Winter 2010
by Brek Burgweger
This
fall and winter have been extremely wet in eastern North Carolina.
We usually start planting winter wheat around the first week of November
but the weather was so good the last week of October that I felt we
should take advantage of it and start planting a week earlier. Little
did I know that that timeframe would be the best opportunity to plant
wheat for the rest of 2009. We finished planting on November 4th and
exactly 1 week later received 12 inches of rain in 48 hours from a
Noreaster that started off the coast of North Carolina. There was so
much rain that the pumps that drain the farms couldn't keep up so the
fields were under water.
Fortunately, the first of the wheat we planted in the last week of
October was already germinated and out of the ground so the standing
water didn't hurt it as much. The last 160 acres of wheat that we planted
on November 4th was still in the ground and germinated but hadn't reached
the top of the soil yet. The wheat still came out of the ground but
was a little thinner than the rest of the wheat. For a lot of other
farmers in our area, they either didn't plant wheat this year because
it was so wet or the wheat they did plant didn't even germinate because
it was planted just before the big rain. In all, there is very little
winter wheat planted in eastern North Carolina this year.
Around the same time we plant wheat, we're also harvesting double
crop soybeans. The soybean crop this year was the best we've had in
a while. Yields were excellent and better than what we budgeted. We
finished harvesting soybeans around November 10th which was exactly
2 days before the rain hit us. We grew all seed beans for Monsanto
this year and were glad that we harvested them before the rain because
it would have reduced quality considerably. Monsanto will pay a premium
for good quality soybeans.
This winter I've been working on budgets for 2010 and I have to say
it looks a lot better financially than 2009. Although the commodity
markets have dropped about 40 cents from the corn market in the last
week. I still think 2010 will be a profitable year if we can raise
good crops. Other than budgets and getting chemicals and fertilizer
ready for next year, we've been working around the shop cleaning equipment
and getting all the little minor repairs straightened out before we
go to the fields this spring. We'll also start shipping out corn in
the next few weeks.
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Farm Report - Fall 2009
Corn Harvest 2009
by Brek Burgweger
The 2009 corn harvest was a wet one in North Carolina. We received about 8-12" in July and the moisture stuck around right through harvest. The fields were really wet which made it interesting in our no-till fields. We were able to get all the corn harvested but left a lot of ruts in the fields. It finally started to dry out in mid-September which allowed us to get into the fields to start getting them ready to plant wheat.
The corn crop was very good and was at the lower end of our highest expectations. Although it was a great start to the growing year, the large amount of rain we received in July kept the highest of expectations in check. Both the test weights and yields were excellent in all our varieties except for one. It looks like we'll be planting a little more corn next year since it looks to pay out a little better than the wheat/soybean rotation.
Since corn harvest, we've been getting the fields ready to plant wheat. We usually mow the corn stalks then burn them off before we plant wheat. All of our ground is no-till but since we left so many ruts during harvest we had to disc a lot of the land after the stalks were burned. Besides field work we've also completed GPS soil sampling on the wheat ground and are incorporating variable rate technology (VRT) into our fertilizer program. We have our own fertilizer truck and have outfitted it with VRT starting this year. In year's past we did a flat rate fertilizer program where all the wheat and corn ground received the same amount of fertilizer. I'm hoping that VRT will save us a few extra dollars and only apply fertilizer to the areas that need it most.
In Wisconsin, we've just started harvesting corn and soybeans. The frost held off till mid-October and although it hurt some of the crop, the majority should be good to go. It looks like a great crop but it'll be a late year since corn moisture is really high due to the lack of heat this summer to mature the crop. Currently, we're finishing up building a small grain facility to quickly dry and ship out corn & soybeans as they're harvested.
We'll begin harvesting soybeans this week in North Carolina. These were the soybeans we planted behind the wheat we harvested in June. Although they had a lot of rain in July and we had to replant 50 acres the crop looks good and we should finish up sometime before Thanksgiving if it stays dry.
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Farm Report - Summer 2009
Corn Harvest is Around the Corner
by Brek Burgweger
Earlier
this week I attended the Blackland Farm Manager's Tour which is hosted
each summer by a local farmer and sponsored by the North Carolina
Cooperative Extension Service and the Blacklands Farm Management
Association. Local farmers, seed dealers and farm suppliers have
the opportunity to tour the farm and learn about the latest information
in agriculture from some of the top agricultural experts in North
Carolina. For example, this years tour had in-field information on
soybean yield enhancements, corn defoliation, manure use, compaction
and the use of corn fungicide. It's a great program and lasts for
about 3-4 hours. Last year I attended the Corn College in Illinois
and although not as intense as the Corn College, the Blackland Farm
Manager's Tour is just as informative.
This year's corn crop looks to be one of the best ever in Eastern
North Carolina. The crop had an excellent start to begin the year
and has received adequate moisture throughout. In the fields that
I've walked, stand and ear counts look great and it'll be fun to
harvest what looks like a great crop. Harvest should start late next
week if not by the following week. The soybeans we planted behind
wheat look good as well. We had to replant 50 acres because of poor
stand but the beans look good.
I
was in Wisconsin for all of July and had the opportunity to look
at the crops in the area. The corn and soybean crops look good but
there's growing concern that the corn crop is maturing a little late.
A good part of the corn crop hadn't tasseled when I left to go back
to North Carolina at the end of the month. In fact, July 2009 was
the coldest month in Wisconsin since the 1890's. If we don't get
an early frost, the crop will be really good but in Wisconsin you
start worrying about early frost around September 15th.
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Farm
Report - Early Summer 2009
Wheat Harvest In Progress
by Brek Burgweger
Wheat
harvest started early last week and the crop isn't as good as we
expected. Head scab, a disease in wheat which develops during flowering,
has hurt our yields by about 5-10 bushels across all varieties. The
issue seems to be a couple of days of rain we received right around
the time of flowering. We didn't get very much rain but it seems
it was enough to cause the disease. It's not a complete disaster
but I've heard other farmers in our area mention the same problem.
The harvest has also been slow. We've had afternoon rains stop us
everyday. We've had 1 day where we've been able to start harvest
around noon and finish late at night. In the next few days we'll
start planting the double crop soybeans behind the wheat.
Although
the rains aren't helping the wheat crop they're really helping the
corn crop. This has to be one of the best starts to a corn crop in
recent memory. We've avoided the big rains that can destroy plant
population and leach fertilizer.
The corn is now tasseling and pushing an ear. Along with the rain,
we've had temperatures in the upper 70's and low 80's for the past
week. This is ideal for the pollinating corn crop. I don't know what
the rest of the crops look like in other states, but Eastern North
Carolina corn looks good everywhere.
We've had some extra help flown in from Wisconsin to help harvest
the wheat and plant the soybeans. Kody Klitzke is a 12 year old from
Monticello, WI who just graduated from the 6th grade. He helps out
on our farms in Wisconsin and now he's helping out in North Carolina
for the next few weeks. He's pretty good help and happy his Blackberry
works all the way down here.
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Farm Report - Spring 2009
Off to a Good Start
by Brek Burgweger
We
finished planting corn in North Carolina the last week of April and
the corn crop is already knee high. This spring has been a good one
for the corn crop to get off to a good start. The temperatures we're
in the mid to upper 80's shortly after we finished planting which
really helped the germination. It was fairly dry when we planted
the corn with only a small shower slowing us down for about 2 days.
Other than that, it was pretty smooth going. Currently, we're finishing
up sidedressing the last few units of nitrogen on the corn crop.
The next big stage for the corn crop will be in another 2-3 weeks
when it begins to tassel and germinate.
We received 2" of rain last week and that really helped the wheat crop.
It was heading out and germinating and the rain was a timely one. In about
2-3 weeks we'll start harvesting wheat and planting double crop beans behind
the wheat crop. This is usually one of the busiest times of the year for
farmers because the wheat crop has to be harvested quickly to avoid the big
rains which can lower wheat test weight. While you're busy harvesting wheat,
you have to get the ground ready to plant soybeans.
Planting corn and soybeans in Wisconsin has been a different story. It's
been extremely wet and a real challenge to get the crops in the ground. In
North Carolina, we've started planting corn as early as April 1st some years
and haven't finished till mid-May. There's a big planting window here. However,
in Wisconsin and the northern parts of the Midwest, the window to plant corn
is only a few weeks. If the corn is planted any later, the yield will drop
off significantly.
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Farm Report - Early Spring 2009
Preparing for A New Year
by Brek Burgweger
Since
the beginning of the year, we've been busy around the shop and in
the fields. One thing we usually always start doing the first of
the year is hauling our corn and soybeans to our buyers. We have
200,000 bushels of on-farm storage with the majority of that storage
used for corn. We experienced a significant drought last summer and
the corn pollinated during 95-105 degree temperatures. One of our
farms was able to escape the heat and dryness but our other farm
was really hurt. The drought and extreme temperatures decreased our
yields, and the quality of grain that we stored wasn't nearly as
good as previous years. When it came time to move the grain this
winter, the corn wasn't moving out of storage like it normally should
because of the lower quality of grain so we had some challenges trying
to get the grain out. For example we had to cut a hole in the side
door of a bin and slide an 8" auger through that hole in the
door just to get the corn out. It was a heavy 20' auger.
One thing I enjoy about agriculture and farming is marketing and
as the last few years have shown, it can be both fun and stressful.
Before each marketing season, I usually have a written plan of how
I'm going to sell each crop. I don't always follow the plan exactly
as I have it written but I think it's a good idea to have something
down on paper. It really varies from year to year. For example, this
past year most of our corn was priced by forward-contract last spring
and summer. Prices were so good early last year that it was tempting
not to sell the whole crop at once. We were able to lock-in great
prices for corn during the summer of 2008 when commodity prices were
sky high. For the corn that I didn't forward contract during the
summer, I bought put options during the same timeframe to protect
the downside. I didn't think they would be worth anything when I
sold the grain this winter but they really protected me on my unsold
grain in storage when the commodity markets fell through the floor
this past fall. For this year, I'm really looking at having most
of my corn sold by the end of June. With the uncertainty in the economy
and reduced demand of commodities worldwide, I think this year will
be a challenge to get good prices again unless we have a weather
scare this summer.
The past few weeks we've been applying nitrogen and chemicals to
our wheat and corn fields. We traded in our old John Deere sprayer
for a new John Deere 4730 sprayer. Out of all our equipment on the
farm, a sprayer is probably our most used and most economical piece
of equipment. The nitrogen and chemicals are usually applied to the
wheat during the first week in March. After that, we'll broadcast
our nitrogen on the corn fields just before planting. Once the corn
is planted and about knee-high, we'll sidedress the remaining nitrogen
on the corn.
We'll be planting corn in the next few weeks. We usually start the
first week in April if the ground is dry. Hope for dry weather.
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