As harvest begins, Chris Gavin, President and CEO for Midwest Bank gives a look into local prices and break-even points. He says that at Midwest Bank, they are tracking 42,000 acres of corn and 30,000 acres, adding that farmers need to have above-average yields to hopefully break even.
“The break-even price on the corn is $4.41, we were $3.69 [in early September]. So, we’re quite a bit underneath the break-even right now, and that’s using, 42,000 acres at an average yield of 220. It’s interesting that it takes 46 bushels of corn to get us to break even, or 78 cents of price,” says Gavin. “We have 38 30,000 acres of soybeans, with an average yield a projection of 65; the break-even price is $11.35. We are currently sitting at $9.78, so on that front, it only takes 11 more bushels over 65 to get to break even.”
Gavin adds that there were some positive prospects for corn and soybeans going into harvest.