David Widmar, co-founder, Agricultural Economic Insights, says today’s farm economy reflects agriculture’s long history of cyclical markets. Speaking at the South Dakota Governor’s Agricultural Summit, Widmar said farmers must prepare for both prosperous and difficult years. “If you look past the last 90 years, almost 100 years of data, we can see there aren’t all that many boom eras in agriculture. We’ve got to make sure we think about this, and you also have to have a business that can survive in these really lean years.” The current downturn is largely confined to crop production. “When we can go through a downturn in one segment, like the row crop segment, and have a strong cow-calf operation, that’s good for everybody because ag lenders aren’t as concerned when everything isn’t going bad at one time.”
