Farm Progress

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Partners & Friends,

The Farm Progress Show was a week ago in Decatur. There was much to see at the “Super Bowl” of farm shows. All the new paint, huge equipment, startup companies, and exhibitions remind us of the interest and innovation in agriculture. Plus, the technology being developed is an exciting advancement to help replace scarce labor with machines. We would encourage anyone who gets the opportunity to visit the show and experience it for yourself; it will be back in Decatur in two years.

We are now getting ready for the harvest season. This involves completing equipment checks, getting drying equipment and storage bins prepped, servicing trucks and tractors, doing some last minute crop scouting and yield estimates, and forming plans regarding the changes we need to make next year. We do rather detailed field inspections—here is an example of our weekly crop consulting reports. We held our fall safety meeting this past week to communicate our operations and expectations and ensure that everyone is on the same page. The Hess Family Farm team is looking forward to another fun, safe harvest.

The worldwide weather is getting a lot of attention. We believe there is, indeed, climate change taking place, but that it has been happening since time began. Oil prices are getting jerked around by the Russians and Saudis. The water level in Lake Gatun on the Panama Canal is causing shipping issues; 70% of the canal traffic is US originated. Additionally, the Mississippi River’s low water level is increasing barge shipping rates to deliver grain to the gulf.

School is off to a good start for the students in our family. Phyllis and I took a nice trip to see Ali in Asheville. We also went on another trip north to Grafton, where we got to make many fun memories with the Luecht family. Phyllis is getting stronger every day. Goat showing season has slowed down. 

Fall Prices:

Corn—4.61

Soybeans—13.35

Steve

Thank You

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Partners & Friends,

We finished harvest on Saturday. It was a great season with no major breakdowns, spills, or injuries. We also ate very well!

A big thanks goes to…

  • Compeer for Food Truck Fridays + a personal delivery one Friday

  • West Central FS for the pork chops delivered

  • TriOak Foods for the pork loin delivered

  • Ryco for ribeye on a rainy day

  • Shanna for some great food in the field (especially the beef and noodles)

  • Phyllis for delivery services multiple times

Harvest is complete! The corn crop yield was some of the best ever, despite the sparse rain from mid-July until now. The bean crop was good as well—right at trendline. We have a lot of projects that were set aside during harvest to keep busy with now. The crew was great this year! We greatly appreciated our third semi when hauling the (more than ever before) bushels. There are creeks dry now that have, as far as we remember, never quit flowing previously. It is recommended to not apply fall NH3 until getting some rain and moisture back in the ground.

The Mississippi River is at record low levels in Memphis. Bean price is terrible due to light barge loading and small loads of fertilizer and supplies coming from the north. The war in Ukraine and winter energy requirements in Europe are causing market uncertainty. Why are we using our strategic petroleum supply when this is not a national emergency? Diesel supplies are at their lowest levels in decades—only a 25 day supply. A lot of good it does for President Biden to plead with OPEC to increase supplies while they are already having record profits…🙄 And him getting involved in the railroad strike to have it delayed until after the election…how was that in the public interest?

This upcoming weekend is Cora’s final volleyball tournament, Nationals in Council Bluffs, Iowa. We look forward to watching her win! Lindsay and family also had a great harvest week here on the farm; apple cider was made! We are excited for the family weekends and holidays to be celebrated soon. Phyllis’ recovery is going as well as can be expected.

Current Prices:

Corn—6.58

Soybeans—13.16

Stay safe,

Steve


Eagle's Wings

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Partners & Friends,

We have been busy harvesting soybeans these past few days. The dry weather has allowed us to combine uninterruptedly every day since starting last week. While doing so, we have noticed much wildlife in the fields. Since we farm along trees and creeks, we see much more of these interesting sights than other farmers who only work on flat, black fields. A bald eagle, who followed the combine from field to field, made an appearance while we were finishing lands and pushing rabbits into the open. The pictures above do not do justice to the beauty and majesty of these creatures—what bold, charming birds!

Harvest is progressing well. The beans should be completed by Friday if all comes together as planned. The Hess Family Farm team has been pleasantly surprised by the higher yields in the later maturity beans. Unload lines at the river terminals are growing this week as more farmers begin harvesting their beans. We have been spreading our cover crops and incorporating into the soil with our vertical tillage disc. We are also making field repairs to washouts, fixing tile holes, and working on some conservation projects. If weather holds and all continues going well, harvest may be complete by around midweek of October 18th. The corn and beans are yielding well considering the amount of moisture they've gotten over the past 2 months. Our test plots are showing some interesting results too—update will come soon.

Markets are truly getting jerked around by harvest pressure, low water levels on Mississippi (higher freight rates), Ukraine tension in the shipping lanes that opened up, interest rates, and some apparent demand destruction. The pipeline battle is heating up on a local level; our McDonough County board voted to intervene. This is a big deal and we applaud their courage to take a stand.

Family is busy with school, work, and some play. Everyone is looking forward to the pressure of harvest diminishing soon.

For those wanting a more comprehensive update on Phyllis and her recent (or not so😔) eye issues, back in August, she was referred by her local ophthalmologist to the retina and cornea specialists at the University of Iowa Health Care Eye Institute at Iowa City. After many scans and tests, it was determined that Phyllis was a good candidate for complex retinal detachment repair and a cornea transplant. She had surgery in Iowa City on September 19th. So far it seems as if she is healing up as well as possible. She has had some vision restored, for which she is extremely grateful. There is reason to hope that her vision may continue to improve, if the eye drop protocol is followed precisely and if she can manage to follow doctors' orders for not lifting anything over ten pounds, or strenuous activity of any kind. Thankfully the eye doctors at Iowa City do NOT restrict reading nor computer work, so that is a very welcome change from previous experiences after eye surgeries. We are praying that her body will not reject the donor cornea, and that the new eye drops will prevent the buildup of scar tissue so healthy healing may take place.

Lastly, we wanted to mention that an article based on an interview with Marcus, Phyllis, and I was recently published in the Fall 2022 issue of Cultivate! If you receive that periodical by Compeer Financial, feel free to flip through and read our feature, Leveraging Outside Expertise.

Current Delivery Prices:

Corn—6.52

Soybeans—13.40

Let us know what you want to learn, see, or hear about!

Steve

First Fruits

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Partners & Friends,

We began harvest on Monday. It was a typical first day with more technological glitches than mechanical. The first field is good; moisture is under 25% and yields over 200 bushels per acre. A service call is needed to get the dryer lit, but then we’ll be ready to roll. We will continue harvesting for a few days until the wet bin gets full or beans are ready to cut. A few of the beans are dropping leaves rapidly. Prices are being supported nicely by Monday's crop report. We will keep you all updated!

Stay safe,

Steve

Finish Line

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Partners & Friends,

We finished up the last corn field Wednesday, November 3rd, about 9:30pm. On the last day, Oma (Wilma) came to the field to ride with her grandson, and got to help complete harvest on land she and Charles had purchased 58 years ago. It is a good feeling to be done with the combine for the time being. Now on to all the peripheral stuff that involves a lot of details to complete. NH3 application, field mowing, equipment washing, truck maintenance, fall burndown spraying, and tiling projects, to name a few. We are still plenty busy but the late nites have dissipated. We welcome the time change as it gives us more early light to get chores done and projects underway. We are giving thanks for the good yields that held thru the entire harvest season--probably our second or third best corn and bean yields ever. We will need some office time now to get analyses and summaries completed. We are facing parts availability issues on a couple of pieces of equipment, and it does appear there might be some supply problems for fertilizer next spring. We are so glad we did the bin site upgrade this year--the storage and time savings really paid off. We are monitoring the corn/soybean price ratio for this next year's crop to determine profitability for next year’s crop mix. As of now we plan on keeping our 50/50 corn/soybean rotation.

Farmer sentiment is waning as prices are sliding and there is so much uncertainty where the federal government is taking us for taxes and infrastructure. Planning is becoming difficult . Brazil is planting record bean acres at a very good pace. Livestock issues worldwide are causing concern for soybean usage and meal supplies. Ethanol production is at record levels and oil is surging higher. Seems like a perfect storm for something?

Family great! Phyllis is healing after her second retina surgery. Looks like she will have restricted activities for 2-4 more weeks. UChicago Family Weekend was interesting and well attended. Harper gave a great devotional at chapel this week. Getting thanksgiving plans organized--lots to give thanks for!

Prices currently:

Corn 5.48

Soybeans 11.92

Stay safe & keep in touch - appreciate any and all comments!

Steve