AgResource Company president Dan Basse presented his economic outlook for agriculture at the opening general session of the ASTA CSS 2015 and Seed Expo on Tuesday for the fifth year in a row.
In his fact-filled 90 minute presentation, Basse talked about a “world awash in grain” with record global wheat and soybean crops and second largest corn crop. “We were very impressed with the last crop year,” said Basse. “When you look at the kind of flooding we had in Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri and to then come up with a record U.S. soybean yield…is really testament to the seed genetics and agronomic benefits that we now have.”
With too much grain, however, has come lower prices for farmers and 2015 saw the biggest drop in farm income since 1932, and Basse expects grain and livestock prices to remain relatively cheap. “In fact this will be the first period since the 1970s in which net farm income in the U.S. will slump for three consecutive years,” he said. “So it’s not a very rosy picture – all farmers can do is somehow manage their costs to the best of their ability.”
As far as the seed industry is concerned, Basse noted that for farmers “seed is like their first born son.”
“All of us go to the fields every spring and we have high optimism for yields and production and profitability,” he said. “The one thing everyone can agree on is that genetics in seed has been a tremendous advantage over the past couple of years … so the investment that we farmers make in seed will probably continue.”
Lots more in this interview with Dan: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/asta-css15-basse.mp3″ text=”Interview with Dan Basse, AgResource Company”]
ASTA CSS 2015 and Seed Expo Photo Album
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