Livestock

Livestock has been a lifeblood of Midwest agriculture since settlement began. Here in McDonough County the Doll and Hess families have always had some sort of "mortgage lifter/cash flow supplier" to diversify the farming operation and utilize some of the less productive cropping ground involved in the farming operation.

The Doll family has had livestock on the homestead that Phyllis and I live on since it was begun in 1869. Mainly a cattle operation known for their fat cattle, the farm has also been home to swine, sheep and chickens. Tales of "pigville" and chicken butchering and spring calving run deep in the history of this family farm.  We are reminded that a farming operation diversified can develop many synergies to make it even stronger and more sustainable.

My side of the family have been dairy farmers since before coming to this country four generations ago.  Once in the United States, the Hesses had ventures in Wisconsin, then Peoria County, then in the McDonough County area. Life in our family has been centered around chores for many generations. When we sold our milking herd three years ago we were the last commercial dairy in the county. Just this past week after attending the Fulton County Fair, Alison expressed that she does miss showing dairy cattle.

After the sale of the milking herd, we began custom feeding heifers until this past January. Then we started up again last week when we got in 48 new heifers with more expected to arrive soon, so our barns are filling up again. There's something in our blood that compels us to continue raising animals and watching God's creation grow. We are also feeding 25 chickens that will start supplying eggs soon. Along with the cats and dogs there is always something new and lovable here at Hess Family Farm.

We're getting weary of all the weather talk. Here on our farm we have recorded somewhere in the neighbor hood of 25 inches of rain since May 1. Keep in mind, normal for the entire year is around 36. These last couple of weeks provided a welcome respite from precipitation. We were able to get our beans sprayed with fungicide (lots of disease arising with all the moisture and humidity) and we are able to mow roadsides and waterways to combat the ever growing grass and weeds. We finished emptying our bins a couple of weeks ago and are working on maintenance projects and vacations and readying equipment for the upcoming harvest.

We flew over our fields this past week to survey what the growing crop looks like. It appears our multiple nitrogen application strategy is helping with all the nitrogen loss due to the excess water (see previous blog post by Marcus). Our sweet corn crop is looking good which is usually a indication of what the field corn will be like. The bean fields are really showing the effects of too much water in the low places. The weather in August will determine the bean potential. Both crops are damaged by the water excess. We also have about 45-50 acres that are drowned out and totally lost due to flooding.

The ag economy is concerned by lots of government entanglement. The Renewable Fuel Standards released this past week were not supportive for corn usage. The EPA's Water Of The United States (WOTUS) proposed rules could be interpreted as government control of private property. Here in Illinois the new governor's attempt to improve the business climate seems to be going nowhere. Business as usual will not sustain us in the future. We must be nimble and quick to adapt to the challenges coming our way constantly.

Family is doing well. I just celebrated a birthday divisible by 10. Phyllis and Alison made it a special day! Lindsay and Keith have announced they are due next February and Alison is spending a week in Virginia on a work mission trip. Hard to believe less than month to the end of summer and school starting!

Fall bids:

Corn 3.73

Beans 9.70

Enjoy whats left of the summer!

Steve

More Rain & Related Concerns

Partners,

As the rains continue to move across our area, there are several issues which are becoming concerns for the growing crops.  Of course flooding and ponding are more obvious to the casual observer, but foliar disease and denitrification are just as big of concern at this time.

You have all heard plenty about drainage tile, and we are of course glad that we have continued to install these systems over the time, and years like this can nearly pay for the investment very quickly.  With foliar disease and denitrification, there is a good amount of scouting and decision making that needs to take place to determine if further management is needed in order to maintain yield potential.

We are feeling fortunate that we had already planned to try out an "intensive nitrogen management" program this growing season.  Basically this consisted of applying fewer pounds of nitrogen in the "preplant" application, monitoring the crop to determine nitrogen loss, then evaluating yield potential to determine if the nitrogen loss, coupled with yield potential, warranted additional nitrogen application mid summer.  After completing tests in three fields, we determined that an additional 23 to 46 pounds of nitrogen were warranted in order to maintain full yield potential on nearly all of our corn acres.  Part of this need was inherently due to less applied nitrogen ahead of the growing season, but more so, the need was driven by the excessive moisture that has "pushed" a lot of nitrogen down below the root zone.  

The nitrogen is being aerially applied as I type this, in the form of pelletized urea.  Traditionally this is looked upon negatively due to the high cost of application, but as the weather becomes consistently erratic, we are realizing too many losses from early applications.

After a few trips around the midwest, we are very fortunate to have the yield potential to warrant this application.

The markets have also been "awakened" in the past couple of weeks due to the excessive moisture concerns.

Fall corn is now at 3.70

Fall soybeans are 9.50

Feel free to fire back with any questions on this more "in depth" subject matter.

Marcus

Wet & Wild

Partners,

The average rainfall for the year seems to have caught up, all within a weeks time here - with the next four days calling for more precipitation. This past week alone I have dumped over 4" out of our rain gauges. Our creek is out of its banks since yesterday and has been there long enough we will be required to replant at least 40 acres of flooded ground. But as the saying goes for every bottom there is a hill that benefits from the water and the crops are in excellent condition - maybe not quite as good as last year but still above average. 

This past week we have been able to attack some more of our "projects" - things we want to do to improve and enhance our farms but don't feel we can necessarily justify hiring done. Since Marcus and Shanna have established a new color scheme at the Hess homestead, we have been wanting to recolor the outbuildings. So this week we began the process of re-painting the the machine shed there and will follow with the rest of the buildings as time allows. We are also shipping corn to meet our June contracts and mowing often to keep ahead of the grass and weeds. 

Prices for fall delivery:

Corn 3.40

Soybeans 8.85

Enjoy your summer and this blessed country we live in! Few weeks to the Fourth of July when we should really appreciate our freedom.

End & Beginning

Partners,

Another week of rain and work between showers. Corn and beans are growing well and fast as we try to get side dressing done and corn spraying completed. We received over 2 inches on all farms last weekend and looks like another half inch this weekend. Our grain hauling pace has picked up and we intend to have everything delivered by the middle of July. We have been aggressive sellers of our unpriced inventory and have very little remaining. There was no spring rally due to excellent planting window and conditions. With the fields looking so good price slides continue.

Fall bids:

Corn 3.38

SB 8.85

There are two college graduates here that have been excellent team members at Hess Family Farm for the last couple of years: Mitch and Aaron from the WIU Ag Department. Mitch majored in Ag Business and Aaron in Agronomy. We've had a lot of good college help over the years here and appreciate them all. We are going to miss these two as they go on to careers in their fields and provide a new round of innovation and enthusiasm that the agriculture industry needs to stay vital and progressive. Best wishes to them both as they end their college time and go out into the real world. They will both succeed in whatever they choose to do.

Families are doing well, and with school out the summer schedule has begun. Lots of sports, swimming, picnics and travel. Our project list is already longer than we will probably accomplish but the weather this spring so far has allowed us to get a lot of things done we normally wouldn't have time for.

Farm Drainage: A History

Soil-Max Tile Plow

Tile Rolls

Partners, 

Two weeks have gone by. We have been squeezing in extra projects that often get put off in a normal cropping season. This past week we completed a field drainage project we began over two years ago. Weather and fieldwork demands complicate projects like this, but this winter we decided that we would first complete planting, and then tile if weather and time allowed. Thankfully, both did. This week we installed over four miles of plastic tile on a farm we purchased four years ago that adjoins the Doll Homestead. We have now accomplished our goal of draining the whole western two-thirds of our biggest contiguous field!

Draining the soils of the Midwest has been on going since settlement began here in the mid-1800s. The early settlers actually preferred the hills and lighter soils in order to avoid water problems. Around here the ancestors farmed around "buffalo wallows" - the depressions in the fields that held water, that apparently back in the open plain days the animals would go to to cool off in the heat of summer. Some of the earliest tiling projects here (using clay tile underground to drain wet spots) date back to the late 1800s when all the work was done by hand - what fun that must have been! Some of the earliest engine powered trenchers came into use in the 1920s and 1930s but farm economics at that time didn't allow widespread adoption due to tight/non-existent margins.

I can remember as a boy what a big event it was to hire a contractor to come in to do a tiling project. It always meant we would see a big improvement to the land: drying up wet spots, allowing the building of grass waterways for easier and more conservation-friendly farming, and being able to eliminate open ditches of running water that grew trees and brush.

Seeing the value of soil conservation and surface water management, we decided to purchase our first tiling machine in 1974 to address our water issues. The old 302 Buckeye turned into one of the most important pieces of equipment on our farm - not only on our own land, but the custom tiling I (Steve) did in those early years put me through college! In 1998 we traded up for a rubber-wheeled machine; a Speicher 600, that we still operate today to dig in big mains and assist the tile plow for ease of hookups for pattern tiling jobs. We purchased the Soil-Max tile plow (pictured) in 2010. The speed of plowing the tile in (as opposed to digging a trench) allows for much faster installation of lateral runs.

If you have farmland in Illinois, you undoubtedly have drain tile of some kind on your property. However, the common best management practice now is to pattern tile a field, which means completely drain the property on 30-100 foot centers. Pattern tiling allows the field to dry out evenly which facilitates timely field operations, and reduces soil erosion and compaction. This also eliminates persistent wet areas in some fields which in the past have yielded absolutely nothing in wet years. Additional benefits are more predictable yields, improved field efficiency, and generally enhanced profitability for the land owner.

We truly appreciate all the drainage work our partners have participated in over the past many years, and look forward to more projects in the future. Our goal is to continue to leave a legacy of conserving and improving the farmland of which we are caretakers.