Planting Green

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Partners & Friends,

Over the past several years, we have been experimenting with cover crops for multiple different reasons. The main reason is soil conservation; a cover on the soil for the non-cropping months helps hold soil in place and reduce erosion. The plant growth can also help collect snow, retain rainfall, and improve moisture recharge in the soil (which is a great balance on tiled ground). Covers also often help soil nutrients to be more readily available for the following corn or bean crop. We are trying to build organic matter on our lighter soils, which improves productivity and value of the fields. This is a very slow process. We have undertaken the cover project entirely on our own, and have tried conveying to the landowners the value we are adding to the property. The expense of seed and seeding cereal rye—the main cover crop used—is around $30/acre. This is a long-term investment, as the benefits are not perceived for several years. A similar example to this is our strip-till and minimum tillage protocols, which are for long-term soil conservation and land sustainability. We are committed to make each acre, whether owned or leased, as productive as economically possible.

The planting season has gone well. As of Tuesday night, corn and bean planting is completed, and all fields are sprayed first pass. Although the rainfall event last Friday was highly variable, every field received some rain, including over 2" at Marcus' homestead along with 20 minutes of hail. We are hoping the weather cooperates and no replanting is necessary, but we have not cleaned up the planters yet either.🙃 We are beginning to sidedress NH3 on the corn and will try to get hay put up during the weather windows over the coming weeks. We are also delivering grain as fast as allowed to keep cash flowing. A long list of summer projects will be getting our attention soon as well.

Commodity prices have surged higher yet again; there is so much uncertainty of worldwide production and availability. India has stopped wheat exports. And in the situation that Ukraine does produce a crop, their ability to export looks questionable. Energy prices are at all time highs. Yet the president is throwing money at the agriculture sector to "boost" production…next year. 🤔

The grandkids get out of school for the summer this week. However, there remain countless scheduling conflicts and challenges between the entire family that make it difficult to plan get-togethers or vacations sooner than multiple months out.😔 Phyllis continues to nurse her left eye (prayers are always appreciated). One of our high school team members, JD Runyan, placed in the Top 18 in a National Pitch Competition (more details in picture above). Congratulations to him!

Fall Prices:

Corn—7.40

Soybeans—15.20

Thanks for reading,

Steve

Toe In The Water

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Partners & Friends,


We planted 80 acres of beans last week; they are not up yet. Soil temperatures are still below 50 degrees, but since heat is in the forecast, there could be some sprouting this week. A main reason we took the planter to the field was to solve first field bugs. Marcus encountered many of them.🙃 We will now be ready to hit the ground running, once the weather clears. The corn planter has not been started up yet, so there will be some first day issues to sort out there. The Hess Family Farm team spend much of time and money each year ensuring the planters are ready to roll. Crop has the most potential the minute the seed hits the soil, so we want to be certain we give it the best placement and position as possible. Planter technology has come so far over my career. Planting no longer entails just dropping seed into the ground in any soil conditions. Rather, down force, row cleaning, depth wheels, seed firmers, sidewall compaction, air pockets, closing down pressure, and seed singulation are some of the issues we now aim to perfect when placing seed in the trench.


Our other duties, such as leveling tile ditches from the winter projects, hauling grain, livestock care (goats and cows), equipment readiness, office details, mushroom hunting, and relaxing before season starts, are also keeping us busy. The new sprayer was delivered last week and is now fully operational, having run it for a day. I will share more about that decision soon—it was a big commitment.


I recently saw pictures of Ukrainian farmers wearing helmets and bulletproof vests while planting.😔 There will be no way to export the crop that is produced with some of the ports being so heavily damaged. Commodity markets show little weakness. This could be an extended bubble, and with inflation running hot on its heels, will create additional management issues. Take a look at interest rates for 2-year bonds since the beginning of this year; our issues are still minor compared to others!


Family is in full school mode. We had a wonderful Easter celebration, despite Phyllis having to get a COVID test that morning for her surgery on Wednesday. The surgery was a bit complicated, and she is now facing a long recovery time from it. The carbon pipeline issues are heating up.


Current prices:

Corn—7.96

Soybeans—17.28


Keep in touch,

Steve

Livestock

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Partners & Friends,


Livestock of various kinds have dwelled at this farm all but one of the 153 years since 1869, when the Doll family homesteaded the property. Before Phyllis and I moved here in 1992, the farm was known for the feedlots of up to 400 head of feeder cattle. There was also a thriving pasture farrowing hog enterprise and sheep on the farm. When we discontinued milking our 250 cows ten years ago, the chores and animal care did not halt. After selling the milking herd, we custom raised dairy heifers for about 6 years. When the pandemic hit two years ago, Ali raised almost 100 bottle calves while doing college from home. Nowadays, we have a very small beef herd and sell farm raised beef (let us know if you are interested). There are currently 9 goats here for Harper’s show and breeding herd. We also had 3 pigs for Finley’s 4-H project last summer. Over the years, the farm has been home to countless horses, dogs, cats, rabbits, and chickens. We love animals!


We bide our time waiting for dry weather and warmth to plant by fixing tile holes, hauling grain, cleaning out the barn and hauling manure, organizing storage, making final adjustments to the planting equipment, servicing the trucks and tractors, and putting together planting prescriptions and SOPs. With commodity prices at the levels they are, more than ever we want to make every seed count . Our seed and chemicals are on hand, and we will be ready to go in short order. Regarding the weather forecast, we anticipate short planting and spraying windows, similar to the past few years, which tests our strength and stamina. 🙂


The Ukraine situation has made several things unpredictable. Fertilizer is looking to be very expensive this next year, mainly because much of it is manufactured with natural gas. We have overcome a few parts supply issues. The commodity markets are quite volatile, which makes sales decisions difficult. The inflation factor has hit all sectors…and what goes up often does not come back down. Every government crop report adds volatility to the market.


The family is doing well. Phyliss and I were blessed to attend grandparents day at Trinity Academy on March 24th, where Harper was in the school play (Oliver Twist), Finley portrayed Queen Elizabeth I in the wax museum, and Abbott was in the second grade Reader’s Theater (Romeo and Juliet). Harper showed her Boer goats that weekend at the Little Sioux Showdown in Afton, Iowa and did very well, including a Reserve Champion Percentage Doe. Phyliss is currently spending time in St Louis with Miriam, Cora, Walker, and Lincoln while their parents attend a conference. Phyllis is also scheduled for surgery to remove the silicone oil from her eye in two weeks, with cataract surgery soon to follow. Prayers are welcome.

Here is a post from a Ukrainian farmer about an update on the whole situation, please have a read.

Fall Prices (we are mostly sold out of 2021 crop):

Corn—6.84

Soybeans—14.43


Feel free to like and comment,

Steve

Who's Driving the Bus?

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Partners & Friends,


One of our regular activities is driving the bus to the Hess girls’ school, Trinity Academy. Hess driver day is every Tuesday. Marcus, Shanna, and I (Steve) all have bus CDL licenses to legally drive the church bus, which operates 3 days a week. Our truck driver, Charlie, also has a bus endorsement. It gives everyone an opportunity to spend time with the kids, meet their friends, and support the school. Marcus also serves on the board at Trinity. If only there were a way to bottle up the energy those kids have and share with the adults! They truly are quite well behaved, and it is a wonderful way to save much unnecessary travel for the group of parents involved around Bushnell. The trip to the school in Industry is 23 miles.

We got a couple days of tiling in this week before the rain arrived. We would really like to finish one last 40 acre field before planting commences. The planter rebuild is almost complete; now it is time to move machinery around, prepare the spray equipment, and finish up details in the office before our time is consumed with field operations.

The current world situation is still a very tense one. There is much speculation about fertilizer availability for the next couple of years, world supply of grain, and demand destruction caused by high commodity prices. These cycles usually only last a year or two, but we will see where this one ends and what the new world order is when the dust settles. Pray for Ukrainians! We cannot imagine the strife they are enduring.

Phyllis and I got to spend some time in Florida. We enjoy the respite from the cold more and more every year. Goat showing season begins next weekend. We had a great celebration of Wilma’s 89th birthday at The Lamoine. Ali is settling into Saint Louis.

Current Prices:

Corn—7.37

Soybeans—16.61

Keep in touch,

Steve

Chaotic Times

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Partners & Friends,

With all of the world events swirling around us, we just wanted to share some of the thoughts and challenges we are facing. The commodity market is more volatile than ever in history. I have never seen soybean price swings of $1.30 in a day and corn limit up two days in a row. We are currently 60% sold for the 2022 crop and 20% sold for the 2023 crop. The energy situation is a huge unknown. Will the free world be strong enough to quit buying oil and commodities from Russia? How high will oil go? This country can be energy self-sufficient, but it will take some reallocations of products and transportation issues. Do we need to be "green" by a certain date, or can we let market forces adjust the supply and demand? The farm is currently contracted for 75% of the fuel we expect to use this year. Fertilizer prices are almost 3 times higher than a year ago. We have not been able to successfully contract our side dress NH3 needed for this spring. It seems to be a supply issue, but the price is making us wonder about the profitability ratio between corn and soybeans. We were fortunate to contract the dry fertilizer needs for last fall early enough to avoid the last chunk of the price jump, but now, for this fall, we are looking at prices that make applications look too expensive. Financing in this world of tumultuous markets moves and record-breaking inflation has led us to look for some methods to help lock in as much inventory and inputs as possible. Supply issues and manufacturing problems in chemical production have caused changes in our products used for crop protection. We luckily made our last major equipment upgrades before availability issues arose in 2022. The wait time for new equipment is now around 12 months on most large tractors, planters, sprayers, and harvest equipment.


So much to manage around here—that's why we love our jobs!


We are busy delivering grain—over 70,000 bushels in March. The completion of the planter rebuild is within sight. Last minute office tasks and some building remodeling are occupying the work days. There are still winter meetings to attend and financing details to deal with.


World events are overshadowing the decisions we are making about crop insurance and farm program choices (ARC or PLC); the primary election candidates seem so trite. We pray for our fellow farmers in Ukraine daily. Whether or not they are able to plant this spring will make a huge difference in global grain supplies. They account for 30% of both wheat and corn exports worldwide.


Families are doing well—trying to get some time off before things get busy. Weather is nice in Florida. Schoolwork is consuming a lot of bandwidth. Goat showing season starts soon.


Current cash prices (pay attention—these are near record highs!):

Corn—7.34

Soybeans—16.97

Here is a plea from a Ukrainian farmer, please have a read.


Keep in touch,

Steve