Van Gorp Insurance welcomed farmers to their annual Crop Insurance Meeting Thursday night.

Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig and Economist Chad Hart with the Iowa State University Extension spoke at Pella Golf & Country Club to discuss the latest trends in agriculture. Hart tells KNIA/KRLS News he talked about the rapid growth of crop production in the state and what it means for the economy.

“A couple of things we’re going to be watching for in 2018–one will be can we continue to produce at the levels we have been doing,” he says. “We’ve set basically records for the past four or five years in terms of our agricultural production.”

“I do expect our production to drop off a bit, we’re kind of dry right now, in fact, when you look at southern Iowa, we’re under a bit of drought stress right now and that expands across the especially that western cornbelt. That could mean supplies could be smaller in 2018, and that could lead to some higher prices as we move forward, and one of the things farmers have been looking for in the past few is the potential for higher prices.”

The deadline for Federal Crop Insurance changes is March 15th.