by: nykole king
while farmers appear to be better off than other industries, some feel the acute effects of covid-19 as they head into the second growing season during the pandemic.
sarah leguee and her family operate a grain, oilseed and pulse farm of just under 15,000 acres, located west of fillmore. as she prepared for seeding, she noticed the toll that 14 months of a pandemic has on supply chain issues while securing equipment needed to replace an auger.
“if you didn’t buy them or order them months ago, you’re kind of scraping the bottom of the bucket,” says leguee, explaining that they had little selection over the brand or flexibility in price. “you might find one kicking around, but you don’t really have a choice of what you get. it’s whatever might be left.”
leguee feels lucky that they made their major purchases last year, and now they don’t need big-ticket items, such as a tractor or combine. dealers have had little in stock, and even the auctions have had few sales. one contributing factor to equipment shortages is the climbing price of steel.
on the leguee farm, they’ve had to be forward-thinking, identifying which equipment might need to be replaced and trying to capitalize on better deals if they come along before it breaks down. it’s the best they can do when the delays at factories can mean that the farm may have to halt operations while waiting for equipment to arrive otherwise.