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