The area’s annual agricultural winter meeting season is wrapping up. The season once again brought a calendar-
bursting lineup of farm shows, expos and conferences, all featuring speakers and exhibits.
Some of the events went several days and drew thousands of people; others lasted a few hours and attracted a few dozen. Each, in its own way, had value.
As always, I attended many of the events. As always, I learned a lot. Ag changes constantly - weather, politics, economics and technology see to that - and trying to stay current is a challenge.
Much of what I learned is tied to individual crops and specific issues; there’s not enough space to summarize it all here. But I can offer these big-picture takeaways:
- 2016 profits will be hard to come by for farmers, even if they enjoy excellent yields. Crop prices are just too low - and expenses too high - for a realistic chance of making money.
- Cash flow is king. Having enough liquid assets to pay bills will get farmers through the year, even if they don’t make a profit.
- Herbicide-resistant weeds are a real and growing threat. Develop a plan to combat it.
- Controlling costs is more important than ever. But don’t cut back too much on things like pesticide and fertilizer; good yields remain critical.
- Dissatisfaction with Washington, D.C., remains strong. (Some things never change.)
- “Farming smarter, not working harder” - an agricultural maxim - remains true. What’s more, the growing number of high-tech tools increase opportunities to farm smarter. (If you’re tech-challenged like me, of course, you have to work harder to figure out the new tools.)
- Experts’ best educated guess is the growing season will get off to a good start, but could turn dry by late summer.
Do you have a big-picture takeaway of your own that didn’t make my list? If so, drop me a line and tell me about it. And I repeat my standing invitation: Let me know in advance about your upcoming meeting or event, whether it’s held in the winter, spring, summer or fall. I can’t promise to attend, but I’ll certainly consider it.
Satisfying season
I enjoyed the winter meeting season. The roads were good every time I traveled out of town, which sure helped. But the real satisfaction came in visiting talented, interesting people, and learning important, interesting things that I was able to pass on to Agweek readers.
Crop season is approaching. It will arrive quickly if we get an early spring. It will come with teeth-grinding slowness if winter drags on. As always, we’ll deal with whatever nature brings us.
For now, though, I’m content to wrap up meeting season. It’s been a good one.
I hope you think so, too.