What a Planting Season

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Partners,

Pulled out of the field with the bean planter for the last time Tuesday night. We are leaving some small wet areas of corn and bean acres which we might plant cover crops into when they dry up, but for now we are calling planting complete. The local weather station says we are at 179% of normal rainfall for the year. Our area is at 99% planting completion after lots of activity this past week. We replanted approximately 130 acres of corn and 85 acres of beans. Planting a field a second time is not very exciting! We are struggling to get hay baled this week with equipment challenges and weather issues. The forecast is for rain for most of the rest of this week. We do count ourselves blessed in that we are able to get most everything in the ground; several farmers across the USA we know were not so fortunate. The bean planter was pulled out 11 times (not that I was counting). Most of the bean fields were entered at least twice, planting dry areas first and then going back for wet spots. Tiling paid huge dividends this year--both in field access and the way the crop was able to emerge in all the moisture. We have identified several spots that need more in the near future if these weather anomalies are the norm. It will take years to heal the erosion and sediment from the extreme rain.

USDA is hard at work on the next round of Market Facilitation Payments to prop up falling commodity prices. Tying all of the rules into Prevent Plant guidelines and trying not to distort the market are proving formidable challenges. Here in Illinois we have just seen the most anti-business legislation in decades enact lots of new taxes without curbing anything on the cost side.

And now we have legalized pot production and consumption, so all of our problems will seem much less severe.

Family doing well--Ali is going to South Carolina to work at bringfido.com for the summer. 4-H show season is upon us. Now with planting complete a more normal lifestyle will emerge. Looking forward to a summer of fun times with family and friends.

Fall Prices:

Corn 4.28

Soybeans 8.60

Keep in touch,

Steve

Here We Go

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Partners,

We are about a week away from start of harvest. This will be one of the earliest starts ever with the rapid maturation of the corn (about 10 days ahead of average) and beans (about week early). After getting most of our summer project list wrapped up and getting horses delivered to their new home at Marcus's house, we are getting pre-harvest tasks checked off. Cleaning bins (for seed beans - must pass inspection), combine out of storage and in shop for technology update and installation, semi maintenance, grains system maintenance, final mowing of season for roadsides and waterways, lime hauling, school startup and equipment preparation. Ideally we'd like to test everything out this week, but will probably go to field day after Labor Day. Will let you know yield trends when we start.

Tariffs are a big issue in farm country. Soybean prices are down about 1.75 since the trade war talk started (hence the 1.65 proposed compensation from USDA). Another fallout of the soy issue is that we are facing basis bids twice as wide as normal. Dicamba re-certification for soybeans is a big talking point. The farm bill in congress is being debated mainly for the SNAP portion of the bill. Several crop tours are coming in with yield forecasts of a good corn crop (but not as big as last year) and a record soybean prospect. Pod counts in the soybean fields are highest ever which has led to the lowest prices in 6 years.

Family is doing well. Homeschool has started in St Louis, and locally Trinity started classes this past week. Alison goes to Chicago for orientation September 22 and class starts October 1 after a great sendoff party 2 weeks ago. Charles and Wilma celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary with a family celebration and community reception. 

Fall Bids:

Corn 3.25

Soybeans 7.65

Enjoy the fall weather!

Steve

Fireworks and Fungicides

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Partners,

We are still keeping busy caring for crops. This past week we have been spraying fungicides on corn and soybeans. With the hot and humid conditions we are concerned about diseases moving in, and with the limited rainfall we also want to eliminate stress on the crop as much as possible. We are also seeing some insect pressure on the field edges, primary from Japanese beetles, so we are applying some insecticide along with the fungicide. In our area, crop dusters have been flying non-stop for the past week. We are spraying the beans with our self-propelled sprayer in order to use a higher ratio of water to get better coverage on the plants. As of right now, it looks like there's not much rain in the forecast so we're doing all we can to preserve the highest yield potential possible.

We are finishing up delivering our 2017 crop. We plan to have the bins empty by the end of July so we can get maintenance done before harvest starts. With the crop maturing ahead of schedule we anticipate harvest to begin right after Labor Day. We're working on farmstead maintenance as time allows, but as always, our project list is longer than the summer will allow time for. We are planning to get some time off before the start of harvest; time away makes the long days seem more bearable.

The farm economy is still reeling from all the tariff talk and implementation. As usual, agriculture seems to be the whipping boy for all this tough talk and action. Today it was announced the EPA will not raise the fuel blending standard for next year, which means the chance to use another few hundred million bushels of corn for renewable fuel is lost. Wondering if Trump remembers what part of the country those late counted votes came from. We are pleased with the nominee for SCOTUS.

Our family is halfway through summer with lots to show for it. On the Fourth of July we had some time on the lake along with four different fireworks shows. Phyllis had a cousin get-together this week. We're preparing for Alison's college sendoff on August 11th from 4 to 8pm, everyone is welcome! Classes at UChicago don't start till October 1. My parents' 65th anniversary is July 19th, and a reception for them will be August 12th from 2 to 4 at Checkrow Community Church.  

Fall Prices:

Corn 3.29

Soybeans 8.09

Stay cool and keep in touch!

Steve

Test Plots, Graduations, and Weddings

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Partners,

We just completed the busiest season of the year -- not planting or harvesting, but getting the crops sprayed and fertilized and laid by, while keeping up with fun family and social events on the calendar!  

We still have some late spraying to do on the seed beans we are raising, but we had to wait on the seed to be delivered so planting was delayed.  Seedling emergence this year is excellent in both corn and beans. Stands are very even and we have not had big rains to cause drowned out spots or soil crusting problems.  We try very hard to keep field edges and fence rows and roadsides maintained to control weeds and prevent brush from getting a foothold.  That work needs to be done while the crop is still small enough to drive through.  We also have a considerable amount of grain contracted for June delivery so Charlie S. is busy with that job.  Commodity prices are faltering due to the lack of weather concerns.  Corn is down almost 30 cents and soybeans are 40 cents lower than highs made in the last month.  

For the agricultural sector, the big news is the Bayer purchase of Monsanto.  Bayer has announced that they will drop the Monsanto name going forward.  It does have a reputation (whether it is deserved or not?) of being the big bad bully on the playground.  Bayer had to divest itself of over $6 billion worth of subsidiaries to get the deal past the US Justice department.  There are basically 3 seed/chemical companies remaining in the world.  Businesses have been consolidating since time began.

The past few weeks have been a busy time for family events.  Alison graduated from Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, on May 20th.  Our nephew, Luke Hess, was married May 26 in Peoria Heights, Illinois,  and our nephew, Lance Doll, was married on June 1 in Macomb, Michigan.  It was really great to have these three fun family weekends.

Fall Prices:

Corn:  $3.68/bushel

Soybeans:  $9.54/bu 

Keep in touch and enjoy the summer!

Steve

Haze & Hurricanes

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Partners,

What an interesting month! On Labor Day Phyllis and I noticed how funny colored the sky was, especially in the afternoon. Turns out it was smoke from fires out west. Then seeing Harvey and Irma move thru the South was an experience of a lifetime--so much power and fury! While avoiding natural disasters, we are busy finishing up summer projects: mowing, building repairs, equipment storage and readiness, grain hauling, storage readiness, and cattle upkeep. We just started corn harvest yesterday and are experiencing the usual startup kinks. Better now than in 2 weeks! Corn is doing well yield-wise (over 200 BPA) but is still high in moisture (27%). Should be a good harvest if weather cooperates.

Ag outlook seems steady for now. Land prices seem to have stabilized in Illinois and the good harvest should help farmer moods, but prices are really tanking due to the yields. USDA has been predicting good crops nationwide (there are some pockets of drought and excess water) and as it turns out they were accurate with their system of collecting data. But I can think of no other country that publicizes its crop size in the way we do.

Our family is doing well. We have a wedding coming up in October (our nephew, Suanne's son Joel). Schooling for all the kids of the right ages with lots of learning and homework. Lindsay and Keith settling into Milwaukee area. We are trying to keep life simple through harvest!

Fall prices:

Corn 3.16

SB 9.43

 

Steve