Farming season for Huron County in eastern Michigan is not going well for area farmers.
Commissioner Steve Vaughn spoke at a recent Huron County Board of Commissioners meeting about how hard
“We’re in a common period right now where everyone is planting at the same time,” Vaughn said, with having to go back and forth between beets and corn in their fields. “It’s a lot of strenuous time and effort to get those crops.”
He said everyone who grows anything is hurting, from large dairy farms to those mainly working the fields.
Debbie Gentner-Bischer, of Genter-Bischer Farms in Minden City, says her farm has suffered due to a late spring, low crop commodity prices, and tariffs on steel and iron (what their farm equipment parts are made of).
“We usually plant the sugarbeets in the ground in mid-April,” Gentner–Bischer said, “but its been a wet, cold spring.”
Genter-Bischer Farms mainly grows sugarbeets, corn, dry beans and wheat. Their wheat currently goes for about $4 a bushel.
There are 1,153 farms in Huron County, with the average size being 430 acres, according to the USDA’s 2017 summary.
The overall crop value in Michigan has been going down, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service, from around $3 billion to $2.785 billion, with declines seen from 2016-17, the most recent available statistics, in corn, hay, soybeans and wheat.
There have been statewide production increases in dry beans, potatoes and oats over that time period.
Gentner-Bischer said everyone is trying to diversify, including her own farm.
“About four years ago, we grew an acre of sweetcorn, called it the grandkid’s college fund,” Gentner-Bischer said. “We’ve made more money off of that acre than all our other crops since.”
Other farms are looking into growing hops and hemp.
Right now, Gentner-Bischer Farms is projected to be operating at a loss this year, their third year going.
“When it was good, you could prepay your input costs,” Genter-Bischer said. “Now you have to wait for the money to come in.”
Vaughn said farmers need to consider all options in order to remain viable, including planting new crops and solar farms.
“One thing we have to remember is that farmers are the backbone of Huron County,” Vaughn said. “They are what keeps this county afloat.”