Beanfielding

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Partners,

Summer seems to be rapidly coming to an end. Last week we took a morning to clean up a few weeds in a couple of soybean fields. This practice of "walking" beans brought back some not so fond memories of days growing up when we did this to all the soybean fields we farmed (thank goodness it was not so many acres). Before there were chemicals available like today, for practically every weed control, we would put down grass control, cultivate, and then walk the fields with a hoe or weedhook to get the stray weeds. For several weeks we would, every morning, go to the fields while the dew was still on the plants and start. By the time we quit at noon we were usually soaked with sweat to replace the wetness of the dew in our clothes. Rarely would we walk in the heat of the afternoon--but that was because thee was hay to bale or pastures to mow or cultivating to do. The good old days!

Crops are looking good. The beans are about as tall as I have ever seen them and fields look very even for plant height and health. There is talk of sudden death syndrome moving in due to the damp, warm conditions, but we have not detected any in our crop so far.  August rains will determine the yields. Corn is starting to dent and we will be preparing to start harvest in about a month. Sweet corn crop was excellent! We are mowing, still working on barn restoration, and taking a few days off ahead of the harvest onslaught.

Ag economy is in doldrums right now in about all sectors. Livestock and grains are all feeling the effects of current over production but there are signs of better times ahead. World grain demand has never been higher. Milk and meat demand is holding steady, but with cheap feed, getting the supply to lessen will be a slow process.

School starts in only a few weeks!

Fall bids:

Corn 3.09

Soybeans 9.40

Enjoy the rest of summer!

Steve

Earth, Wind, and Water

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Partners,

It's been warm and wet here these past few weeks. Water is always a big issue on our minds. We are participating in a voluntary water quality study this summer through McDonough Co Farm Bureau and assistance from the University. We are collecting water samples from 2 different farm tiles every 2 weeks that are measured for mainly nitrates. One tile is from a bean field and one is from a corn field. We are also measuring flow rates in gallons per seconds. Our first samples have come back very satisfactory as far as nitrate levels go but that would be expected in such a dry time with so little rainfall. Part of the purpose of this study is to create some baselines to use when the EPA is very soon going to try to regulate fertilizer applications on farm fields. The Toledo green zone last summer was a rude awakening as to what possibilities are if nitrogen blooms find perfect conditions. Part of our strategy of multiple nitrogen applications is to put the fertilizer on when the plant needs it and thereby reduce rates. We will keep you informed how this project turns out. We will see summary results from all the participants in McDonough county in November.

With the near perfect weather our crops look about as good as I have ever experienced in my farming career. It does seem that the corn and bean crop are about as even growing and good stands as they have ever been. We have finished spraying crops - the second pass - and are applying fungicide (with a plane) to selected corn fields. Soybean fungicide will follow soon. We are finishing up delivering our contracted corn sales in July and hope to have the last of the bins cleaned out soon. We have also been mowing and spraying fence rows and creek banks to keep brush from growing. We are also starting on summer projects now like painting, building maintenance, equipment cleanup and repair, waterway rebuilding, tile repair, and brush cutting. Our heifer enterprise has turned into a calf enterprise - we are now feeding 7 bucket calves and selling the heifers as freshened milkers ready to go to work.

Family doing well all around. Alison is going on an 8-day mission trip to Dominican Republic in one week. Summer softball is complete. Marcus and girls are walking and riding bikes in many parades for local Republican candidate. Bucket calf show was last week. Each family should get in some vacation time before summer is over so we can go into harvest refreshed and renewed. Once again, summer is flying by!

Fall Prices:
Corn 3.33
SB 10.32

Stay cool and keep in touch!

We love getting your questions & comments - just click on "Comment" below.

Steve

Last Seeds

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Partners,

Put the last bean in the ground Monday morning to finish the 2016 planting season--2 weeks longer than 2015. We have been experiencing many small spotty showers and feel blessed that most all the fields have been replenished with decent moisture. The last field to plant was where we had planted rye for cover crop and feed for the heifers. Yield was good and the soil seemed loosened by the rye roots and allowed good planting conditions. We immediately started sidedressing  NH3  to try to keep up with the early planted corn which is growing rapidly. The stands are just about perfect with the light rains and good soil conditions we were able to plant into.

We are also busy hauling corn as we were able to take advantage of some good basis opportunities to price stored bushels for delivery in May and June--times when most farmers don't want to mess with loading trucks due to crop duties. We are blessed to have some good drivers (like Charlie and Mitch and Wayne) to get this job done for us between other tasks. We will begin spraying all crops a second pass soon and get started mowing roadsides and waterways. Not because we are lazy but we do like to delay the mowing as long as possible to give wildlife a chance to have crop cover to move into.

The ag economy is still anxiously watching the political arena. Fortunate for us is that both presumed candidates are for energy independence and support ethanol.  The Supreme Court nomination will give some direction as to what the EPA WOTUS final rules will be like. Here in Illinois we are bracing for what ever tax package will have to be put in place to get this state on some sort of footing to move into the future. Commodity prices are showing some life with the talk of drought this summer and hopefully will provide us with some profitable pricing opportunities this summer for the 2016 crop we have left to sell.

Personal notes--Alison now has her drivers license!!! She will be home from school in a few weeks and is planning on working on the farm this summer before she goes to the Dominican Republic for a short term mission trip with the youth group from Checkrow.

Fall prices:

Corn 3.70

Soybeans 10.33

Keep in touch--we are always looking for things to post that you are interested in! We have put a contact form on the blog to make communication easy.

Steve

First Seeds

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Partners,

We have been planting for two weeks now.  We are getting some rain today so I have time to blog. 

We have had our challenges with the new planter technology (including about 2 days of downtime), but we have completed over 60% of corn planting. Rain has been very spotty and we are following the field cultivator closely with the planter to be sure to plant into moisture. Dry soil conditions here and in Brazil have been noted in major news stories. The commodity markets seemed to have picked up on the weather story also as corn and beans have jumped to new contract highs for this move. 

We are also catching up on side jobs such as grain hauling, fixing tile holes, tree cutting, machinery repair, and livestock chores. We do not expect to beat our record early finish date that we posted last year (May 2, 2015) but only weather will hold us back after this early start. 

Things to watch affecting the ag economy-- Brazil economic and political issues, dollar strength, weather forecasts, oil prices.

Family doing well--Abbott's 2nd birthday already! Phyllis and I spent a weekend with Ali at Wayland Academy for the annual spring family weekend and fundraiser. We also were able to see Stephi's family and Lindsay's family the weekend before that. We are so grateful for our children and grandchildren!

Fall bids:

Corn 3.73

Soybeans 9.55

 

Keep in touch,

Steve

Planter Technology

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Partners,

This spring the big project has been to update our planter. Although only five years old, our planter is due for a refreshing of the latest technology available for the most important pass of the year through the field. The seed is at its maximum crop potential the instant it is put in the ground. From that point the yield potential will be diminished by all the factors that come about to "hinder" the crop performance--wind, rain, heat, insects, weed pressure, and disease to name a few. 

Our planter project includes making down and up pressure active on each individual row and the ability to plant two varieties in the same pass. The down pressure aspect is to place the seed into the perfect seed bed for maximum germination. The goal is to have every seed in the field germinate within a 24 hour window so all plants have full yield potential. Those that sprout late or do not sprout leave us with plants with poor potential or blank spots that will not contribute to the final yield. Being able to plant two different hybrids gives us the opportunity to place the seed in the right yield potential environment in the field. Some parts of the fields have less yield opportunities and will take a "workhorse" hybrid while the areas of the fields which have shown us over time their higher yield potential will get a racehorse seed that can adapt to better yield potentials. 

All this opportunity is here because of all the data we have been collecting over the past 20 years. Landowners have seen all the yield maps we generate each year; we have been grid soil testing for over 15 years, and we have been comparing hybrid response to field areas in side-by-side testing for over 10 years. As some one who has been paying for all this data collection I am so excited to see the potential of farming by the foot to really unlock field potentials!

We are early adopters of this technology so part of the process is struggling to figure out what is the best way to use all the information we have collected. We will keep you posted as we proceed and share our successes and stumbles along the way.

Here on the farm we are finishing up projects as the weather allows. We completed an 80 acre pattern tiling project a couple of weeks ago, have been clearing trees and fence rows to make for easier field edges, readying equipment in the shop, moving contracted grain, and started spraying burn down as of last week.

Ag commodity prices are showing some signs of finding a short term bottom, all eyes are on the weather for this growing season, and the agriculture positions of the presidential nominees are getting attention in the ag sector.

Fall Prices:

Corn 3.55

Soybeans 9.01

Enjoy and appreciate spring and the renewing of the creation for another growing season!

 

Steve