Soybean farmers face grain storage problems amid federal government shutdown
By Todd Magel
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BOUTON, Iowa (KCCI) — A construction crew is busy building two new, giant grain bins for farmer Mike Brelsford. It’s a $1.2 million project he’s constructing due to the soybean trade problem.
“Most years we go and, we will sell some at harvest, but you can’t do it this year. You’re going to lose money,” said Brelsford, who farms 6,000 acres around Dallas and Boone Counties. After 50 years in the fields, he says this is the worst trouble for farmers since the farm crisis of the 1980s. He, other farmers, and co-ops are busy building additional storage so they don’t have to sell soybeans at a loss this fall.
“Once again a supply and demand. And if China doesn’t buy our beans, then we have no place to go with them. And the elevators can only hold so much to they run out of room,” Brelsford said.
Brelsford saw the soybean crisis coming, so he ordered the new grain bins last summer. It’s a gamble he hopes will pay off once crop prices rebound, allowing him to sell soybeans without taking a federal handout.
“No farmer wants taxpayer money. We want to be a business like John Deere and Pioneer. We want to set our prices and make, be able to pay our bills,” Brelsford said.
A possible federal government bailout for farmers could be announced anytime.
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