In many parts of the country, the weather just isn’t cooperating for farmers. All across the farm belt record-breaking precipitation has been causing headaches for farmers with flooding of fields and excess soil moisture. As a result, tractors are getting stuck in mud, fields are completely underwater, and Mother Nature is doing her very best to keep crops from getting put into the ground. 

Last week the Agriculture Department released its latest Crop Progress report showing historic delays in corn and soybean plantings across farm country. Many acres are, or soon will be, eligible for prevented planting payments through corn crop insurance policies. We are looking at the biggest event for grain and oilseed markets since the drought of 2012. The combination of record-breaking extreme weather alongside continued policy uncertainty has agricultural economists across the board scratching their heads trying to figure out how everything will shake out. At this point, the only thing for certain is that nothing is known with any degree of certainty.

The American Farm Bureau's economic analysis team recently took a deeper dive at the numbers to explain what this all means for agriculture.