(Ames) Iowa State University Economics Professor Dr. Chad Hart calls agricultural prices in 2024 “a return to normal.” Dr. Hart says the two years following COVID were vital for agriculture. He says the ag sector enjoyed good sales and firm prices, leading to solid incomes flowing into the farm economy.
Hart tells KSOM/KS95 News the ag economy does not appear to be quite as rosy as it has been, but he says we are not falling into a deep hole.
Corn prices have reached a new medium price since the post-ethanol era. In the pre-ethanol time in the 1990s, two-dollar corn was the lowest. Hart said when ethanol became a marketplace for corn, prices rose to the three-or-four-dollar range. He says we are comfortable north of $4.00 and settling in around $5.00 corn.
Dr. Hart says competing with South American exports has become a challenge for U.S. farmers.
Meanwhile, Hart says global demand continues to ratchet up, but production outside the U.S. is growing. He says 2023 brought depressed export opportunities for the U.S., particularly for corn, because the price was high, making the U.S. expensive to the rest of the world.
Dr. Chad Hart is an economics professor at Iowa State University.
