Giving Thanks

/

Partners & Friends,

As we enter this season of the year following a very abundant and safe harvest, it would do us all well to take a moment and understand how blessed we truly are. We live in a country where we can vote for and argue against whoever we wish without fear of retribution. We can travel wherever and whenever we wish. We can worship as we choose. We can walk into a store and buy any type of food we prefer. We can be in business for ourselves. We can enjoy the beauty of creation and nature each and every day. And we can live without worry of attacks from adversaries. Thank You, Lord!

Post-harvest, we are keeping busy with NH3 application, vertical tillage (light discing), and some ripping of a few fields. The weather has remained mostly clear, and only in the last few days has frozen soil become an issue. Another round of goat kidding is over. We have an additional large corn delivery to make to the shuttle in December. Machinery cleanup and maintenance are ongoing, and the office always beckons for short bursts of time.

There are lots of unknowns to be determined in DC. The Secretary of Agriculture pick seems to have a great agricultural background but not much history to predict how she leans on policy. A new Farm Bill will not happen until next year. In Illinois, the veto session produced little in the way of legislation. Also, our governor has announced he wants Illinois to be the California of the Midwest!😬

Our family is busy with fall concerts, basketball games, college tours, gymnastics competitions, goat shows, dance recitals, final exams, and Christmas program practices. We give thanks for our friends and family, as well as this Christmas season when we can gather, strengthen, and deepen relationships and praise the wonder of the birth of our Savior. Soak it up!

Fall 2025 Prices:

Corn—$4.01

Soybeans—$9.36

Keep in touch!

Steve

Terrific Team

/

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

Harvest

/

Partners & Friends,

Harvest is in full swing. As of today, we are 65% complete with soybean harvest and 25% complete with corn. The seed beans are in the bin, and over 50,000 bushels of corn have been delivered to the local pig feed mill. The bushels will help offset the low commodity prices we are experiencing—take note of the prices at the end of each blog post.😳 Yields are excellent. This will be the best corn and bean crop we have ever raised. Grandpa Hess and Doll would not have believed the yields from some of these fields they nurtured and tilled.🙂 Marcus and I have shared some sweet moments reminiscing about harvest memories that ultimately brought Hess Family Farm to where it is today. We owe so much to so many people who worked so hard.❤️

There is talk that Congress might attempt to pass a new Farm Bill yet this year. The prices and structure desperately require updating. Low river levels on the Mississippi are causing great concern and have widened basis levels. Additionally, the dockworker strike will result in major disruptions both in and outside the country. We have a unit down and are waiting on parts from Germany. 😬

Phyllis and I had a wonderful week with the Luecht grandchildren visiting. Lindsay and Keith celebrated 20 years of marriage in Myrtle Beach. Alison received 24 inches of rain in Asheville from Hurricane Helene. We are still very dry here in Illinois, with no rain in the two week forecast.

Harvest Prices:

Corn—3.91

Soybeans—10.08

Soak up all the beauty and wonder of creation that surrounds you! We feel blessed to work in it each day.

Steve

In The Sky

/

Partners & Friends

We test and experiment with different agronomy practices every year to assess what new methods and/or products will improve yields, soil health, and profitability. Last week, we had a drone spray fungicide and biologicals on a few test plots. The drone only sprayed 2 gallons/acre, but the plant coverage was exceptional thanks to the downdraft of the propellors while flying. The technology of the drone, particularly its guidance system, is incredible. I now understand why drone warfare is so feared! The ease and ability to maneuver along with the clarity of the cameras and video makes it feel as if you are in a Star Wars movie.😄 Other advantages of drones are the ability to fly over tall crops with no crop damage from wheel tracks, as well as not having to worry about wet field conditions. Later on in August, we hope to use the drone to seed cover crops into standing crop in order to get covers established before harvest, which will help lower our carbon score to qualify for tax credits. However, there are many details to work out yet, so stay tuned!

The Hess Family Farm team is staying occupied with haying. We have baled around 2,000 small squares, over 250 big squares, and over 50 big, round bales so far this season. We will do a second cutting of alfalfa next week. All crops have received a post application of herbicide. The NH3 side dressing is complete. Spraying and mowing field edges is underway. Summer construction projects fill in the lulls of crop tending. 

The USDA Crop Acreage report is due to be released this week. Discussions regarding the Farm Bill continue. The dry, hot weather does not have traders too worried about crop size. No one seems concerned that the federal government will spend $2 trillion more than is taken in next fiscal year.

The entire family celebrated PriscaStone 2024 last weekend in Grafton, Wisconsin to honor the passing of baby Prisca one year ago. It was a wonderful time reuniting with many friends, listening to Christian worship music, and seeing God glorified.

Fall Prices:

Corn—4.28

Soybeans—10.90

Stay cool,

Steve

New Year

/

Partners & Friends,

We are making our way into 2024 after a wonderful holiday season celebrating the birth of our Savior and enjoying time with family and friends. Along with that is a lot of year-end office time and bookkeeping frenzy. We have finalized our corn and soybean seed orders for the next crop season after studying our own field research and consulting with our crop consultants. Our fertilizer needs are mostly booked and applied. The only missing link is our spring side dress NH3 application. We have pre-paid for chemicals and fungicide. When we make our plans, we are preparing for a robust crop with all the inputs needed for top yields. It is encouraging that input costs are mostly lower, except for seed. Commodity prices are certainly lower than year ago. There’ll be some event along the way that will provide marketing opportunities. 

The Hess Family Farm team is putting more tile in the ground whenever the weather allows. Plans are for another 200 acres this year, although the weather forecast does not look good after this week. We have emptied all the corn bins. This is the first time all bins are empty this early, but we took advantage of some early delivery offers that have turned out well. We are now in the midst of year-end bookkeeping tasks, turning out 1099s and W-2s, and preparing for tax filings. There are a few meetings to attend to help with continuing education and business strategy updates.

The current world events are always black swans for our planning. The Middle East conflict is putting energy prices on a roller coaster almost daily. We have booked almost half of our needs for 2024. The situation with the war in Ukraine is jerking commodity prices around daily. Weather in South America is of extreme importance in the midst of their critical growing season. Interest rates are another area we pay constant attention to. Operating interest is almost 2x what rates were 1 year ago.

Our family is doing well. This season of gatherings has shown us just how thankful we are for our friends and family. The support and prayers our family received over the past year of great highs and lows means so much—thank you! We are looking forward to a great New Year with much time for relationships. May you all take time for the ones in your lives.

Fall Prices:

Corn—4.72

Soybeans—11.93

Steve