Terrific Team
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Partners & Friends,
Harvest was completed a week ago, on October 26th. The final rows are always so gratifying. Harvest went very smoothly, with only one day lost to a combine breakdown and one very brief rainout. We handled another record amount of bushels and—thanks to our very efficient and diligent crew—have already delivered over 200,000 bushels of corn and 18,000 bushels of soybeans. We have been keeping the vertical tillage disc running in the corn stalks to promote stalk decomposition. The ripper has also been tilling fields that were recently tiled to level out settled tile ditches and mix up the soil on some fields that have been minimally or not tilled for many years.
Our harvest went the way it did because of the great team in place. There were few late nights and we rarely had to turn on the lights of the equipment. Kudos to Marcus, Hayden, Mason, Chuck, Charlie, Randy, Grayson, Tucker, Alex, Rhett, Phil, and others. Also, I want to recognize the many miles of transport Phyllis provided to keep trucks, equipment, and people in the right place at the right time. A big thanks goes out to the equipment dealers and support crew who furnished parts and service. The incredible harvest lunches supplied by many different businesses were a real treat as well.
The Election is just days away. There is much anticipation about policy according to which party is in power. The Farm Bill debate drags on in DC. In Illinois, we are hoping for some action on new estate tax laws. Brazil will be planting more acres of soybeans than ever before. Inputs for next season are not dropping by much, if any at all.
A lot is happening on the family front. We mourned the loss of Aunt Luan last week. Goat showing, an apple butter festival, gymnastics competitions, mountain bike racing, and an evening with N.T. Wright in Wisconsin all kept the roads from our house warm.
Crop Prices:
Corn—3.95
Soybeans—9.80
Enjoy the rest of fall,
Steve
