying more U.S. commodities, but then add on to that they're really pushing aggressively to rebuild their hog herd. But their appetite, not only for soybeans, but also for corn, milo, even some wheat has just really surpassed most people's expectation.”
McNew says 2021 is a good year for farmers to look closely at their operations and consider buying new equipment, technology and land.