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Eastern Iowa farmer comments on harvest progress, market volatility

Eastern Iowa farmer Ben Selman says his 2023 harvest is winding down.

“I’d say most people are just switching from beans to corn around us. We didn’t have any beans this year, so it’s just corn. We were able to kind of jump on that a little earlier.”

He tells Brownfield he had a record crop last year, but 2023 is a different story. “We were pretty dry this year. We do have a corn crop, but it’s definitely a little bit lower than what we’re used to.”

Selman says he’s concerned about grain price volatility. “I know margins have been tight for a lot of farms. We luckily kind of jumped on some of the better prices on some future contracts early in the year, so that’s helped push through, but it’s still been kind of a struggle to try and manage all of that going forward to make sure we don’t put ourselves in a bad position.”

Selman and his wife, Amber, raise row crops and operate a dairy operation near Maquoketa.