News

Compeer CEO calls trade uncertainty “a cloud over agriculture”

The CEO of one of the largest farm credit organizations in the Midwest calls trade uncertainty “a big cloud” hanging over agriculture.

“And we’re not sure if it’s silver or dark yet because we have little glimpses of optimism that progress is being made on trade, but we’re not there yet.”

That’s Rod Hebrink with Compeer Financial, which serves Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois.

He tells Brownfield dairy and grain farms seem to be impacted the most by trade disruptions.

“The issue we’ve focused on all along is for clients to fully understand their cost-of-production so they can make decisions on marketing along the line.”

Hebrink has seen farmers who have figured out how to be profitable at $3-dollar corn while others can’t be profitable at $4.50.  He says narrowing that gap by zeroing in on every aspect of production is critical during this time of low commodity prices.