We Love History

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Partners,

Many of you know of the deep interest Phyllis and I have in history. So what could be more fitting than the celebration of the sesquicentennial of our home farm, owned by the Doll family for 150 years! In the 1860s, Phillip and Wilhelmina Doll brought their family from Germany to the United States to seek out a new life. They had their sights set on Hermann, Missouri, but eventually ended up returning to a town they had passed through on their journey: Bushnell, Illinois. Philip put his family (wife & 5 children) up in the Bushnell hotel and spent considerable time seeking the perfect homestead in the Bushnell area. He wrote up an agreement with a Mr. McDonald, who was the owner of the farm we live on today. In March 1869 he started operating the Doll Farm.

The original 160 acres was perfect for the livestock farm Phillip envisioned, with a creek running through it, pasture land, and rich black farmland to raise abundant crops for feeding out the cattle and hogs he raised. The first summer here he made his home in an overturned wagon box while he started a house for his family and continued to build his farm into a respected livestock and crop operation. The family line of ownership continued with Phillip’s son, also named Phillip, then two generations of Harvey Dolls, and now the current owners, Phyllis and her brother, Phillip, are the 5th generation of Dolls to have their name on the property. Our son Marcus is the 6th generation to live in this house (as a child), work in these buildings, and plant and harvest these fields. We will be sharing more stories of our rich 150-year history throughout the year here on our blog.

Currently, we are servicing tractors, hooking up planters, taking delivery of seed, creating prescription planting maps, and getting ready for planting season. The weather outlook is a wet one so we anticipate short planting windows to get the crop in the ground. Since we have only about 25% of our nitrogen applied we have that gap to fill also. We think we have the planting capability to put the crop in the ground in 7 days. Adding the second planter last year really added capacity to the mix. We are preparing the team for a busy time.

Sounds like progress with China trade talks. Some are fearful that the president might walk out when the leaders get together to finalize the deal. In my opinion there should have been some walking before. A bad deal for the US is worse than no deal, in my opinion. The commodity markets are anticipating acres switched to soybeans for the 2019 crop season. The flooding of the river system is causing some shipping delays. We have been informed that the Corp of Engineers is closing all locks on the Illinois River north of Beardstown in the summer of 2020. That will be challenging for grain sales.

Family is doing well. This month we’ve helped celebrate our youngest grandson’s first birthday, and Ali’s 19th birthday. Ali just finished her Winter quarter at UChicago (we did not pay anyone to have her admitted).

Fall Prices:

Corn 3.66

Soybeans 8.83

Keep in touch! Please 'Like' & comment below.

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

Same Kind of Different

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Partners,                   

We are keeping as busy as we want to be at this time of year.  It won’t be long until we find ourselves back in the field!

I want everyone to know that things do change here on the farm.  Here is a list of some changes we are implementing for the 2018 cropping season:

  • Per our fertility consultant’s advice, we are applying higher rates of dry fertilizer. (Producing larger crops means more nutrients taken from the soil.) This has increased our dry fertilizer cost approximately 15%.
  • We will be implementing an improved method of nitrogen application (split applying) in order to increase N efficiency and reduce nitrate runoff.
  • One result of the water quality study we have been participating in is to see how we can supply N to the plant when needed with less chance for leaching.
  • We are applying supplemental elemental sulfur to all acres with a straight spread of P and K. With fewer coal-fired power plants there is a decrease in available sulfur in the soil.
  • We plan to reduce soybean seed planting population. Research shows lower populations do not reduce economic yield. The money we save on seed is spent on inoculants and biologicals and seed treatments.
  • We are planting more full-season varieties of corn and soybeans.  This may result in additional drying costs, but will help prevent phantom yield loss in corn, and help keep moisture in the SB crop to reduce harvest loss.
  • We are using multi-mode of action herbicides for pre-plant and post-planting to help prevent weed resistance. Our biggest weed issue right now is tall water hemp. We have been told that the invasive plant, palmer amaranth, is only a county away and it is a very tough weed to combat.
  • We are moving forward with the purchase of an additional planter for soybeans. Even though this does increase our equipment cost per acre, we expect an increase in yield since we will have the ability to plant corn and beans at the same time. Research shows higher yield in both crops when planted by the first of May. This is going to increase pressure for the two-week planting window so any offers for planting assistance would be welcome!
  • We are putting sensors on our planter to give us the ability to measure soil organic matter on the go. We hope to use this data to fine-tune our management zones for our multi-hybrid planting (seeding rates and varieties). 

The planter has been delivered and we are in process of getting both units hooked up and ready. Some parts are replaced almost every year. We have also been shipping corn, and hoping our seed beans will be called for delivery soon. 

The agriculture industry is watching with great interest the trade talks with our partners and the buzz about changing the RFS (renewable fuel) standards. It has been estimated that within 5 years Brazil will grow more corn than the US. We need world trade and cannot afford to seem like the bullies on the block!  Grain markets are showing some life as the drought in Argentina hangs on. 

Family is doing well--Lindsay and Keith had their third son on March 4th. Alison is on a school trip to Germany during spring break and is still undecided about college choice. Phyllis and I have returned from a few weeks in Florida.

Fall bids--

Corn--3.70

SB--10.14

Keep in touch,

Steve