Farming getting more difficult Family gatherings are for me a great place to be for various reasons. The one I attended recently on a Sunday in September has several family farms, and about six different opinions on things, but they are all into producing food and I often pick up great comments, observations and many story ideas.

First off, I find out that fertilizer prices have come way down from a year ago. As one person tells me, the fertilizer prices follow more what the price of corn does, that what the price of gas is. Right now corn prices are way down, in fact, so low that farmers in the U.S. may find it hard to make ends meet. Even with per acre yields of 250 bushels, things get a little tough.

The second thing I learned was that the seed farmers have to buy for corn, 100 dollars an acre, soybeans, 70 to 80 dollars, and canola, 90 to 100 dollars an acre, this is seed farmers need to plant a crop, is way too expensive. With wet fields and drowned out crops this year and commodity prices too low, it will be a difficult year for many farmers.

One farmer south of Plum Coulee told me that it is so wet, while his soybeans are looking good, he just can’t move on the field to take the crop off. While only some areas have wet fields and poor crops, all will feel the effects of lower commodity prices. This young farmer south of Plum Coulee says not only are the fields too wet; he’s losing money on his cattle too.

Over the last five years, I’ve talked often and had articles by my journalist friend Hans Lombard from South Africa. I met Hans in San Francisco on a biotechnology tour hosted and sponsored at that time by the U.S. Grains Council. When we first met, we hit it off right away getting to share thoughts and ideas from our respective countries and of course the neutral country we met in, the United States. When we parted after spending eight days together touring, talking laughing, we each shed a few tears as we hugged to say good bye. We both felt that maybe we wouldn’t see each other again, at least not in person. Well, although he tried his hardest to get me to come to visit him, it just didn’t happen. Yet, despite his age, mid-80’s I taught him how to use Skype, first to talk, then he bought a webcam, and so many times we talked face to face but thousands of miles apart. I had wondered where Hans had stayed because I hadn’t heard from him for some time. Well, his wife sent me an email, that Hans, now 90 years old, had spent his last day on this earth doing what he loved doing, interviewing farmers for yet another article. That night after a drink before bed, they both fell asleep, and both woke up. She tells me that he had difficulty breathing, and a few minutes later died in her arms. Wow, what a trooper, 90 years of age and going strong. I miss him and his wisecracks, and his love for farming and everything about agriculture.

In 2010, when farmers in this area set the record for the most combines harvesting on the same field all at the same time, I sent Hans the article about that, and he translated it, had it printed he told me in at least six different farm papers in Africa. Yep, that is the kind of man he was.

Well, I had hoped to have the article finished about another dear friend of the articles I write in the Voice every week, Mrs. Mary Penner, who celebrated her 100th birthday on July 31. I went to visit her and her son Abe, who lives with her and spent more than an hour asking her questions, in some cases about many years ago. I will have that article next week. Again, what an inspiration! I’ll leave it at that for now.

My friend, colleague, and mentor, Orion Samuelson, farm broadcaster in Chicago for over 55 years at the same radio station, not a spring chicken himself says he’s concerned about the young farmers.

Orion spent two days at the Farm Progress Show in Boone, Iowa last week, and as usual, came away marvelling at the size of the equipment, tractors, planters, combines, and the technology that makes the machines so much more productive than when he was a kid on the dairy farm in Wisconsin.

“There is no question that what I saw at the show is absolutely necessary to feed the world’s growing population,” said Orion. “But as I looked at the price tag I realized that it is really challenging for a young person to get a start in farming today. That came to mind because of an e-mail I received from a farmer in Pennsylvania who wrote to ask me if I could give him some ideas where he could get the financial backing to go out on his own.”

Well, those same concerns I have for anyone that wants to start farming right here in Manitoba too. •