Audio version:
On this week’s Iowa Ag Podcast, host David Geiger sits down with April Hemmes, a central Iowa farmer, to talk about how this year’s growing season has gone. They cover the challenges in the fields and successes experienced over the year. With weather shifts, input costs, and market uncertainty all at play, April shares what it’s really like to farm in Iowa.
Without the usual government crop reports guiding some bin decisions, farmers are relying more on local observations, neighbor updates, and private yield data to get a sense of how this harvest compares across the corn belt. April offers her perspective on what she’s hearing from others in agriculture and how that shapes decisions heading into the next planting season.
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The conversation also turns global as David and April discuss China’s role in the soybean market, including how international trade news can ripple through rural communities, impacting prices, and planting plans. As farmers begin to pencil out next year’s crop budgets, input costs and operational expenses are once again front and center, influencing what gets planted and when.
April and David also touch on the community impact of when farm businesses struggle, agribusinesses and towns feel it too. They go over input needs and machinery costs and how those influence a farmer’s choice.
It’s a conversation about resilience, adaptation, and what’s next for agriculture as another season wraps up and a new one begins.