Eastern Iowa Farmer Fall 2020

coronavirus
For farmers like the Krukows, navigating
these times comes down to shifting
strategy on several fronts, including what
they feed their cattle.
For about the past 15 years, they and
other farmers included wet gluten and
other byproducts of the ethanol producing
process in feed rations, according to the
Iowa Beef Center at Iowa State University.
Those additives are higher in protein
and equal to or higher in energy than corn
and have traditionally cost less.
“It replaces a percentage of the corn in
our ration and makes it much more palatable
for our cattle,” said Krukow, who
would get the additive by the truckload
directly from Archer Daniels Midland
(ADM) Co. in Clinton before the pandemic
squelched ethanol production.
In April, ADM idled ethanol production
at its corn dry mill facilities in Cedar
Rapids and Columbus, Neb., as people
sheltered at home and did little driving
because of COVID-19. As demand for
fuel fell, oil prices plummeted, with the
price of a barrel of oil dipping below zero
for the first time ever on April 20.
ADM also reduced the ethanol grind at
its corn wet mill plants, such as Clinton,
and rebalanced grind to produce more
industrial alcohol for the sanitizer market
among other things to better align production
with current demand.
The Krukows have replaced wet gluten
with pelleted gluten, which was easier to
find. They also are feeding more corn to
their cattle.
“It’s so cheap right now. It just made
sense to do it,” Krukow said of the corn,
although it’s not ideal to change the feed
ration.
“You don’t like to do that midstream
because it takes the cattle a while to
adjust. It’s hard to jump around. It smells
different, tastes different,” he said.
But they are prepared to make that
adjustment well into the future as corn
prices aren’t even at break-even levels.
“Guys aren’t moving corn,” Krukow
said. He and Cory haul theirs to ADM,
but in late spring/early summer, they were
holding on to what they hadn’t previously
contracted hoping prices would improve
above the low $3 range.
Their great-grandfather started the
farm, and they think about all the trials
and tribulations their farming ancestors
faced over the years.
“There’ve been lots of generations
before me. In my years on this earth, I’ve
tried to soak up a lot from the older generations.
They’ve been through a lot more
than I have,” he said.
Although he said the last two or three
years have been challenging.
“There’s nothing good right now, and
there hasn’t been for 18 months. I guess
we are trying to hold our head above
water and trying to get by. Anything we
can make anywhere we call it a victory,”
he said, adding that he feared some won’t
make it through this latest crisis financially.
“There aren’t that many of us (farmers)
out here. That’s hard to stomach,” he said.
Still, he holds out hope.
“We’ve always gotten by and made a
living or we wouldn’t be doing it,” he
said. “Let’s hope that continues.” n
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eifarmer.com fall 2020 | Eastern Iowa Farmer 57