Thankful for our nation's farmers

American farmers are the most productive in the world, and some of the most productive in the group are right here in Missouri.

Jerry Cox and his son, Matthew, are third- and fourth-generation farmers who work 1,500 acres of soybean and corn ground just outside Cape Girardeau's city limits. For the third time in four years, Jerry Cox has won the state soybean association's high-yield contest for irrigated soybeans with an average yield of just less than 103 bushels per acre in the competition field. To put that into perspective, the state average soybean yield is 49 bushels per acre.

He and his son are prize-winning corn growers, too, with his best yield to date being 349 bushels per acre.

The Cox family is one example of the type of people in the agriculture industry -- hard-working, thoughtful, innovative.

Understand, agriculture isn't small potatoes these days. It's a huge industry that spiderwebs across communities. Farmers buy equipment and vehicles and supplies. They eat lunch at the local restaurant. They have insurance policies with the agent down the street. And they employ people. The dollars they spend in our communities enable other businesses to thrive. We call that a win-win.

As farmers go, so go communities across our nation, including many in the Show Me State.

A few facts from the state Department of Agriculture:

* There are more than 95,000 farms in the state.

* Agriculture is nearly a $90 billion industry in terms of raw and value-added products.

* Among the states, Missouri ranks third in beef cows, fourth in rice, fifth in goats and cotton, sixth in hay and turkeys and seventh in pork and soybeans.

Missouri bucks the national trend, though, in one important way. The vast majority of the state's farms are small, family operations, whereas in other states, corporate interests have taken over many parts of the industry.

All is not rosy for America's farmers, though. Input costs continue to rise, but prices for their products remain mostly stagnant.

In January 1989, a bushel of corn sold for about $2.60; in January 2019, $3.78, an increase of 45%, but not much in terms of dollars per acre.

In January 1989, cotton sold for 60 cents per pound; in January 2019, 74 cents per pound, an increase of 23%.

In January, 1989, a bushel of soybeans fetched $7.50; in January 2019, $9.25, an increase of 23%. Luckily, exports should increase this year, and that has driven up the cost for the nation's soybean crop. A bushel of soybeans has been selling for around $14 of late.

We can thank farmers for the food we eat, the clothes we wear, even some of the fuel powering our vehicles. Missouri's farmers -- such as Jerry and Matthew Cox -- are helping carry that load.