IARN — America’s corn producers had “turned a corner.” Coronavirus, however, crept up, ruining their chances of a “banner year.” The National Corn Growers Association’s (NCGA) lead spokesman joins in offering a brief rundown of new analysis, which outlines COVID-19’s impact on the U.S. corn industry.
National Corn Growers Association President Kevin Ross speaks to new analysis, which offers insight into COVID-19’s impact on the U.S. corn industry.
“(It’s) showing about a 16 to 20-percent price loss across the country,” Ross said. “These numbers are constantly changing. Certainly these could be inaccurate the next day, as much as this market has been moving. But those are the numbers we’re showing – Roughly a 50-dollar per acre loss on the 2019 crop.”
NCGA commissioned the economic analysis conducted Gary Schnitkey, of the University of Illinois. Schnitkey used cash corn prices as of mid-April for his analysis. He predicts losses will most likely increase throughout the marketing year. Ross shares his disappointment, in stating, “We turned a corner in a lot of different areas.” He cites positive indicators, which provided hope.
“Winning the 10th Circuit Court case, and getting the SRE issue behind us. Similarly, we had a lot of big wins when it came to trade agreements. (I) thought we were setting up for a banner year for corn demand. (It was) looking like we could grind through a lot of bushels through ethanol and our robust feeding industry,” Ross said.
Photo above: Kevin Ross, Iowa farmer and president of the National Corn Growers Association.
Story courtesy of the Iowa Agribusiness Radio Network.
