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LANSING, Mich. (News 10) – Michigan farmers are beginning a high-stakes harvest season as they navigate the financial fallout of a dry summer and rising operational costs.
For Clinton County farmer Zach Wagner, the success of the next few weeks determines his entire financial outlook for the coming year.
“Farmers are optimistic, because we only get, there’s a cash crop where I only get paid once a year,” Wagner said.
A bone-dry July stunted corn growth during its most critical stage, leading to what Wagner expects will be a “below average” yield. While recent rains arrived too late to save the corn, he hopes the moisture will boost his soybean crop.
The impact of these field-level challenges eventually reaches the grocery store. Theresa Sisung, of the Michigan Farm Bureau, said the “farm-to-table” economy is under pressure from multiple angles.
“What the farmer is getting is less than 12 cents of what you actually pay for every dollar of food,” Sisung said.
Sisung noted that while consumers don’t buy raw corn and soybeans directly, those crops are foundational to products ranging from cooking oils to livestock feed. She warned that high fuel prices are also driving up the cost of moving goods through the supply chain.
“Because of those increases in fuel prices, you may start to see that trickle down to consumers because there are a lot of transportation movements from the farm to the grocery store,” Sisung said.
Farmers are now hoping for a late-season warm-up to dry the crops naturally. Without it, they face the added expense of mechanical drying, further tightening the margins on their annual payday.
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