mcorn@dailynews.net

COLBY -- Northwest Kansas farmers last year harvested outstanding crops and sold them for what then was considered outstanding prices.

Together, that made for a profitable year. An extremely profitable year.

"A lot better than anyone thought it would," economist Mark Wood said of farm incomes of the farmers participating in the Kansas Farm Management Association, an offshoot of Kansas State University. "More than anyone's going to believe."

On an accrual basis, he said, net farm income for the farmers in the northwest district amounted to $228,367 -- head and shoulders above every other region in the state.

"We beat every association in the state by one-hundred grand," he said.

Just don't count on that happening again this year, even though corn and wheat prices are higher than they were a year ago.

Wood, executive economist of the northwest district, one of six in the state, is confident the numbers will raise eyebrows.

"Your readers are going to say, 'What?' " he said of the numbers.

That's why he took a critical look at how the numbers stack up.

The $228,367 average is for everything in the 17-county district, Wood said. The east side of the district, he said, had net farm income of only $126,949.

"That's still higher than any other association in the state," he said. "So the west did well, but the far west did exceptionally well."

Far northwest Kansas had wheat yields that averaged almost 55 bushels to the acre, while the eastern side of the district had yields in the mid-30s, the result of frost and leaf rust damage.

As far as fall dryland crops, however, the eastern most part of the district excelled, with milo yields of more than 100 bushels.

"Prices were a little stronger in the east than west," he said, "which surprised me."

Most of that price difference, he noted, is the result of a difference in wheat prices offered -- based on transportation costs "that the east benefits from that the west doesn't."

Farmers selling milo also were able to fetch a price that was on par with corn grown in the far west.

"Really, the prices were good," he said, "and yields were excellent."

Cattle prices, he said, were lackluster, with cow-calf operators breaking even. Feedlots lost nearly $100 a head, but because there are so few in the district, they didn't draw down the average.

While incomes were high, Wood notes that it was not the best year ever.

That honor goes to 1973, when wheat prices surged beyond $5 a bushel, and net farm income climbed to an average of about $78,000.

"If you adjust that for inflation," he said, "using the producer price index, it comes out to about $270,000 in 2007 dollars. So adjusted for inflation, the '73 year was actually better than the 2007 year.

"But with no question, 2007's the best year other than 1973. There's no close third in this thing. We need to remember that '73 was honestly the best year we'll probalby ever see. It's easy for people who were not around or their memory has faded, to forget just how good of a year that was in comparison to what things cost back then."

In the wake of higher commodity prices, costs for farmers have been climbing dramatically.

Fertilizer costs are two to three times higher than a year ago and chemical costs are sharply higher.

Diesel fuel costs have climbed faster than what it costs for the average car.

Those increased costs, as well as little likelihood that crops will be anywhere close to what they were last year, has Wood thinking that 2008 -- in terms of farm income -- will not be a repeat of 2007.

"There's virtually no way we can match 2007 in 2008," he said, "even if we raise the same crops.

"And we're not going to now."

Already, he said, wheat in the far northwest part of the state is suffering.

"We're already so far behind on moisture that our wheat does not look good," he said. "I can't put a line in there. I'm guessing it's west of Kansas (Highway) 23, and I've heard southwest is worst.

"But you guys in Hays, the whole corridor up and down from Phillips on down to Rush County, you guys have the great looking wheat in there. You guys have the great looking wheat, and we have the junk."

Wood said he's told people that the far northwest wheat crop was in need of an inch of rain a week -- and he started saying that three weeks ago.

"If we make 25 bushels (per acre), I'll be surprised," he said.

Far northwest Kansas has also had several bouts with cold weather, but becuase the wheat's so far behind, the cold hasn't been an issue.

Just two weeks ago Colby and Goodland even had a blizzard, and Wood said wasn't enough to hurt the fledgling corn crop.

"None of it's out of the ground," he said. "None of it's coming up becuase the ground is so cold."

He figures the area has lost two critical weeks of growing weather for corn.

"Generally, we have enough growing season to make that work," he said. "But who knows what fall will be like.

"So i don't there's just any way we can have the kind of yields we had last year. The price of wheat is better than last year, right now, and the corn is excellent. But I don't think price is going to make up for the production declines that I'm expecting.

Either way, he's expecting farmers in the district to again report decent incomes, just not like last year.

Despite the high income, Wood said farmers aren't in a rush to buy new equipment.

"Most of the people I work with are very concerned that there will be a huge wreck and they don't want to get caught in that wreck," he said, "and they're trying to pay down debt. They're upgrading equipment where they need to, which is very wise, but there's not a lot of new machinery showing up."

Even the historic big spenders, he noted, are holding back.

But that might be in part to the now 8-year drought that has plagued northwest Kansas.

Wood said that even with 2007's high income level, the average income over the past eight years only amounts to $66,000 a year.

That's not enough to pay family living expenses, he notes, which include insurance and Social Security.

Overall, Wood just marvels that the northwest district outperformed all other areas of the state.

"We've never had such a discrepancy by region," he said. "We've looked really bad when others look good.

"It's very unusual for us to get optimal rainfall when others don't."