COLUMBUS, Ohio — Bret Davis works in acres, not hours.
The Delaware County farmer is responsible for cultivating 3,400 acres of corn, soybeans and wheat.
“Last year, we were so wet we couldn’t get started. Ground was wet. Ground was heavy, as in sticky. We had some warm weather there that we got beans planted early, where last year, they wouldn’t have even been in the ground by now,” Davis said.
He said he’s optimistic about this season.
“It’s all green, where last year we had places where it was drowned out and so we did not get any yield in those places, so we’re off to a good start this year,” he said.
While the weather, the trade war with China and the pandemic all negatively impacted farmers, he said it’s best to stay positive and focus on the future.
Davis is a planner. Right now, he is dedicating portions of his farm for grass that will collect runoff before it enters the streams that flow through the land.
“Everything I do by the conservation measures and by making sure the soil is more healthy is all for my grandkids. It’s not for me. Yes, it will make a better yield for me, but yet it’s because everything I do, I try to make what I pass down better than when I found it,” he said.
Farming is a complicated profession, according to Davis.
He said one issue can be connected to a dozen more.
Despite prices falling to some of the lowest in 15 years and production costs doubling, they’ve bounced back.
Davis said the new agreement with China is fair, demand is high and prices are increasing, but there’s not much supply.
He also reflected on the past four years of the Trump administration and discussed what he thinks the Biden administration may bring.
“There’s a lot of things that Mr. Trump did that were great for the farmer. There was a lot of things that he did where the farmer kind of shook his head and said, ‘What was you thinking when you did that.’ And I guess it’s the same for the Biden Administration now. I mean there’s things that he’s looking at that yeah, we need, but we’ve got to pay for them too, so that’s what worries us as businessmen. Our money is derived off of the sunshine and the rain. Where are we going to be at in three years?”
Davis is also on the board of the American Soybean Association.
