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Indiana farmers focus on ROI as input costs remain elevated ahead of 2026 crop year

A group of Indiana farmers say the current state of the ag economy is playing a role in their cost management decisions for 2026.

Hendricks County farmer David Hardin says it’s becoming more difficult to operate. 

“The USDA didn’t do us any favors with the recent crop report,” he says. “We’re already starting this season with a higher carryout than we thought we were going to be dealing with. We’re just going to continue to deal with high input costs.”

Decatur County farmer Mike Koehne says he can’t afford to make any major input changes.

“We’re planning on doing the regular maintenance on equipment,” he says. “We’re not looking at expanding. We’re probably not going to fertilize as heavy as we have been. We’re planning on working in some replacement fertilizer instead of building.”

Clinton County farmer Alan Dunn says ongoing uncertainty continues to be the biggest challenge. 

“You can make a good decision thinking you’re planning for scenario A and then by tomorrow morning there’s a tweet that makes you move to scenario B,” he says. “That makes it very difficult. Farming in Trump times is a lot different than farming in other times.”

The farmers say they’re working to develop the best strategy for their operations to maximize their return on investment.

AUDIO: David Hardin

AUDIO: Mike Koehne

AUDIO: Alan Dunn