Crop Watcher week four - Think Dry (for now)

picture from top of leg to the west shows the young corn crop and the new county road being constructed in the far west as it prepares to discect the farm in a couple years.


Todd Easton Coles County May 21 2010: Planting progress was very minimal across the county in the last week. A few planters and toolbars got started back up last Friday joined by several more on Saturday until light mid afternoon rain halted progress once again. Sunday and Monday brought more precipitation accumulating to around 1.5” followed by more light rain that came on Thursday just as fields had just started graying off on top. The corn crop is looking pretty good approaching the V4 stage in some of the earlier plantings but would still be better off if some steady warmth would show up. Soybeans that were planted in the beginning of the first big push a couple of weeks ago are just emerging this week and look to have good stands. Until next week keep thinking dry weather thoughts (short term) and maybe we can still wrap up this planting season before June.

Crop Watcher week three - Steady Progress

Todd Easton Coles County May 14 2010: Farming activities were at a steady pace across Coles County at the beginning of the week until Monday evening rains stopped operations the northern part of the county and then Tuesday night rains halted the rest of the county. Cumulative rainfall for the area as of Friday morning was just short of an inch. Soybean planting has progressed rapidly ranging from around half done for many producers to nearly done for a few early birds. The very earliest planted soybeans are up and in the V1 stage and look to have good stands but the vast majority have not emerged yet. The majority of the corn crop is at or around the V3 stage this week and has been a bit pale thanks to the cooler weather but should green up and grow up pretty fast whenever the heat decides to show up. This past year has really made a bad case for global warming to say the least. Side dress and spraying activities for the corn have been going well and should start back up this weekend and get completed in a timely manner barring any significant rain events next week.

Crop watching week two - weatherman woes

Todd Easton Coles County May 7 2010: A line from a popular song goes “the waiting is the hardest part” and in the spring for farmers that is especially true. A highly varied amount of rainfall hit the area over the weekend (1st & 2nd) but because of good drying weather and anxiety to get some work done sprayers once again hit the field on Tuesday followed by planters and toolbars on Wednesday. Some of the motivation seems to come from the weatherman who keeps saying more rain is around the corner whenever you check in with him. With corn planting a fond memory for virtually everyone soybean planting has hit its stride with my best guess being 10 to 20 percent completed. The handful of bean fields planted ahead of the rains two weeks ago have emerged and are looking good. In the corn fields rows of green are easy to see but with the cooler weather the crop has not shown much change from last week. That has not stopped several side dress applicators including myself from going over several fields and surprisingly the job can be done in two inch corn with no problem. Well we will see if the Weatherman’s promises hold true this weekend but with farmers finding themselves in the middle of the ideal bean planting window it’s going to be hard for them to stop in anticipation of a rain that may or may not come.

Its Crop Watcher time again !

Todd Easton Coles County April 30 2010: What a difference a year makes and after 2009 that can only be a positive note. Things are looking real good across Coles County so far. Corn planting for the most part started during or right after the weekend after Easter and progressed rapidly to around 95 percent completed ahead of the gentle 1.5 inches of rain we received over the last weekend. About half of the planted corn has just entered into the early V1 stage and stands are looking exceptionally good. With the way most fields went from muddy to ideal planting soils in just a few days many acres skipped the usual pre plant anhydrous applications and will be depending on side dress applications this year. Most producers held off on soybean planting but a few early birds put some out ahead of the rain but with the rain fall being scattered and slow it looks like they should be ok and probably be up before long. As of Thursday fields were still to wet for much work to progress with the exception of some spraying where the winds were not too gusty and if the weekend forecast pans out we may get an extended break. Well no two years are the same and after reviewing Grandpa’s journal from last year we agreed that will be a good thing. Best wishes to all in this new season and please always remember Safety First!

Corn Planted in April ?

Well it was Monday the 12th we were planning on putting anhydrous on but when I got to the farm that morning and saw the other three over in the field scratching their heads I thought crap they're thinking again. Conditions looked perfect for planting so the paln changed so we decided to take a small chance and let ALL of the anhydrous go on post planting and get the corn in the ground. So far the plan looks like it worked the corn is in the ground just ahead of the perfect bunch rain showers and we have a small start on the side dressing. What corn is up already is looking great and weather permitting beans should be in the ground in the next few weeks. One observation made by area farmers is that after the last two years farmers have learned how to get over acres faster than ever before putting in around 90 percent of the corn crop in the ground in ten days or less. Looks like we will have to pick corn in August if we want to use the dryers this year.

The Unbelieveable Year

Wow I remember back when there was an off season to farming not anymore. I can't believe I didnt conclude our harvest on here yet so here goes. Corn was finished the day after Thanksgiving on our farm after the long hard battle that was harvest 09. The crop had a great year yield wise considering but with an average moisture of 21 percent all had to be dried. THANK GOODNESS FOR OUR SUKUP T-28 THE DRYER THAT SAVED 2009! It also very surprisingly paid for itself in this first year! Flash foward and we are getting a pretty good start to the new decade and gladly moving past the difficult year before. Preparations are being made as allowed (dry fertilizer spreading on frozen ground) and the grain hualing is getting along very fast. This week we also made a small but in a way significant equipment change with what is probably the hardest worked tractor on the farm. Reluctantly our faithful Ford 6600 that we have used as our everyday utility tractor for the past 31 years has gotten to the point that it no longer fit what we needed and will be finding a new home. Even though they often have to leave the farm when their time is done good tractors are never forgotten. The orange Kubota M7040 has big shoes to fill but so far seems like it is up to the job.

Rained Out

We got the big rain we didnt want starting on Monday and more since then. We still have 450 acres of corn left and hopefully it will not be too long before we can get to it. Deep tillage has been 50 percent done and may not get completed for the year. Check out the new pictures on the site and the new page coming soon.