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

Great Two Weeks

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Partners,

We have just finished a great two week window of planting. We are 100% complete with corn and 75% complete with beans. We are waiting on some seed for the remaining beans which are special seed soybeans we are raising for a major seed comany. Just received a .8 inch rain event the past week, which puts all the planted crop in near-perfect moisture conditions. The soil temperatures have warmed quite nicely and crops are emerging well. We have been keeping up with spraying tasks and will soon start side dressing NH3 to the corn. Our plan for having two planters worked well for the later planting schedule and allowed us to make great progress. We did not put in too many super-long days.

The ag economy seems to be gaining steam with firm commodity prices and renewed optimism. Maybe our president really does know how to negotiate! One plus of all the trade war/tariff talk was the raising of scrap steel prices which gave us an opportunity to get our scrap piles cleaned up. Progress is being made in Congress on the Farm Bill renewal with the biggest stumbling block being how the house and senate will resolve the differences in the SNAP program benefits. Keep an eye on New York Times coverage of progress.

Family: Ali's college decision is made & high school graduation is coming right up. Summer is going to be a busy one with weddings and lots of good things. 

Fall Prices:

Corn 3.89

Soybeans 10.07

Keep in touch,

Steve

April Fools

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Partners,

Growing up, on the 1st of April every year my mom would wake us up announcing, "It snowed last night!" Then there would be a pause and the words, "Aprils Fools!" Well this year the trick was on us: we received about 3-4 inches of white stuff on April 1st. It was gone the next day, but we enjoyed the beauty of it while it lasted.

On the farm we are keeping busy with hooking up our new (to us) planter, tractor maintenance, building organization, grandbaby sitting, and tree clearing. The weather has not been conducive to planting and it is actually giving the market some support. Today's farmer has proven over and over the past decade that we can put 80% of the crop in the ground in a week, so this delay isn't too serious yet, but another two week forecast of wet and cold will start getting attention. We know one of the keys to high production is early planting. 

The farm economy seems to be in a holding pattern. Our friends in the dairy industry are really suffering with low prices, and even the Wall Street Journal picked up on the issue for a front page story. We are watching the trade talk negotiations going on which looks to me like posturing and some scare tactics to let our trading partners know we are tired of giving away the farm to reach a deal. If nothing else our president does have a lot of experience making deals. Stay tuned where this one goes, and ag is usually one of the first whipping boys for retaliatory measures.

The family is doing well and we appreciate all the blessings of health and new life. Opa and Oma got to meet their 10th great-grandchild (our niece's son) this week. Alison is still in college search mode for the right fit. Our house reconstruction has begun and looks to be a longer process than we would prefer, but it'll be nice when it's done.

Fall Prices:

Corn 3.80

Soybeans 10.09

Keep in touch,

Steve