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