Eagle's Wings
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Partners & Friends,
We have been busy harvesting soybeans these past few days. The dry weather has allowed us to combine uninterruptedly every day since starting last week. While doing so, we have noticed much wildlife in the fields. Since we farm along trees and creeks, we see much more of these interesting sights than other farmers who only work on flat, black fields. A bald eagle, who followed the combine from field to field, made an appearance while we were finishing lands and pushing rabbits into the open. The pictures above do not do justice to the beauty and majesty of these creatures—what bold, charming birds!
Harvest is progressing well. The beans should be completed by Friday if all comes together as planned. The Hess Family Farm team has been pleasantly surprised by the higher yields in the later maturity beans. Unload lines at the river terminals are growing this week as more farmers begin harvesting their beans. We have been spreading our cover crops and incorporating into the soil with our vertical tillage disc. We are also making field repairs to washouts, fixing tile holes, and working on some conservation projects. If weather holds and all continues going well, harvest may be complete by around midweek of October 18th. The corn and beans are yielding well considering the amount of moisture they've gotten over the past 2 months. Our test plots are showing some interesting results too—update will come soon.
Markets are truly getting jerked around by harvest pressure, low water levels on Mississippi (higher freight rates), Ukraine tension in the shipping lanes that opened up, interest rates, and some apparent demand destruction. The pipeline battle is heating up on a local level; our McDonough County board voted to intervene. This is a big deal and we applaud their courage to take a stand.
Family is busy with school, work, and some play. Everyone is looking forward to the pressure of harvest diminishing soon.
For those wanting a more comprehensive update on Phyllis and her recent (or not so😔) eye issues, back in August, she was referred by her local ophthalmologist to the retina and cornea specialists at the University of Iowa Health Care Eye Institute at Iowa City. After many scans and tests, it was determined that Phyllis was a good candidate for complex retinal detachment repair and a cornea transplant. She had surgery in Iowa City on September 19th. So far it seems as if she is healing up as well as possible. She has had some vision restored, for which she is extremely grateful. There is reason to hope that her vision may continue to improve, if the eye drop protocol is followed precisely and if she can manage to follow doctors' orders for not lifting anything over ten pounds, or strenuous activity of any kind. Thankfully the eye doctors at Iowa City do NOT restrict reading nor computer work, so that is a very welcome change from previous experiences after eye surgeries. We are praying that her body will not reject the donor cornea, and that the new eye drops will prevent the buildup of scar tissue so healthy healing may take place.
Lastly, we wanted to mention that an article based on an interview with Marcus, Phyllis, and I was recently published in the Fall 2022 issue of Cultivate! If you receive that periodical by Compeer Financial, feel free to flip through and read our feature, Leveraging Outside Expertise.
Current Delivery Prices:
Corn—6.52
Soybeans—13.40
Let us know what you want to learn, see, or hear about!
Steve
