Great Finish

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Partners & Friends,

Phyllis and I attended the UChicago convocation activities last weekend to watch Alison Elaine Hess walk the stage! It was a wonderful couple of days with a reception at the Museum of Science and Industry on Friday night, a huge convocation Saturday morning, and the diploma ceremony that Saturday afternoon. Ali has completed another chapter in her life and now is onto the next. She is living in Asheville and working remotely for Berkeley Academy. Way to go Ali!🎉

The farm has yet to receive any rain. We have completed corn spraying, NH3 application, and haying the first time around. It is already almost time for the second cutting of alfalfa. The first cutting of grass hay was about 20% less than last year due to moisture reduction. The corn is starting to roll a little bit in the hot afternoons to protect itself. The Hess Family Farm team and I will begin spraying beans very soon; we’re hoping for a solid rain shower so they can take off and canopy to help with weed control. We just finished replanting a few thin spots, and some rain will be needed to bring those seeds up as well. 

Commodity markets do not seem to be paying much attention to the weather. We’re certainly not seeing the usual Father’s Day selling opportunity. Crude prices have firmed with the Saudi production cut announcement. The dam disruption in Ukraine will cause some crop production where the water was counted on for irrigation. 

Goat show season, softball, summer jobs, camps, and other festivities are here and keeping our family busy. The Peer group meeting is in the state of Washington next week. Independence Day will be here shortly!

Fall Prices:

Corn—5.11

Soybeans—11.53

Stay cool!

Steve

One of a Kind

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Partners & Friends,

Summer is upon us! Graduation season is in full swing. We have known and employed some wonderful students over the years. Today, I want to take a minute to recognize an employee who is a high school senior this year. Justin Daniel Runyan has been helping us at Hess Family Farm for about 4 years. He can do anything mechanical, weld superbly, drive any vehicle, solve any motor problem, and is just an all-around awesome follower of Christ. Justin helps with any and every task asked of him with full energy and engagement. We can make a similar claim about several other employees, students, and friends that have come up through the ranks over the years. The Lord has truly blessed us with some talented, timely hands these past several decades. We could not do what we do without you!

We are fervently applying NH3 before the corn outgrows our ability to drive through; the corn is in a growth stage where it doubles in height every week. We have completed harvest of our alfalfa and are currently working on several acres of grass hay from the many waterways we maintain. Additionally, the Hess Family Farm team is now starting to spray the second pass of corn herbicides to keep the fields weed-free. There are also the last calves to get out to pasture, as well as a bit of replant to do in areas where water saturated the soil during the heavy rain we received a few weeks ago. We have had no rain over the past 12 days, and the forecast is looking dry for the next couple of weeks. There is an old saying that states a dry June helps deep root the crop for a better outcome. Hopefully Snodgrass is right in that, and the El Niño pattern will give us moisture during the last part of June. Lastly, thanks to my brother-in-law, Phil Doll, who traveled from Michigan to help us for a few weeks, the Hess Family Farm managed to custom seed a couple hundred acres of CRP fields. Phil’s help gave us a huge boost this month!

I am keeping an eye on energy and fertilizer prices. At some point, this decline will turn and it will be time to lock-in needs for 2024 crop. The farm bill debate is heating up in DC. It appears that the Ukrainian war could last for years. The national labor shortage is a real thing—even down on the farm.

Summer break is almost here as end-of-school activities conclude. Phyllis and I are looking forward to attending Convocation at the University of Chicago on June 3rd next weekend. Ali Elaine Hess has earned her Bachelors degree and we are so excited to be there to witness her receiving her diploma! She has already put her degree to work by accepting employment with Berkeley2Academy as a college admissions counselor, and has moved to Asheville, North Carolina to begin this next chapter of her life. Summer camps, jobs, and sports are in play for the grandchildren. 

Fall Prices:

Corn—5.15

Soybeans—11.65

Enjoy summer!

Steve

Fungicide

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Partners & Friends,

The intensity of field work is finally winding down for the summer. We are spraying our last pass of fungicide on corn and beans. Our new sprayer has proven a huge benefit; we are now able to spray more efficiently with bigger loads (1,200 gallons vs. 1,000 gallons) and a wider boom (120 feet vs. 100 feet). A principal reason to upgrade the machine was to permit the application of 20 gallon/acre of water on the last pass of corn, opposed to the airplane rate of 2 gallon/acre. This thorough coverage of soaking should give the plant more, lasting protection against diseases and insects. We are conducting several field trials this season, which should provide insightful data to judge the value on the more complete coverage. We still feel there is much potential in both the corn and bean crops.

The team continues to stay busy working on the summer construction projects. Our window of extra summer labor will be closing in a few weeks as college and school begin to resume. The Fulton County Fair is this week, with the State Fair ensuing two weeks after.

Management decisions are difficult in this global, volatile situation. I attended a summer marketing meeting last week, which I hope to report on soon. Commodity prices have been in a freefall with the scattered rainfall across the cornbelt; corn and soybeans are down almost $2 and $3/bushel, respectively.

Phyllis and I have been getting some family time now that farming is less intense, including a visit to the Luecht family in Grafton, WI last weekend, and the Steele family and Ali in St. Louis, MO this weekend. Charles and Wilma celebrated their 69th anniversary last Tuesday, the 19th.

Fall Prices:

Corn—5.52

Soybeans—13.03

Stay cool and safe,

Steve

Happy Birthday, USA!

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Partners & Friends,

The 4th of July celebrations this weekend mean we are already to the middle of summer (and year)! The pace of farm activities is a bit easier now that we’ve completed the first cutting of hay and finished the second spraying of corn last week. I just noticed some tassels today, which is good news because it means the corn crop is catching up after a slow start. I have not seen any local sweet corn at the market yet, but it can't be far off! The Hess Family Farm is in full construction mode, with some of the remodeling already at the rebuilding stage. The last of our grain has been shipped; now we need to prepare the grain center and storage bins for new crop. The weather over the next four weeks will be critical. We currently have no excess moisture, but the corn and soybeans are looking very good. The two-week weather forecast shows chances for rain (although nothing substantial) and no extreme heat.

The commodity market absorbed the quarterly grain stocks and planted acreage reports last Thursday with downward movement. The weather over the next few weeks will offer plenty of volatility. There has been some decrease in price in the fertilizer and fuel market, and we are looking to lock in some input (fertilizer, chemicals, seed, and fuel) for the 2023 crop soon. Here in Illinois, the Democrats and Republicans both claimed victory in the Republican primary.🤔 Phyllis opted out of serving as an election judge for the first time in decades due to the unfortunate issues with her eye.😔

The family is keeping busy with vacations, camps, shows, and fireworks. This month of July will fly by with county fairs and meetings to attend.

I hope you all have a great holiday, enjoying and appreciating the freedoms we have here!

Fall Prices:

Corn—5.95

Soybeans—13.90

To read a message from Dennis, a Ukrainian farmer, click here.

Please feel free to leave comments—we do our best to reply to every single one!

Steve

Get Out the Shorts!

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Partners & Friends,

While entering the middle of June, the forecast has turned HOT, with heat indexes over 100. We are trying to get the beans sprayed before June 20 (the last date to spray), but the label says no dicamba on days over 85°. 🙁 We will see what can be accomplished this weekend. The cool, wet weather has been fantastic for crop development, yet the crop is still behind “normal” for growth. This heat should help them catch up, as long as moisture does not run out. Stands of corn and beans are near perfect. Our seed dealer told us that he did not have to send out a single bag of replant seed, which is the first time ever! Corn has potential to be a great crop, depending on weather during and after pollination. Beans are not looking to have record potential, with slow growth and delayed flowering. 

We have arrived in our third season on the farm: construction. This is our window of opportunity to remodel and upgrade facilities and property for better utilization throughout the year. We are upgrading the horse barn at Marcus’ farmstead, remodeling our parlor building for work area and goats, and converting one of the former freestall barns for hay and machine storage. That, along with waterway repairs and driveway improvements, always has our list longer than time and resources permit. The HFF team feel it necessary to continually upgrade to keep the farm—both what we own and the property our landowners contribute—as productive as possible. Haying this summer is frustrating with the recent weather…first cutting should have been completed 2 weeks ago.😐 We have been doing some custom CRP seeding when ground conditions allow, as well as spraying fences and creek banks to control rogue trees and sprouts. We are also still delivering corn and beans; the bins are almost empty. I have never sold $8/bushel corn, but getting very close to that right now. 😁

Questions are looming in the global marketplace: how much crop got planted in Ukraine? How much will they be able to export? How much demand destruction has occurred? What will fertilizer availability and price be next crop season? Where will energy prices top out? Can we agree on a long-term energy policy in the US? How long and deep will this (possible) recession be?

The family is in the throes of summer activities: VBS, camps, goat shows, vacations, ball games, and hopefully a little relaxation. With a few more issues that popped up recently, Phyllis will be tending to her eye for quite a while.

Fall Prices:

Corn—7.06

Soybeans—15.68

Let us know what you want to hear about!

Steve