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Now’s the time to reevaluate crop budgets

An agriculture lender says ongoing volatility makes reviewing crop budgets more important than ever.

Barry Benson with First National Bank of Omaha says some producers may not have taken advantage of higher commodity prices earlier this year. “That caught the attention of a lot of our producers, but unfortunately, because of where diesel prices were going and fertilizer prices spiked at the same time. We had a number of customers pause at a time when their marketing plan maybe would’ve hit these prices and we’re going to forward price some items.”

He tells Brownfield, “It’s always a scary time to see that number and go back to compare your cost. Is that what we want it to be? I’m optimistic there was some marketing being done. I think now we’re working with our customers to evaluate where your breakeven is.”

Benson says it’s important that producers have flexible marketing plans the rest of the crop year since there’s plenty of uncertainty surrounding input costs.

Barry Benson: