Excellent yields but not enough sales outlets presented problems for producers this year.

Ralph Lents, president of the Iowa Corn Promotion Board, has farmed for more than 45 years near Greenfield in Adair County, raising corn, soybeans and hay, along with caring for a cow herd. He described 2024 as a rough year profitability wise.

“The big issue is our trade is down a little bit,” Lents said. “We need some more trading partners, plus ethanol needs to pick up. We need year-round E15 sales. Trade and ethanol is where we can make the quickest gains immediately.”

The new administration might end up costing producers, too, Lents said.

“The proposed tariffs, well that’s a very big concern for us. We’re up against the wall right now. Two of our biggest trade partners are Canada and Mexico. We need them badly,” Lents said. “Mexico is our No. 1 corn exporter and tariffs imposed there will hurt us. Canada is a big ethanol user and tariffs will be problematic there, too. A lot of our P&K (phosphorous and potassium) is imported. If tariffs are imposed on those, it’s a double whammy.”

Looking ahead to 2025, Lents doesn’t see a lot of opportunities to reach a profitable margin.

“There might be a couple of possibilities come spring, depending on the weather, but there’s just not much more profitability potential in corn and soybeans,” Lents said. “I’m expecting more profitability in corn than soybeans, so I’m looking for a lot of people to not grow as many soybeans. There’s no way we can make money off those bigger switches in acres than expected.”

If he hits 225-bushel yields, Lents said he’ll make a bit of profit and 200-bushel corn will only allow him to break even.

“Beans aren’t even close,” he said. “I’m extremely concerned what can happen to this corn market if we get extra acres. Then Mother Nature always has the last say and bankers might not loan enough money to plant acres to corn. They might be more selective.”

Luckily, Lents doesn’t need to purchase any equipment, but has been focusing on repairing what he already owns. His cash flow wouldn’t allow him to buy anything new anyway, he said.

“In eight or nine years, we’ll be growing another billion bushels of corn on the same amount of acres we plant now. We raise more corn because we’re getting better at it. Genetics are improving. But we need somewhere for it to go. We have to create demand,” Lents said. “That’s what we’re trying to do at the association. More demand and more uses for corn. The road that gets us there the fastest is trade and ethanol.”

Chad Hart, economist with Iowa State University Extension, said corn’s the “best house in a bad neighborhood.”

“While it looks sad, it looks better than other crops and that’s the challenge. When looking at corn, we ended up on an up note, but it hasn’t been a strong up note,” Hart said. “In 2024, we watched those prices, especially in the middle of the year, drop like a rock. Corn did have some upward momentum after harvest, but it wasn’t enough to lift prices to where farmers need them to be.”

On Jan. 2, Hart said he saw improvement in prices, but not enough to cover costs.

“Costs seem to be coming down, but not as much as prices went up. I’m expecting a little bit of a decrease in cost structures in 2025. Fertilizer prices have been down the past couple of years, but seed costs and labor costs have gone up,” Hart said. “When you think about overall costs, they’re moving in the right direction, but not moving fast enough and prices haven’t been able to rebound. That’s why farmers are feeling more squeezed.”