Home Again

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Partners & Friends,

Phyllis and I are home from our agricultural tour of Europe. The last part of our whirlwind of trip involved visiting the following agriculture related sites, as well as noting a few more interesting observations:

  • A large seed cooperative raising corn, soybeans, wheat, cover crops, and more

  • A Swiss Alpine dairy that processes cow and goat cheese  

  • A salt mine that has been mining salt inside a mountain for over 500 years

  • There was more corn and soybean production as we traveled south 

  • The major crop grown was wheat 

  • There is a lot of grass harvest for hay

  • There are few alfalfa fields

  • All livestock was confined inside 

  • There is total integration of technology with guidance, seeding, and fertilization 

All of the countries we visited are quite efficient with crop inputs. Costs are comparable to ours per acre. The vast majority of crops are transported with tractors and trailers—the country roads are not well suited for semi-truck traffic. Another thing worth noting is that semis are not allowed on highways on Sundays, except those hauling perishable or urgent loads. A large portion of farmers’ income is generated off-farm, as many farms are less than 100 acres and only require part-time work. Land is very expensive and does not go for sale often (even less than this country). The former Soviet countries (i.e. Czechia) have larger, more efficient fields, as the state farms were redistributed to former owners. 

Between the great need for electricity and the Russian gas pipeline being out of use, Germany has deemed coal a “green” energy source. There are also many wind turbines and solar panels. The agriculture sector is struggling as we come to grips with a workable carbon reduction program.

Now, to answer the comments from the last blog post:

  • I stand corrected—gas is around $8/gallon in Europe, which incentivizes energy conservation 

  • The ration the cows were fed on the farms we visited was high roughage and grass—these were not typical high production herds

  • Beer is not served warm, but is served with a substantial head to lock in flavor

  • Food prices in Europe are very comparable to ours (although the Euro conversion does add 10% to the transaction)

  • We were disappointed to not visit any animals in total confinement, but the need for bio security is completely understandable

We are back in full swing with hay making, fungicide spraying, mowing, goat showing, land improvement projects, and equipment repair. The Farm Bill debate is struggling to gain traction. There is much discussion regarding how low target prices were set in the 7 year old Farm Bill we are now working with. It seems we are not far from them now (note the fall prices update at the end of each blog post). It has been a rainy summer and few areas have yet to receive rain. The corn and bean crops are looking huge.😅

Goat showing season is ramping up. Harper had great success at the Fulton County Fair last week, and is now preparing for the Illinois State Fair next week. We celebrated a fun birthday weekend with the Luechts in Grafton. Back to school season is a few short weeks away.

Fall Prices (YIKES!):

Corn—3.73

Soybeans—10.03

Please ask and comment away!

Steve