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Midwestern farmers remain optimistic as 2026 growing season approaches

As the calendar changes to March, farmers across the Midwest are eyeing the start of the 2026 growing season. 

“A lot of snowfall this year, so to be honest, we still have a little bit of corn at home to pick.”

West central Michigan farmer Ryan Drozd says that’s not unusual when winter sets in early in his area, but…

“It’s tough to get motivated in an ag economy like this, but we always find a way to get it done,” he says.

AUDIO: Ryan Drozd – Michigan farmer

Despite the squeeze of low prices and high input costs, South Dakota farmer Jim Ketelhut remains optimistic.

“You’re just always mindful of cost of production.”  He says, “You stay positive and hope that the markets will turn around and there’s better days ahead.”

AUDIO: Jim Ketelhut – South Dakota farmer

Wisconsin farmer Randy Woodruff says the economy is influencing some of his planting decisions.

“We have all our inputs bought, and the fertilizer bought, and we have high hopes on it.”  He says, “We’re going to diversify. We’re going to put more kidney beans in this year just to get away from some of the corn and soybeans.”

AUDIO: Randy Woodruff – Wisconsin farmer

Illinois farmer Mark Bunselmeyer says he plans to stick with his corn/soybean rotation, but…

“If there is some market mover and we needed to put on corn, that’s always something that we can explore, if that’s some option that makes sense for the bottom line,” he says.

AUDIO: Mark Bunselmeyer – Illinois farmer

Minnesota farmer Richard Syverson tells Brownfield, “I’m hoping that we can kind of avoid some big precipitation events and get into the field in a timely way.”  He says, “That would really, I think, help everybody’s mood if we could get in and the crop would go in smoothly.”

AUDIO: Richard Syverson – Minnesota farmer

Brownfield spoke with all at the 2026 Commodity Classic in San Antonio.