CEO Comments:
Summer Has Landed IT SEEMS LIKE A LIFETIME AGO THAT I FINISHED UP MY REMARKS FOR THE SPRING EDITION OF PARTNERS. OUR COUNTRY AND THE ENTIRE WORLD CONTINUE TO FIGHT THE INSIDIOUS NOVEL CORONAVIRUS INCLUDING ITS SERIOUS IMPACT ON PEOPLE’S HEALTH AND FINANCIAL SECURITY. While states around the country are gradually moving through the stages of their reopening plans, very few things are back to the normal we once knew. Even GreenStone, after three months of serving customers remotely, we have reopened our buildings, but the protective measures necessary to help keep both customers and staff safe means that “normal” is still a few steps away from what we used to expect, and no one can predict the long-term impact this will have on our lives in the months and years to come.
May, with many specialty crops hit by a killing freeze in Michigan on May 9. Despite this, and a once in 500-year flood in north central Michigan, corn and soybean stands have emerged ahead of the five-year average with the soybean crop in Michigan as of late June rated 57% good to excellent and corn at 58%. Also, let’s not forget that interest rates have dropped to levels not seen since the last “great recession” of 2009-2010.
The Positive
The federal government has also now infused nearly $3 trillion in various forms of economic stimulus to help buoy the economy with nearly $19 billion targeted for agriculture through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) alone, plus making agriculture producers eligible for the SBA PPP and EIDL programs. In addition, the State of Michigan’s Agriculture Disaster Loan Origination Program was launched in March with applications ending May 31.
Some things we do know is that protein and dairy prices have recovered somewhat from their lows in March and April as the industry has slowly regained processing capacity and transitioned production for more consumption at home. Most of our territory in Michigan and Wisconsin is off to a good start on the 2020 crop. Overall, many crops were in early, only to languish due to unusually cold temperatures in
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Summer 2020 — Partners