Summer Ritual

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Partners and friends,

Sweet corn is ready to pick-this is about 2 weeks behind normal. Living in times like these is making me wonder what normal is going to look like going forward. Just when we think things are returning to some semblance of the past, the rules (phases) are changed again and we are left wondering what is useful and what the truth is. We continue business much as usual and prepare for the next task at hand.

We are looking for harvest to begin around middle of September-a few weeks later than normal but with the cool wet start to the growing season it makes sense. The corn fungicide has been applied and the beans will soon follow. All crops are looking good and if the sweet corn ears are any indication of the corn crop it will be a good one. Ears are pollinated to the tips and are filling well. The beans are not extremely tall(not a bad thing) and are starting to pod. August weather will tell the tale for bean yields but the forecast turned cooler and wetter a couple of weeks ago. The summer project list is getting a bit shorter. We have repaired several barn/shed roofs, shored up some structural issues on the 109 year old horse barn, replacing 37 year old shop ceiling, replacing 80 year old tin walls, and remodeling some buildings to make the more equipment friendly. All the while emptying the bins of 2019 crop, mowing roadsides and waterways, baling hay, spraying weeds, rebuilding the planting equipment and taking some time off for family and relaxing. 

The national and international Ag scene is looking for new normal too. Supply issues, ethanol and oil consumption, who to trust in trade deals, how much government intervention in production of commodities, reoccurrence of Asian Swine Flu, and what rules are being enforced and what has been given delays are all playing into the decisions we must make on the farm each day. It has been a whole new experience doing business in the Farm Service Agency parking lot! And wearing masks with the field inspectors for the seed fields seems kinda awkward-let alone trying to carry on a conversation while 6 fee apart with mouth covered. 

The family is enjoying reacquainting again. Marcus and family are on a trip out west. Stephani and her kids have been to the farm and we are anticipating Lindsay and her family soon. Phyllis is having a reverse shoulder surgery this week. Ali has handled over 90 calves this summer and our chickens are starting to lay eggs. God is good.

Fall prices

Corn--3.23

SB--8.85

Keep in touch,

Steve 

Once in a Lifetime

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Partners and friends,

First Time in My Lifetime! One of the rain events about 10 days ago was a very unique one with the rain placement. We were spraying at my house and applying NH3 on Murphy blacktop. About 2 pm a huge dark cloud rolled from the west to the north and we could see walls of rainfall within a mile of our field operations. We were never rained out and there was not a drop on the Doll Homestead. Bushnell itself received over 1.5 inches in a very short period. The creek--named Drowning Fork due to Abraham Lincoln having 2 of his soldiers die in flood water on the back of our farm-- runs thru Bushnell and splits our farm in half. It was out of its banks that evening without this property receiving even a trace of precipitation. There had been stories told of that happening during wheat shocking in the summertime in the early 1930's but never before had anyone in this generation experienced that! 

 Been planting around showers and wet spots and seed shortages. Our last seed bean variety is due tomorrow (Tuesday) after a long journey from Chile. We have replanted all the established bean fields and finished replanting about 150 acres of corn last Thursday. Spraying is just about complete for second pass on corn and beans. Crops are growing rapidly with the moisture and heat--about time! Baled the alfalfa hay and are preparing to cut waterways and pasture as soon as a weather window opens up. 

The Army Corp of Engineers is preparing to close the locks and dams on the Illinois river July 1 for maintenance and rep-airs. We are delivering the last of our soybeans since this shut down will make the closest delivery point for beans over 75 miles away. It seems that the ethanol market is rebounding ahead of expectations as it follows the crude. Travel seems to be picking up as people just seem to be tired of being holed up.Maybe this recovery will be a v bottom instead of u shaped! Commodity markets are perking up a bit but have a long ways to go to get anywhere close to average for the last 5 years and the growing crop is looking very good-at least around here.

The family is trying to determine summer plans now that all local fairs, camps, and activities are canceled. This is gonna be a summer to make lots of different memories. Here we are still in the midst of a bucket calf project that seems to keep growing. Ali finishes her finals for UChicago this week. We are looking forward to seeing our 5 month old grandaughter and holding her for the first time since the day she was born. Making swense of the future is still a game we all play--especially here in IL.

Fall Prices--

Corn--3.30

Soybeans--8.67

Keep in touch and keep washing your hands

But do not live in fear!

Steve

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!

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Partners and friends,

We are coming out of a long cold spell which has set some records for low temps for this time of year; temperature last Saturday morning was around 28. We had very little crop emerging (due to cold soil) so it was hard to judge the effect on the growing crop. We have replanted some corn on our bottom ground that was flooded for a day and did not survive. Corn planting the first time was complete Wednesday. We have lost very few growing degree days with the cold temps . Some neighboring corn that has been in the ground for more than 3 weeks is still coming through. Soybean planting is up to date but we are still waiting for one variety of seed beans that had winter production in Chile. Apparently, there are weather issues with harvest there. Around the farm we have been occupied with repairs of equipment, tearing out old unused fences, tile repairs, washout repairs, grain hauling, mushroom hunting and landscaping. We are preparing to enter another intense few weeks with corn to side dress with NH3, all fields to be sprayed for last pass, hay making, roadside mowing and weed maintenance, fencerow spraying, building upkeep, bin repair and other misc jobs. We will not run out of work and are keeping our high schools and college staff busy. 

The pandemic has certainly caused a lot of black swans to appear for agriculture. The oil debacle has turned the ethanol market totally on its head with so much in storage and several plants shut down and not even posting bids. The equity markets are trying to figure out what the real interest rate is and now there is talk of negative interest! Kind of like crude oil going negative. Fertilizer prices are totally flat as producers decide how little money to spend. Livestock is in a real quandary as packing plants shut down and finished cattle and hogs and chickens pile up on tightly scheduled slaughter schedules. And the cold weather is keeping us all inside more instead of being able to get out and enjoy spring nature and its beauty. 

Family is doing well but cabin fever is growing. I haven't held our youngest grandchild since the night she was born--January 17. I'm not sure which region of IL we are in or what phase of coming out we are experiencing. Hoping we can salvage county fairs and 4-H shows this summer and find some normalcy with sports schedules. One of our college employees had a virtual college graduation last week. Now that Alison is completing virtual college I wonder if we can go ahead with that and change education for the future. We are certainly changing the world as we know it and this event has just sped up the change!

Fall prices

Corn--3.03

SB--8.33

Keep in touch and share pics of your face masks!

Steve

We're Experts at Working From Home

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Partners & Friends,

On one hand it seems like time is flying by, but with all the uncertainty in the world it seems like the unknown ahead of us is coming very slowly. As much as we are used to instant gratification in today's society the pace of "shelter in place" is perilously slow. At Hess Family Farm we are adapting to differences as best we can, including

  • Social distancing among families-keeping 6' between people when working or socializing

  • Staying home at night

  • Grocery shopping every 10 days

  • Ali is doing the last quarter of her second year at UChicago from home 

  • Watching Dr. Pol on Disney 

  • No hugging or spending time with grandkids

  • Riding in backseats transporting people—feels like being chauffeured

  • Watching someone fixing a machine and not being able to help

  • Not being able to visit my parents face to face

Someday we'll look back and say all this makes sense when we see the results. So far there have been very few positive tests in our area, but I feel it is just a matter of time till most have some exposure and get some sort of immunity. Like everyone is discussing, the world is going to be a lot different and this has only sped up the change that is coming. It does seem to be harder for older people to accept and adapt—keep us in your prayers.

On the farm we have completed the first pass of spraying all the crop ground. Last week we planted about 200 acres of soybeans. We are also fervently trying to repair issues from last year's extreme rains. We have hauled dirt to repair washouts for days. Our excavator has been used almost every day repairing tile holes. We have seeded several new waterways to prevent future erosion. Our corn planter has gone through another major rebuild with more technology added.

With Ali home she has rebooted our livestock enterprise with a group of bucket calves. We have also picked up a couple of beef cows for the pasture. We have been selling unused equipment online to clean up some storage space and we even purchased a combine online in Mississippi. We have been in on several zoom meetings with suppliers and could actually get used to the efficiencies of all this technology. I do miss the personal contact but the world is changing.

On the US agriculture front things are in chaos. I'm sure you are aware of pork and chicken processing plants closing, dairy farmers dumping milk, and the bottom falling out of corn prices due to ethanol demand and China not buying and the huge predicted planted acres forecast.  Even with government help this is going to be a very difficult year to stay on top of marketing, production, and finance (our three legs of the business). I have been lecturing my family. We need to be very aware of the future and how we can adapt to it. The opportunities are going to be great but I fear also the downsides will be horrendous.

Family is doing well. Having a college daughter taking class from home makes me ask the question, why not make this offering a part of education and skip the expense of college room and board? We are enjoying FaceTime and Duo to see the families but miss the personal time and hugs and cuddling. We were already used to church online when we travel but miss the face to face time there as well. Last Sunday we took in 3 services. One big concern I have is we are becoming more addicted to the news and feeling like we need to read and see everything. The downside of that is the news is so depressing it keeps us from realizing how blessed we really are. 

New Crop Prices:

Corn 3.17

Soybeans 8.51

Let us know how you all are doing.

Steve

What Others Say

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Partners & Friends,

We have spent several days attending meeting focused on marketing and management for ag producers. We are always looking for ways to improve or enhance our operation to become more profitable and efficient.

Here are a few bullets from what we heard.

Marketing

--World commodity supplies are ample and this is a global market we are competing in

--Weaker US dollar should give us a competitive edge

--Watch for and take advantage of basis opportunities

--China Phase 1-not bullish but does calm the water

--China Phase 1 good for meat sales

--Macro markets (stocks) are off to the races

--Pork production in US is up 25% in last 6 years

Weather

--Summer temps are ALWAYS higher than normal after warmer than normal winter

--Corn belt weather has changed to wetter because of the way we raise corn

--Warm February temps usually mean cool wet spring and hot summer

--3 day forecast is usually 97% accurate

--10 day forecast usually 50% accurate

--Climate (change) is the average of 30 year weather and is always changing

Management

--Orlando is the safest zip code in America

--Management is doing. Leadership is being.

--Interest rate does not matter to government spending

--By 2040 60,000 farms will produce 75% of US ag output

--Younger generation is resentful of supporting large retiring group

--We need to produce what the consumer wants!!!!

—There will be more change in agriculture during the next 10 years than during the past 70

--Success in growing a business will be about alignment between production and consumption

--Millennials care more about what has been done on the farm for generations than who has owned it

--Oil is becoming a global commodity-less volatile

--We can be low cost or high quality producers

We are sharing current thinking with our partners so you can have an idea of how we are positioning ourselves to move forward. One thing for sure in our industry is that things are constantly changing.  The way our farm has survived for 150 years is to adapt, hopefully early, to new ideas and technology and implement them. Farming today looks so different than when Phillip Doll came to Bushnell IL and chose the farm we live on today. But all generations have been progressive and forward thinking, which is why this business still stands today. As we age  it is harder to move toward different ways of doing things but necessary for survival. 

Some things do remain constant throughout the ages. Honesty, hard work, ethics, family values, sustainability and the culture we create are still the foundation for what we do. To care for and leave this environment a better place than what we inherited is the goal.

Fall Prices:

Corn 3.69

Soybeans 8.86

Keep in touch. Comments appreciated!

Steve