Last Seeds

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Partners,

Put the last bean in the ground Monday morning to finish the 2016 planting season--2 weeks longer than 2015. We have been experiencing many small spotty showers and feel blessed that most all the fields have been replenished with decent moisture. The last field to plant was where we had planted rye for cover crop and feed for the heifers. Yield was good and the soil seemed loosened by the rye roots and allowed good planting conditions. We immediately started sidedressing  NH3  to try to keep up with the early planted corn which is growing rapidly. The stands are just about perfect with the light rains and good soil conditions we were able to plant into.

We are also busy hauling corn as we were able to take advantage of some good basis opportunities to price stored bushels for delivery in May and June--times when most farmers don't want to mess with loading trucks due to crop duties. We are blessed to have some good drivers (like Charlie and Mitch and Wayne) to get this job done for us between other tasks. We will begin spraying all crops a second pass soon and get started mowing roadsides and waterways. Not because we are lazy but we do like to delay the mowing as long as possible to give wildlife a chance to have crop cover to move into.

The ag economy is still anxiously watching the political arena. Fortunate for us is that both presumed candidates are for energy independence and support ethanol.  The Supreme Court nomination will give some direction as to what the EPA WOTUS final rules will be like. Here in Illinois we are bracing for what ever tax package will have to be put in place to get this state on some sort of footing to move into the future. Commodity prices are showing some life with the talk of drought this summer and hopefully will provide us with some profitable pricing opportunities this summer for the 2016 crop we have left to sell.

Personal notes--Alison now has her drivers license!!! She will be home from school in a few weeks and is planning on working on the farm this summer before she goes to the Dominican Republic for a short term mission trip with the youth group from Checkrow.

Fall prices:

Corn 3.70

Soybeans 10.33

Keep in touch--we are always looking for things to post that you are interested in! We have put a contact form on the blog to make communication easy.

Steve