Yesterday I moved to some of our best ground to cut soybeans. They are barely mature, but with the memory of our sprouted wheat I am pushing to get things cut. The stalks cut like barbed wire, but they threshed good and made in excess of 40 bpa, very good for the lack of late rains. Soybeans plunged 47cents a bushel the day before, but with prices at $8.85, these beans will be the highest grossing I have ever cut.
To get an idea of the numbers we have been dealing with, for the last 3 or 4 years in our area we have had corn prices of $1.60-$2.50 on farm, mainly $2, wheat $2.80-$4, mostly around $3, and soybeans running mostly between $5-$6, although I was able to forward contract some a few years ago for $7.50. Average yields for us are about 40 bpa for wheat, 100 for corn, and 30 for soybeans. Most rent is either shares(a third or 2 fifths to the landowner) or cash, in our area running between $30 to $65 per acre, depending on the ground. Seed cost per acre for corn and beans run us around $30 per acre now, higher for corn if you use the newest varieties. Seed wheat ran about $10-15 for wheat until this year. Farmland costs $1000-$1500 per acre now, but up until the last 5 or 6 years most could be bought for less than $800. Our guaranteed government payment has been declining each year and now is about $9 per acre arable, although 4 or 5 years ago it was around $15-$18. Roundup costs $11 per acre applied, fertilizer costs per acre on my farm had been $25 per acre wheat, $10 for soybeans, and around $40 for corn. If you do the math with these numbers you will see our margins have been very tight. This is why we double crop as much as possible, and as fast as I can I sow my corn and bean ground back to rye or triticale for winter grazing.