The more things change, the more they stay the same, which is a good thing. Farmers will certainly welcome change in the new crop year ahead after coming off one of the most difficult and challenging crop years ever. They rightly deserve a good and profitable 2025 production year.

In both the good and difficult years, the cherished traditions of farming continue: winter meetings and farm shows, fieldwork, planting, spraying, and the ultimate reward of harvest. These never change as does hope in the new year that this year’s crop will be one for the record books.

In difficult times, attendance at winter meetings and farm shows is a must for farmers to plan for profit. Attending the Southern Farm Show at the N.C. State Fairgrounds in Raleigh Feb. 5 to Feb. 7 carries special importance in 2025.

“Every farmer in the country uses the winter months to think about what changes they need to make for the upcoming growing season.  That is especially true when they come off a tough year like the one they just had.  This is why the Southern Farm Show is held at the beginning of February.  It’s designed to help farmers answer those questions and make good decisions,” Show manager David Zimmerman says.

Other events such as the North Carolina Commodities Conference at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel in Durham Jan. 8 to 10; the South Carolina Corn and Soybean Growers meeting at the Santee Conference Center in Santee on Dec. 17, and all of the Extension and commodity meetings will provide farmers with knowledge and information needed to make good decisions in 2025.

The power of the farm show and the winter meetings is the opportunity to network and talk shop. The comradery of agriculture is one thing that never changes, in both good and difficult times. This provides hope that success will come as the crop year moves to harvest.

Change is certainly coming in 2025: a new administration, a new secretary of agriculture, a new Congress. Uncertainty is a given. Will tariffs be put in place that can harm agricultural trade? Will regulatory burdens be lifted to help make farming more efficient? Time will tell.

One thing is certain, the American farmer will carry on. The more things change, the more they stay the same. One thing that never changes is a farmer’s commitment to efficiently and sustainably produce crops and livestock.

It’s been often said that no two crop years are the same. After an exceedingly difficult 2024, a good and profitable 2025 will be happily welcomed. For all farmers, I am hopeful that the weather will cooperate in 2025, expenses will be manageable, and everything will lead to a bountiful, even record harvest.