The earliest corn is chest high in Fayette and Clinton County. As you drive north, it gets smaller and smaller with more denitrification and drowned out spots. The soft red winter wheat all looks good and some is almost ripe but the farther north you get the greener it is as you would expect. Soybeans are not out of the ground to the second trifolitate, the farther south the better.
We scouted fields in Genessee and Niagra County New York and only half the crop is planted. Only the driest fields got planted and they have drowned out spots with yellow corn. We didn't see many soybeans in Pennsylvania or New York this year like we have in the past. It is too late to plant many of those vacant fields we saw but I am sure some will be planted on a huge risk. It all depends on the year.
We are getting ready to harvest my soft red winter wheat here on the farm and immediately plant it to double crop soybeans. We will put the head on tomorrow and adjust the combine and take a swipe each day and go to our local buyers and see what they think of it. Whoever says here is the price and we agree to it we will deliver to.
The price has been floating under $7. We could have sold it all for $9.89 last fall but we only took a little. The last time I did that was 2011 and we had to have others help us fill our contracts. That is a very risky proposition and I don't like to depend on others for my needs. I should be self sufficient. This time I should have sold more than I could raise and helped others with a good price but I didn't know that when I planted this crop.
Posts about wheat have been many this winter and spring and now summer on Crop Talk. There might have been a few more acres of wheat planted here in the east this past fall and farmers have been sharing information about it before it was planted.
We had a very good trip for our 12th wedding anniversary. I have a great partner to share my love of family and farming with. We are very blessed.
Ed Winkle
Our wheat is still green with yellow heads. The seed can still be squished with your finger nails.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the growing degree day app we have had 1085gdds sice April 1. Last year 1656.
I counted 30-44 kernels of wheat in some heads on me. Walked out into my neighbors field and counted 24.....made me pleased with my fertilizer plan.
That is a huge difference in growing degree days, Brad! I thought a week of near 90 degrees would cure my wheat too but it is dying very slowly. That is good for yield probably but not so good to start the double crop soybeans!
ReplyDeleteEd
"My Father's family were from Eastern PA not far from where Washington crossed the Delaware River. In the 1890's the family changed from growing wheat to dairy. What had been the thrashing floor became the hay loft.
ReplyDeleteFirst they would skim off the cream and make butter to sell. The milk was then fed to hogs who were sold as hams to scrapple. About 1900 there was a Milk Train to the City and every on hauled their cans of milk to the train. Later the Milk Companies came to the front gate to pickup the milk cans. By about 1960 Uncle Harry was milking about 100 cows while Uncle Eldan was milking 200. With time the herds became larger and the pastures got smaller.
My Great Grandfather put in water to the new enlarged milk barn. This required him to also run water to the house. There was one water tap in the house and that was in the kitchen.
He went to the City for the pipe. Bought the very best lead pipe, none of that sorry galvanized pipe for him. Raised 12 kids in that house, most lived to their 90's. One was a Vet three sons had their own dairies two daughters married dairy farmers. Two of my Fathers Cousins became Doctors of the WW II era. Several School Teachers and Aunt Polly was a Post Mistress.
Most of this I learned when My Grandfather would make his winter rounds and visit all his Grandchildren, one more time before he died.
Now the family is scattered from coast to coast and border to border. My Father's Youngest Sister's Youngest Son is in California. My most distant cousin lives in Australia. That string of Wilson is about to run out. Most of the males fathered daughters.
Being the only Texas Branch with 25 years in the AF I lost track of 99% of the family.