Central Minnesota Farm Show in St. Cloud This Week
ST. CLOUD (WJON News) - The Central Minnesota Farm Show will bring hundreds of farmers and ranchers to downtown St. Cloud this week.
For more than five decades, the show has combined a trade show with speakers and other educational opportunities.
This winter, farmers are preparing for a growing season that the USDA projects will result in a drop in income of about 13%.
Andy Weelle is a commercial banking officer with Magnifi Financial. He says farmers are eyeing every expense.
(They’re) taking a look at all of the expenses that are not necessarily necessary, maybe putting off some repairs, making any equipment last longer if they can, and things like that. There are going to still be opportunities for farmers to expand but in more of a manner of watching their cash flow and making sure that it does work in order to move forward with it.
Mitch Molitor is a loan officer for Farmers and Merchants State Bank. He says farmers are eyeing every expense going into another growing season.
We're seeing a lot of contracting of crops, contracting of livestock. It's been a little volatile over the past, but we've seen solid numbers there. Otherwise, just trying to make sure that they're really locking down on their cash flow is trying to make sure they're utilizing all the funds where possible and not wasting any money.
The Central Minnesota Farm Show runs Tuesday and Wednesday at the River’s Edge Convention Center.
For a list of vendors and a schedule of speakers, find the show’s website here.