Last Rows

/

We finally found those last rows last Wednesday night about 8:30. Spent all day Thursday getting things tucked in for the rain that night. It was a good feeling during the rain on Friday to be finished. We have a lot of beans stored this year; we only hauled one load to the river. Big thanks to all the great help! Now on to the jobs we put off during harvest. Cleaning equipment, dirt work, tiling (80 acre project), catching up in the office. Planning to start NH3 application after November 1. Looks like the beans were best ever--corn did well, too. The moisture of the last corn hauled from field to shuttle was under 15% and stalk quality was suffering. 

The ag world is wondering what the next move will be in the tariff war chess game. The new Brazilian president is planning on turning his country loose for full production. He has even backpedaled on restricting Chinese investment! The commodity prices right now favor corn next year—looks like beans might not move above break-even. The elections next week could make for some interesting plays too. The governor front runner in Illinois is pushing for progressive income tax and a mileage tax on vehicles to raise money for road repair. We are already the second or third highest taxed state in the union. No one has mentioned any real estate tax relief. 

Family is well--holidays will be here soon to give us a time to reflect on all the things we have to be thankful for. Winter meeting season is heating up too.

Current prices:

Corn 3.36

Soybeans 7.84

Enjoy the fall colors!

Steve

Halfway

/

Partners,

We are eat the halfway mark for the 2018 harvest with corn and soybeans. Yields are about as we have been predicting--corn is about trend line (which means good but not best ever) and beans are coming in at what could be the best ever crop. So far we have experienced only a few minor breakdowns and not much more than one harvest day lost. Charlie knows well where the John Deere Parts Depot is located in Milan, and we are now on first name basis with the parts man in Havana at Sloan Implement. We are trying to keep up with the seed bean crop to keep moisture in the seed, and that has entailed some tough cutting and lots of aeration in the bins. This next week does not look like good bean cutting weather and now there could be a problem with quality and beans getting too dry and popping out of the pods. The corn has dried considerably in the field and we will probably be able to run the rest of the crop into the bin without drying. This is not our preference since field dry down seems to involve "phantom yield loss." Our best yields almost always come when we begin harvest with the corn at about 25% moisture. The extra cost of drying the crop is almost always covered with more bushels coming out of the field. 

We really appreciate our harvest crew this season.  Our truck drivers have put in some long days and stuck with Marcus and me in the field till the combine shuts down each night! Everyone has really pitched in to learn new jobs. We are so thankful for all who have filled in. 

The farm economy is not the best but farmers are optimistic about prospects of this good crop harvest. The tariff supplement payments were announced and then decided to only pay half of the amount. They will not cover the price drop. There are beans moving in all kinds of weird directions in the world and the multinational grain companies are profiting nicely. China has not been playing nice in the sandbox for a long time and we realize we will have to endure some short term pain to get things back in equilibrium. I am thankful we have a president who knows how to negotiate and does not back down when others play hardball. 

Family is in a good place. Alison got delivered to UChicago last week and starts classes October 1. Everyone else doing well in classes and learning experiences. We missed our niece’s wedding in Virginia due to UChicago orientation but Opa and Oma made it to the big event. Adjusting to fall weather reminds us winter is not far away.

Fall Prices:

Corn 3.19

Soybeans 7.67

Harvest Party is October 20th--hope to see you there!

Steve

Here We Go

/

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

/

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

Riders on the Storm

/

Partners,

We finished at 4:00 this past Friday afternoon, November 3rd, and got everything tucked away in time for the rain that evening. If we call our combine (a John Deere S670) the Storm, you will understand the title for this blog post. We have been amazed this fall by the capacity of our operation, even with the limited investment we have in equipment. Our investment per acre, compared to other farms our size, is on the lower end of the scale (read "used and well-maintained"). We did experience three belts breaking which cost us about two hours each time. We also had to replace the power steering pump, which was a whole day of downtime; but we could sleep well that night because we didn't have to tend the dryer all night to catch up with the combine. In good running we can average over 3000 bushels per hour. When I started farming 40 years ago, a day of picking 1500 bushels of ear corn was considered a successful day. Phyllis's grandpa told of harvesting 100 bushels by hand and then scooping it into the corn crib with a shovel, which was its own major success!

Crops came out well with some downed corn from a windstorm in July, ground squirrel "holes," raccoon "holes," and deer spots by the treelines. We will dry every bushel of corn, but planting longer-season varieties is paying off with bigger yields (good news for landowners with flex rents based on bushels produced). This year's beans are probably the best crop we have ever raised. Harvest was completed safely and timely with a great team of full- and part-time staff.

The ag economy is paying close attention to the proposed changes in the tax code being proposed in Congress. There is lots of uncertainty as to what final product will be. Dupont announced they are selling their cellulistic ethanol plant in Iowa; apparently that was another example of government tax credits and grants trying to make something sustainable that is not. Property tax assessments are out and it looks like the county is looking for sources of revenue from within, since the state is reducing their commitment to local taxing bodies.

The family is doing well. Looking forward to gathering at Thanksgiving and remembering all the blessings God has bestowed on us this past year. We will be hosting some of Ali's friends from Wayland over her Thanksgiving break. This is always an enjoyable experience, getting to learn about other cultures and meet some very bright, polite high school students.

Current Local Terminal Prices:

Corn 3.13

Soybeans 9.24

See our harvest 2017 riders in the pictures above! Comments, questions, and "Likes" always welcomed below.

Steve