Average crops, but below average prices - that's the story for crop farmers as we near harvest season for 2014.
Mike Colclough is readying his combine for harvest. The Huron County grain farmer is hoping for a hot end to summer after a cooler and wetter than normal growing season.
"We're only 100 heat units behind last year and actually the 10-year average. The problem is though that most crops didn't get planted until late May or into June...It sounds like it's okay, but it really isn't because those later crops need a lot of heat yet."
And this year farmers can't rely on excellent prices making up for some less than stellar crops. Prices for the two main commodities in the area - corn and soybeans - have dropped to less than half of what they were just a couple of seasons ago.
"It's getting down pretty low," Colclough says. "Even below the cost of production. Now we have a late harvest, it's going to be wet and expensive do dry so it will be challenging."
You can thank Mother Nature down south for the lower prices. Excellent growing weather in the U.S. coupled with record acreage of corn and beans means a bumper crop - bad news for Canadian producers.
Market Smart Inc. crop analyst John Lanthier says "[With] overburdensome supply that's available, the market has been liquidating and moving to lower prices because there's no supply threat."
While that doesn't mean the 2014 harvest is a bust before it really begins, records certainly won't be set for yield or price.
But Colclough still has hope, "There's always next year. That's thee life of a farmer, there's always next year."
