Show Season
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Partners & Friends,
Show season wrapped up this week with the Illinois State Fair in Springfield. The Hess goats had a good showing. This season has been an excellent one with ample banners, ribbons, and gear. The success demonstrates what can happen with a lot of planning, hard work, and commitment. 🙂
The Hess Family Farm team has a large drainage project under way. We rarely lay tile sized over 8 inches, but are currently putting in a few 15 inch tiles to dry up some open water, as well as using 15 inchers in another project with other landowners to do some much needed drainage. Our shop is also busy with finishing up planter maintenance and preparing harvest equipment. We have completed spraying fungicide on the corn and beans but are staying vigilant for a tar spot in the corn due to the the cooler, wet weather. It appears we will have corn black layered soon, so our normal harvest start date should remain around September 10th. The team and I have some tiling we would like to complete after first fields are harvested. We are also finishing up grain center maintenance. The crop is looking to be a big one this year, so the extra dryer capacity will be put to use. And there is, of course, much mowing to be completed and a couple summer maintenance projects to finish up yet.
The Farm Bill debate continues to drag on in DC. It is looking doubtful anything will happen this year besides another extension of the current program. A different administration could truly change things up. Talk of tariffs is not a positive for export business. It was refreshing to hear agriculture mentioned in the Trump/Musk conversation. No further guidance for carbon scoring is in the near future—this is another can being kicked down the road. 🫤
School has started once again—it seems earlier every year! The Bushnell Fall Festival is next week. The Show and Sale is on Wednesday. Labor Day weekend will be last hurrah before harvest.
Harvest Prices:
Corn—3.54
Soybeans—9.5
Steve
