More New Life

/

Partners & Friends,

Our daughter Lindsay birthed her fourth child on January 17th--Marguerite Esther. Margo will join her three brothers in a very busy household. We were at the hospital in the waiting room at delivery time. With every new birth I am so amazed at the wonder and perfection of these precious babies. And I stand in awe of a God who designed and fit this creation together so well!

There has been some great moonlight to work by these last few weeks. Before the storm came last week we were putting tile in the ground. We are working on wet areas that had to be replanted this past spring. We also got a call from one seed company to ship one of the varieties of seed beans. So we were loading trucks in the early morning moonlight. Elsewhere we are finishing up year-end activities in the office, getting financial information together for lenders and tax preparers, ordering seed and chemicals for 2020, and attending meetings to help us better manage the business. This is our chance during the year to catch up, clean out, and get reorganized and ready to work with Mother Nature for the next year.

Great news of the trade agreement signing last week. The market reaction was another, “Buy the rumor; sell the fact.” Some expect the Chinese to announce they are in the market so the price will be more expensive. Those people are not going to show their hand to make their food more expensive! Word of a new virus in China is kind of scary, too. With the globalization of the world it will be very hard to contain things like this. The president spoke at the AFBF annual meeting for the third year in a row. Farmer support seems to be at an all time high. The cold weather doesn't seem like it will last too long to really hamper grain movement this month. We are preparing for a summer shutdown of the Illinois river for some overdue maintenance of seven locks and dams. That means getting the grain we’ve sold to the river terminals delivered sooner rather than later. 

Family is well. This is the season when it seems schoolwork will never end. A bit of winter time off planned and some fun short trips to break up the monotony. 

Fall 2020 prices:

Corn 3.72

Soybeans 9.13

Steve

2020

/

Partners & Friends,

Here in this season we pause to reflect on the past year and plan ahead for the next. We are constantly asking ourselves how we can make the operation more sustainable, do more with less, be more efficient, increase our margins, determine what our core competencies are and best utilize our resources. Here are some of our thoughts heading into next year.

  • Tile—our highest yields consistently come from the ground that is patterned drained. Earlier planting, more even stands, better root development, easier harvest and less soil compaction all add up to increase the ROI 

  • Seed Beans—raising seed gets us the newest and best varieties with the most yield potential, but means weed control must be tip-top, bin space is an issue, and combine clean-out on hot afternoons is the most unpleasant 

  • Equipment Efficiency—keeping track of hours per power unit and repair cost of each piece of equipment gives information about cost to operate, when it’s time to replace, and do we need it

  • Less Tillage—part of the effort to make the land more sustainable is fewer trips, less compaction, and covering more acres with existing labor

  • Management Zones—part of the strategy of our multi-hybrid planter is investing in the parts of fields with the most profit potential and accepting the lower-yielding areas for what they are

  • Marketing—this past season reinforced that we must take advantage of opportunities to lock in profit and that the market is always right

  • Human Resources—our most valuable commodity is people—team members, suppliers, grain originators, landowners; those relationships must be nurtured and maintained

There are lots of details involved in this list that must be managed for the bottom line to be positively affected. That's what our job is-to bring everything together to allow this 150 year-old business to carry on to the next generation. We appreciate all who are a part of this endeavor that allows us to keep our dream jobs.

It appears the trade talks have negotiated a Phase One deal. We anxiously await seeing all the details on paper and signed. The general economy seems so strong with the labor marker so tight. Hopefully this next year’s major weather anomaly will be somewhere else in the world. :)

We are all celebrating this Christmas season with family and friends while enjoying all the blessings we have been given by a very generous Creator. Lindsay is due with their 4th child any day now. Ali is dog and cat sitting close to college campus. Preparing for bringing in 2020 with family and friends.

Have a Great Contented New Year!

Steve

Grateful

/

Partners & friends,

Thinking about all we have been challenged with this past year, this job is still a dream job. There are several things I am so thankful for.

  • For ancestors that weren't afraid of hard work and perseverance in the face of weather, economic and social issues

  • For rural America and the peace and tranquility we are afforded in this setting

  • For the opportunities to work with this beautiful plant and animal creation every day

  • For friends and neighbors who live out loving, serving and caring

  • For  freedom of religion and the wonderful community of believers we are in

  • For healthy Christ-seeking children and grandchildren 

  • For living in a country where we openly and freely choose who will govern us

  • For a loving God who loves and forgives me every day

Here on the farm we are in the midst of office crunch time. Paying year end bills, analyzing the past years crops, choosing seed and chemicals and crop rotations for this next season, and figuring out how to do more with less this next year, are a part of the processes we go through every year at this time. Outside the office we are cleaning equipment, hauling grain, helping some neighbors finish harvest, and constantly repairing tractors, trucks and combines. Our eleven head of cattle need to be fed and cared for each day. This is also the season for seed, marketing and management meetings.

As discombobulated as world politics seem my history reading reminds me that this is the way world governments have always been. Producing and protecting food supplies have been priorities for all civilizations. Trade wars have always been present. And world leaders have always recognized that a well-fed populace is easier to govern.

This is the season for Christmas programs. School and church programs remind us of why we celebrate and proclaim great joy from the Birth 2000 years ago. A real story for the ages. Ali has completed first quarter of her sophomore year. Looking forward to some time with family and friends these next few weeks.

Steve

Wildlife

/

11/17/19 update: Done @ 5 pm yesterday! What a season 2019 has been. Looking forward to a new year and learning from the lessons of this one.

Partners,

Each year at harvest time we get to appreciate—and be frustrated by—the amount of wild critters that are all around us. Some of our fields have up to 10% damage from turkeys, deer, or raccoons. The loss is more substantial in Fulton County, but almost all of our fields are close enough to some trees or stream or railroad that there are some signs of wildlife. While harvesting this past week I got some good pictures of the animal damage—with snow as a background—so I thought I would share. The financial loss is not talked about much and hard to quantify but on the yield maps the spots really stick out.

As of this morning (Friday), harvest is about two days from over. We have been picking corn on snow-covered ground this week. Thankfully there was little on the plants themselves. Snow and combine sieves don't mix well in freezing weather. The yields of the June planted corn are very average. This will be our lowest average corn yield since 2012. We finished beans this past Friday when we harvested the third planting on the bottom ground at my house (planted July 13th). They yielded a respectable 46bpa which seems incredible with that late of a planting date. We give thanks and praise for some growing anomalies. Marcus started NH3 application this week with our new-to-us tractor. We appreciate a big front wheel assist tracked tractor in the hard pull heave tillage. Using this tractor should allow us to plant directly into the NH3 strips next spring and eliminate some tillage, labor, fuel and time.


Commodity prices are drifting sideways in a typical, slow, drawn-out harvest scenario. We are not watching TV coverage of the going-ons in DC. Congress has had the USMCA on the agenda since last winter and now it looks like they don't have time to pass a trade agreement that will help our commerce.


School snow days in November don't happen too often. The extreme cold this early puts a fast spin on chores for the horses and cows. This past Sunday we enjoyed a violin recital.


Fall prices:

Corn 3.71

Soybeans 9.12


Keep in touch,

Steve

What Was It Like?

/

Partners,

Something that strikes me often is the amount of sweat, tears, and love that has been poured into this land we are caretakers of today. As we cross fields with equipment that can harvest 4000 bushels/hour I try to imagine what it was like for the first family members here to break out the sod. The prairie grass was probably over 10 feet tall and the soil wet and sticky, and there was no air conditioned house to retreat to for a good night’s sleep after all the toil of the day. Our family’s oral history tells us that the first settler who stayed the first summer on our land (mid-1800s) used an upside down wagon box for shelter as he prepared the farm for his family. He must have had his bravery tested with the coyotes howling at night, and the darkness (without any mercury yard lights), and the rainstorms that are bound to have occurred. What was it like digging post holes by hand for the livestock fence, planning how big of a barn to build (and make it easy to enlarge as the farm grew), and caring for the horses each day (unlike the tractors we use that sit dormant in the shed)? What were the thoughts and conversations that went on around the supper table and in bed at night, where the board of directors slept together?

We have a weather delay right now. 2 inches of snow yesterday and 3 inches this morning (Thursday). Beans are 85% complete and corn is about 70% done. The last corn is not going to dry down much more in the field—testing in the middle 20s. We ran hard Monday and Tuesday to get the wet bin filled up so we could dry during this weather delay. Seed bean harvest is complete so no more combine cleanings. :) Plenty of details to attend to with equipment and office work.

The trade dilemma is getting a bit tiring. Who blinks first is going to tell the story of how the resolution is going to be. Personally, I wish Congress would work on something that will move this country forward instead of chasing what the President said in a phone call. Anyone who has studied history or seen Hamilton or Lincoln knows that politics have been a part of our governance and I am thankful we live in a country where we can discuss them freely.

Our house remodeling project is finally in the last stage. We’re hoping to celebrate family Thanksgiving here. It’s hard to believe first quarter is already over and report cards issued. It seems this whole year will be one we will easily remember. Interesting how the challenging times are the ones we recollect and reach back to for wisdom.

Fall prices:

Corn 3.85

Soybeans 9.16

Comments welcome.

Steve