Giving Thanks

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Partners,

We took advantage of the great mild November weather to work on many projects. Last week we completed NH3 fall application--in the fall we apply a half rate of nitrogen along with a nitrogen stabilizer to reduce the chance of leaching. We are also completing a rather large waterway renewal and upgrade project which included two new dry dams. There are pics of the earthwork and seeding above. With the rolling, more fragile type of ground we farm (we do have some nice flat fields as well) we have taken the charge to keep erosion control a priority. This includes regularly maintaining waterways, cleaning and maintaining the over eighty dry dams we have on the property we farm, and maintaining fences and field edges. Even without livestock, on a crop farm of this size there are always projects to keep us busy in the non-crop season.

The Thanksgiving season has given us time to pause and reflect on our blessings. Last week was filled with family, friends, and too much great food! There was plenty of political discussion around the table about what to expect in the next few years--how many campaign promises can be turned into real action? We appreciate the freedoms we enjoy in these United States, and recognize the processes which have led to many of the systems that we have in place--i.e. electoral college, health care, drawing of representative districts. The strength of the dollar since November 8th is one of the indicators we are watching. That affects our competitiveness globally and our commodity prices locally. We are in the process of putting together our crop budgets for this next year, and marketing will again be a very challenging part of our process!

Families are doing well and we look forward to having everyone together during the Christmas season. I will be having knee surgery in a couple of weeks. Marcus and Shanna are going to be celebrating their tenth anniversary this month. 

Fall 2017 prices:

Corn 3.47

Soybeans 9.93  

Let us know what you want to hear about--please leave comments and "Likes" below!

Steve