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Despite Down Year, Midwest Farmers To Stick With What They Know

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2015 was a down year for most farmers in the Corn Belt, according to Agriculture Department numbers. But as Harvest Public Media’s Amy Mayer reports, even with their lowest income since 2002, most farmers will stick to what they know.

Demand for grain was high this fall, but corn and soybean supplies were abundant. Still, even low prices may not push farmers away from these staple crops. Iowa State University economist Chad Hart says always the priority is profitability. A few farmers may put more land aside for conservation or switch to organic.

"In most cases, though, what they find is the traditional cropping systems are the ones that offer that, that's the reason we did them in the past, that's the reason we're likely continue them in the future," he says.

Hart says most will weather this dip as just part of the cycle of agriculture. So expect to see plenty of corn fields next summer.

Amy Mayer is a reporter based in Ames. She covers agriculture and is part of the Harvest Public Media collaboration. Amy worked as an independent producer for many years and also previously had stints as weekend news host and reporter at WFCR in Amherst, Massachusetts and as a reporter and host/producer of a weekly call-in health show at KUAC in Fairbanks, Alaska. Amy’s work has earned awards from SPJ, the Alaska Press Club and the Massachusetts/Rhode Island AP. Her stories have aired on NPR news programs such as Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Weekend Edition and on Only A Game, Marketplace and Living on Earth. She produced the 2011 documentary Peace Corps Voices, which aired in over 160 communities across the country and has written for The New York Times, Boston Globe, Real Simple and other print outlets. Amy served on the board of directors of the Association of Independents in Radio from 2008-2015.