Area harvest better than expected

KOKOMO, Ind. (Kokomo Tribune) - There is good new for farmers this fall despite this summer’s drought, 24-Hour News 8’s news partner The Kokomo Tribune reports.

Senior grain merchant at Kokomo Grain, Mike Silver, says he has never seen prices as high at harvest time before.

He said corn is selling at $7.54 a bushel and soybeans are selling at $15.96 a bushel on Friday.

Silver said corn yields are running below the five year average.

Bob Nielsen, an agronomist at Purdue University, says in general everything is lower than normal.

Farmers in the southern half of Indiana were impacted more by the drought, Nielson says. Some farmers lost their entire corn crop.

He says that if farmers take advantage of prices this year, income could be equal to 2011. Nielsen also says many farmers have contracted their crops at a lower price.