Winter is here

Yesterday marked the end of fall field work after two or three freeze thaw cycles that saw a couple of inches of frost in the ground, then none again as temperatures warmed. Temperatures dropped from 50 degrees at 6 a.m. Sunday morning to about 12 degrees by noon. This morning we were down to zero and the ground is frozen solid. Some folks put down NH3 this fall. I worked at that until noon yesterday, but most are waiting for the price to fall. People here prepaid from $780 to $1200 a ton for fall applied NH3. Current price is $600. There's a winter storm watch on tap for tomorrow. One year ago we were waiting for the ice to thaw. There were still broken tree limbs in our yard, and ice, on the first of April.

I hope April '09 is better.

slow harvest

Corn here is still wet at 20 to 30 percent.
We did pick a little on Sunday that tested 20 and yielded around 200 bpa.
Some soybeans are coming out about 30 miles south of us, or about 30 miles north of St Joe.
Have also heard that mid group 2 beans are being harvested in western Iowa.
Yields have been 30's all the way up to the 50's.

fly in

what a success. this fall fly-in was a great for agriculture! i am very excited about what nfu accomplished. i carried info on my farms cost of production for 2009. it shouldn't be a shock to producers, but it doesn't cash flow with the input costs. illinois delegation couldn't believe that 5 dollar corn wouldn't work. well it really was in black and white. we ARE being taken advantage of and it is WRONG. there is no competition among our suppliers, they have to understand that. WE have to do a better job of explaining that! why is profit such a dirty work in production ag! adm , monsanto, and deere thrive on it, why cant we? thank you to the dc staff and nfu staff.
crop, well today it is wet.over night we received an inch and two tenths and it is going to continue the weekend. the lowest credible moisture i have heard is 35% out of the combine. we are thinking two week to harvest now.
i am also thinking about the election. talk about two polar opposite ag candidates. i have to admit i am going to be selfish. i am voting for ag! there is only one ag candidate in this election and politics aside, we need to look out for ourselves! think Illinois!

crop

Howdy, I think I figured out how to post!! I'm located in Jackson Co. Mn. along I 90, in lakefield area. Soybeans: we have plant height of 4.5 ft. after a slow start, they really spurted in the last 6 weeks. Almost unreal, sprayed for aphids couple weeks ago, not finding any on checks except on one end where boom skipped. There are a few aborted flowers, but for the most part they are looking really good. Hail storm in area caused havoc on some fields. Corn: high yield potental barring an early frost, silks brown, could use one more rain, recieved moisture last week, wind has been calm for nearly 3 weeks. I attended a controlled drainage plot last friday, looks promising and may be something one would consider . Thw gist of it is, remove water for field operations, retain a subsurface level for crop use in periods of reduced rainfall. Regards, John III

Hard to believe that the Missouri River Bottom fields looked like this in June. Today we're drying out too fast. Some of the corn has started to fire the last couple of days, and east of here 20 miles it's even dryer.
Early planted corn will be pretty good, especially in the upland fields, but the later fields are going to be short.
Aphid counts in the soybeans are on the rise. We've never had to treat for those, but this year may be a first. Without rain soon it looks like the soybeans may start aborting pods.

At least the temperatures have been moderate, otherwise it would be worse.

hot in il

this past week has been very hot in il. with heat advisories over the past few days. the crops seem to be managing ok do to adequate moisture. beans seem to moving along somewhat slow compared to corn. the corn between the wet holes looks great. there has been alot of fungicide applied the past few weeks. we chose not to apply. grain prices at local coop this morning, c-4.75, sb-12.29. fert prices at coop n-1095, dap-1200, pot-970. for those who dont know that equals about 300 per acre to fertilize for corn. and farmers savior monsanto jacked the tech fee 100 per bag on seed corn. that is at least to company's who by their traits.

it rained

On friday morning we received .8" the saturday another.9".pennys from heaven as one farmer said but more like dimes and quarters.
tim henning

swmn

the last few days have really taken a toll onthe corn.94 on monday, 97 on tuesdayand 96 today with no rain the last 3 weeksis causing the sand spots to roll badly.
send rain.
Tim Henning
Adrian,MN

Winter wheat harvest in Kansas is virtually finished. Central Kansas harvested a good crop and the western third of the state was not as lucky. Overall, the quality was very good. Test weights and protein above average. For the first time in many years, no wheat was piled on the ground. It is obvious the bins were empty prior to harvest. Empty hopper cars were parked on the sidings since early March and were quickly loaded and moved out. For a brief moment, cash wheat hit $9. It has dropped more than a dollar since that time. A Coop elevator manager told me more than a third of this years harvest had been previously contracted for less than $6 per bushel. So much for the wheat story.....

Our corn needs rain. I know Kansas is not a huge corn state, but still counts a little bit. The crop is starting to tassel. We started out on the dry side this year, and the spring/early summer rains were limited. I'm sure my Illinois friend Bryan, would have shared some of his excess, had it been possible! Yields will be lower than last year [a good one] by at least one third.

One final note... If you rely on alfalfa hay from Kansas, you better get it bought. Dry weather has taken it's toll. I finished second cutting last week and will not have another one unless it rains and rains. Normally, we get four cuts on dry land fields. Not going to happen this year. Good quality alfalfa is as high as $175 stacked on the edge of the field.

The western third of Kansas is extremely dry. I hear the trees are chasing dogs out there. The Dodge City National Weather Service web home page has a link showing areas of SW Kansas with less than four inches of moisture since last October. Ouch!!

Tom Giessel
Larned, KS.

hello everyone,

thought i might share a few observations from the weekend. i hope everyone enjoyed a safe and fun forth, with friends and family. i saw my first tassels this weekend in central illinois. it has been amazing to see how quickly the later planter corn has grown. we did get the hay up and plan on trying to get soybeans sprayed this week. we have rain forecast for most of the week, seems that way when spraying starts. our county fair begins this week, with ag luncheon on thursday. its always a good time to talk about ifu and nfu. have a great week!

bryan

from sw mn

Happy 4th ,
The crop here started out a week to 10 days behind. After a cold wet May And a 3" rain in a hour and a half we finally got some heat. The corn and beans has come along very well in the last 3 weeks about 2% of the crop is gone due to the june flood with another 5% replanted in the last week or so(will not make anything but makes the farmers feel better).Corn is waist high, beans about 12". The crop looks very good but a long time to harvest.

Tim Henning
Adrian, MN
507-360-9136

only in illinois

hello farmers union members,

it is nice to have a forum like this to help spread the information. this past week in central illinois we received a wide range of rain. from a trace to some areas getting over 5 in. areas alone the mississippi and illinois rivers continue to fight flood waters. my cousin in law was just sent to quincy, through the air guard, to help with efforts there. this monday morning i think we have received yet another disconnected report from the usda. i soon will post a few pics of fields in here. corn in a single field can range from having just emerged last week to over chest high. this should make for interesting harvest and storage issues. speaking of storage, my local coop has a new competitor in town. adm just opened a grain elevator in town. bids have exceeded the coops by 10 to 30 cents. maybe they will play nice one day??? after they own the coops and control of all our grain. i would also encourage everyone to start thinking about the inputs for the 2009 crop. i was able to start locking in inputs this feb. i chose not to, and wish i had. n-1050/ton, dap-1000+, pot-700+ and fuel 4.40+ today. we must also keep in mind the financial stability of the companies that we purchase these inputs from so far in advance. oh and blue cross just jumped my health insurance again in less then a yr. just a question, were are the commodity groups in this battle with the food/gain price debate. looks like a great place to spend our money informing the public!!! maybe it slipped their mind??? on a bright note, we will have some good yields, hay will get baled this week and i think i can pay the bills! i hope this receives you in good health and a good day.

bryan

Blog Active

After receiving a suggestion from a member from Minnesota, the NFU has started a blog for agriculture producers across the country to report on the conditions of their crops. Feel free to let everyone know how your fields are faring this growing season and to post a few photos as evidence if you'd like.

Let the discussion begin!