It hasn’t been the easiest growing season for a lot of corn and soybean farmers, with issues like the COVID-19 pandemic, excessive early-season rainfall and drought later on in the summer — not to mention the derecho storm system that moved through the region in early August — creating a unique set of challenges for farmers this year. It comes as farm finance sector leaders see growing loan volume and debt. Though crop insurance has helped many farmers make up for lost yield potential, trend or higher yields will help farmers start to financially recover from the year’s challenges. See more on the year’s agronomic, farm management and financial challenges here.