The Seed Story

A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business.

Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children, he decided to do something different.  He called all the young executives in his company together.

He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you. The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued.. "I am going to give each one of you a SEED today - one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you.  I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO."

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.

Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew  Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing.  By now, others were talking about their plants,but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure.

Six months went by -- still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing  Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however, he just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - He so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection.  Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot.

But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right. He took his empty pot to the board room.

When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful - in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives.

Jim just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown," said the CEO. "Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!"

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified.. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!"

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed,   Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim.  He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, "Behold your next Chief Executive Officer!

His name is Jim!" Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed.

"How could he be the new CEO?" the others said.

Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it,and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow.

All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!"

* If you plant honesty, you will reap trust

* If you plant goodness, you will reap friends

* If you plant humility, you will reap greatness

* If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment

* If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective

* If you plant hard work, you will reap success

* If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation

So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.

Think about this for a minute.

If I happened to show up on your door step crying, would you care?

If I called you and asked you to pick me up because something happened, would you come?

If I had one day left to live my life, would you be part of that last day?

If I needed a shoulder to cry on, would you give me yours?

This is a test to see who your real friends are or if you are just someone to talk to you when they are bored.

Do you know what the relationship is between your two eyes?  They blink together, they move together, they cry together, they see things together, and they sleep together, but they never see each other; that's what friendship is.

Your aspiration is your motivation, your motivation is your belief, your belief is your peace, your peace is your target, your target is heaven, and life is like hard core torture without it!

Ed

Hydroponics

A newly hired, young ag teacher asked this question on Crop Talk.  Since I had that decision to make a few years back I thought it was an interesting topic.

"I know that there are some people on here that knows about Greenhouses and Hydroponics. I have recently been hired as a high school agriculture teacher and I am looking to see which hydroponics systems are the best, easiest to use, and the best/cheapest place to purchase. I have been looking at a few: General Hydroponics Rainforest 318, General Hydroponics AeroFlo2 Hydroponic Systems 60, Bontanicare® Aerojet,and Bontanicare® Econojet. Any help would be appreciated."

Which one would you choose?  If you are interested, click on the links and make a suggestion to the young man under comments or email and I will get them to him.

Crop King is the one of the first companies I saw to sell hydroponics commerically.  "Hydroponics, simply defined, is the growing of plants in a water and fertilizer solution containing the necessary nutrients for plant growth. It is not a new science, with work being done by researchers as early as the 1600's. In the early 1930's, W.E Gericke, of the University of California, put laboratory experiments in plant nutrition on a commercial scale. In doing so, he termed these nutri-culture systems "hydroponics". The word was derived from two Greek words, hydro, meaning water, and ponos, meaning labor, or literally, water working."

Before I retired I tried some hydroponics we the students.  It turned out we got funding for an aquaponics unit so we went with that.  It was quite a learning curve for this old teacher but the kids and I learned a lot and it became the center of attention for the whole school.  Almost every child in the district was brought to the FFA Shop to see what my students were up to.

The best thing I did was befriend the night janitors who watched after the fish and lab at night while we were gone.  They loved to feed the fish and if you've ever dropped food pellets into a fish tank or fish pond you know what I mean.  They tended to overfeed them but it was OK.  Everyone enjoyed the fish fry at harvest.  Their "manure" made tasty vegetables we enjoyed, too.  Lettuce was easy to grow and we even got beans and peas to grow but tomatoes took so much extra heat to produce.

I thought it was a neat topic for today but mainly, it brought back many memories for me.  I hope you found it interesting, too.

Ed

So, What IS Your Fertilizer Doing For You?

Our friend Mace Bower made a powerful post on Crop Talk.  One of my mentors called and said it's the best piece he has read on there.  My friends and I are discussing this mind tingling post.  It's more than worth discussing today.

"I kind of had an AH HA moment recently. I add this to contribute based on the recent discussions on adding Fungi of some name brand as a root growth promoter or for whatever reasons they are sold, and apparently have quite a following lately. As you learn, it is important to understand that there is more to science than just buying cleverly marketed inputs.


Well in January, one of the funniest things at National No-till Conference was Gabe Brown picking on Dave Brandt that he needed to "take out the pacifier" if he wanted to get his soil biological system working correctly. The scenario is that Brandt uses 60 lbs of Nitrogen to grow his corn crops that are otherwise grown with legumes/cover crops/organic fertilizer etc, and that he obviously sees a positive net return to this (60 lbs) input. Gabe is saying, that he has learned, the addition of this fertilizer is really holding back the biological soil/plant/microbial system from its potential. Or that the "cost" is greater than the nitrogen alone. So, lots of people don't "see" or believe what Gabe is saying, that is fine. It is what he has been taught/believes/is selling/whatever.

More recently, I am currently in a Soil Microbiology class (PhD). We had a guest lecturer, who specializes in mychorrhizal fungi (those that operate as root extensions, they use the plant for Carbon, and contribute other nutrients to the plant). I took some bullet notes and will share those, they are something that is definitely worth thinking about. Much of this is economically irrelevant in times of high grain prices, or low fertilizer prices, as profit trumps science every time. But if you are interested in the soil as a biological system, some good points.

-Phosphate critical for living cells. ATP

-Mychorrhizal associations contribute 20-80% of P needs.

-Plants without mychorrhizal association explore 1-2 cm3 of soil around roots.

-Plants w/ myc ass. explore 12-15 cm3 of soil around roots.

-When P or N is limiting, plants support mychorrizal association.

-High concentration of P or N in plants create more demand for Carbon. Then plants reduce C contribution to mychorhriza or eliminate association.

-Plants spend less energy in the mycorrhizal association than producing root mass for nutrient uptake.

-Hyphae (structure) reach up to 10 cm from roots.

-Phosphorus is largest nutrient uptake by mychorrhizae fungi to host.

-Other nutrients taken up N, K, Mg, Ca, Mn, Zn, Cu

-Increase plant tolerance to water stress. Hyphae extract water from small pores.

-Suppress root disease, improve plant health, mechanical resistance.

-Produce Glomalin to bind soil particles.

-Excess fertilizer leads to less myc association. 45 lb/A/Yr reduced colonization by 50%

-Negative correlation to high P

-Plants depend on myc to different level. Flax 90%, Corn 80%, Sorghum 60%, Wheat 30%.

-Brassica's are non-host of mychorrhiazal fungi.

The speaker's belief or prediction also included that political tensions will build over phosphate rock. The world would move from an oil economy to a phosphate economy. That is worth a whole discussion itself, as I have seen several scientists present that same view with hard data."

So the question is, when a friend produced 300 bushels of corn this year on 80-90 pounds of purchased nitrogen, how much were the above factors working in his soil?  I am thinking greatly but don't know how you would ever quantify it.

As I build my soil with more air and carbon from crop and cover crop root mass, I can see I am on the right path.  This strays from current adopted agricultural practices so it must produce beautiful crops that are efficient and profitable to get notice.

"Speak With Your Fields."

Ed

Tree Is Gone

Did you ever have a tree in the middle of the field you had to drive around every year?  I had one and it is now gone, the tree is history.  Why kill a perfectly good tree?  It was in the way of tractor traffice and it had little value, even for firewood or shade.  It had seed pods on it and some big thorns and reddish wood inside but I am not sure what it was.

The picture shows the missed stalks as I had to drive the combine around it.  I hand husked the corn and gave it to the guy helping me to feed his critters.  I call livestock critters but a neighbor actually named his son Critter!  Is Jeff Foxworthy reading because we might have a redneck!

I am tickled how the spot looks now.  I sowed double passes of rye through the spot to help it get covered to stabilize the soil.  I don't know why I didn't do that the first year when we took out 1000 feet of fencerow only a 100 feet west of it.  I guess we just got tired and forgot about it and quit.  It's amazing how such a small project can give me so much satisfaction.

We also found the mysterious old clay tile under it and it started running again after we pieced in a section of solid tubing between the clay tile.  Water running through a tile is always a good thing!

We finished sowing rye on that farm yesterday so I once again have all my acres seeded to a cover crop!  That is quite an accomplishment for me.  The week's rain report from Bill Northcott showed why, too, we had zero rain at my locations in southwest Ohio last week.

A lot of farmers got finished with soybeans but there are still a few out there!  There are more acres of corn left to harvest but the number gets smaller every week.  I saw three farmers cutting their last soybeans within a few miles of where this picture was taken.

My crop adjustor showed up this morning very promptly.  I was 150 bushels short of a good APH on one farm so I get a small check.  I told him I would much rather have the APH as my yield for that field!  He laughed as he agreed.

He is from a small farm family east of here and I went to college with his Uncle Paul.  His dad suddenly passed away from an unknown heart ailment last year and it was very sad for everyone involved.  I am so blessed to have had my dad for 85.5 years.  LuAnn feels the same way about her's.

We are all praying for our friend Dutch who lost his son recently from a similar event.  He was doing what he loved, driving a John Deere pulling peanuts in West Texas.  I know Dutch and Katie are taking it very hard.  Some people never recover from an event like that but I pray they do.

We are getting rain on our new planted rye as another system blows through and fall adjusts to winter.  I hope it isn't a hard one but it is what it is.  I am so thankful we had last week to get so much done.

Ed

Veteran's Day Speech

Redleg from Illinois posted this speech which encapsulates Veteran's Day for me.  This is LuAnn and I's 14th Veteran's Day together.

"Veteran's Day Speech 2012

I was honored to have been asked to give the Veteran's Day Speech. The following is what I presented.

Good afternoon and thank-you for inviting me to share in today’s celebration. Recognize special guests – Mayor Cooper, Commander Orion American Legion and Sherman J Sagadin VFW Post and a special thanks to the Orion Community Band. I must say Orion schools prepared me for the army life having spent the first years of my education at Andover; then Lynn Center; back to Andover; then onto Osco; and oh yea back to Andover; then to Orion Cr Hannah; then to Orion Middle School and then we moved from the farm West of Lynn Center, to the home place now south of Andover and I graduated from AlWood High School 1977….So thank-you for teaching me all about adjusting to change!

When the cannons of World War One were silenced, we thought we had fought the “war to end all wars,” but as history proved, we still needed our Soldiers. We are here to celebrate the strength, courage and dedication of our veterans who not only wield the hammer of conflict but also shape the world for lasting peace. The brave actions of our veterans endure in the pages of history. Today I want us to not only remember their gallantry on the battlefield; we must look at the lasting legacy of strength and service they brought with them when they returned home.

It takes a profound strength to wear this nation’s uniform. Though one day those who serve our nation will eventually remove this uniform, no amount of time, nor strife can sever the golden thread uniting these veterans in a unique and everlasting bond. Once a Soldier, a Soldier for Life. This uniform has changed many times in the last 237 years. What hasn’t changed has been the determination and spiritual strength of the men and women willing to serve this nation. The image of a veteran, as well as the uniform, has changed over the years. Almost half of those serving in the military today are between 22 and 30 years old.

Now, America has the largest population of young veterans since the Vietnam War. During Vietnam, the strength of our Soldiers and our veterans was no different than it is today – what changed was the public’s attitude toward them. That generation remembers returning from war to a country so divided and distracted by internal politics the public had little interest in what our veterans had been doing for the nation. These attitudes and misunderstandings about veterans during the Vietnam era were misguided and unfortunate towards many members of one of our greatest generations of heroes.

Just a little over a month ago, I attended a memorial service in Western Township cemetery at the gravesite honoring SGT Michael W. Lief. A Vietnam War Hero recognized by his community by naming his home front road in his honor. A true American hero who gave his life serving his country and what a great and noble undertaking by his grateful community recognizing one of their own. And today it is about celebrating our heroes: coming together to honor all those who served.

Serving in the Armed Forces of the United States has always been a noble calling. Since the shots at Lexington and Concord were fired and our Revolutionary War began, the American Soldier has been the defender of liberty and democracy. Since their humble beginnings in 1776, the American Soldier has fought and died on battlefields here and abroad to defend our rights and freedoms. We have gathered today to do honor to those who served to protect our nation and our homes. For some, the supreme sacrifice was made on the battlefield; others have since passed. This is the one day of the year that is set apart for our soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines who have sacrificed so much and expected nothing more than a thanks. They offered their lives and made sacrifices for the sake of humanity.

I cannot recount all their deeds or valor or bravery. These are recorded in the pages of our country’s history, and forever engraved upon the monuments throughout our land. Let us also remember our future veterans who are serving today -- writing a new history. Because today where ever Old Glory flies at a post, fort, base, ship or installation at some near or far country, you can rest assured there is a soldier, airman, marine or sailor willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice for you and I. And just like every Service member before them, when they do lay down their life, the flag is draped across the coffin symbolic of your country’s appreciation, for now it is our responsibility to carry on after the loved ones who grieve their loss. We should remember that Veteran’s Day is more than just another day off from work. It is more than an insert in the paper announcing a special sale. It is a day to remember those, who’ve served in America’s Armed Forces for their country and our freedoms.

They served at places like Shiloh, Antietam, Andersonville and Gettysburg. They fought died in the mud and blood in the trenches of World War I. They served at Pearl Harbor, Bataan, North Africa, Anzio, Salerno, Normandy, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. They fought in the cold and misery of Pork Chop Hill and at Chosin Reservoir. They fought in the jungle heat on the ambush trails of Vietnam; the sands of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in Desert Storm; in the cities, villages and country sides of Iraq and yet still in Afghanistan. They fought on land, from ships and submarines at sea…fighters and bombers from the air; using the tools they were provided in this new profession of war or preserving peace.

In those distant places, in harrowing times, these ordinary people from the cities, towns and villages of America, and here in Orion, have performed extraordinary deeds. Some of those heroes I spoke about are here with us today and some are gone now. And in a few minutes I will ask each of them to stand or wave, so we can all recognize them and again tell them thanks. Memories of their acts of heroism must never "fade away", as has been said of old soldiers. It is our task to remember what they said and what they did. We MUST never forget! We gain strength from what our heroes have done. All too often when we leave a Memorial Day or Veteran’s Day commemoration -- we take for granted or even forget for a time all of those who have lost their lives or sacrificed so much to ensure we have the homes we live in -- the freedoms we enjoy -- the privileges we have -- or take for granted those men and women who are still deployed today, away from their families and friends -- who remain in harm’s way.

We are blessed with many privileges -- do not forget! President Kennedy once said “A nation reveals itself not only by the men it produces but also by the men it honors, the men it remembers.” Of course today we equally honor service men and women, but the sentiment remains crystal clear. A key component of our nation’s greatness lies in our ability to honor, appreciate, and cherish, through our actions and our memories, all those who died or served to ensure our freedom.

We often hear that freedom has a price and that each generation pays its due. Today is our day to say thank you to those who for generations have foot the bill; to those who have paid so dearly. And to their families and friends whose lives are forever changed, and to whom we owe an enormous debt. Today, military support groups, veterans associations, and everyday Americans make sure that we pay tribute to those who have served and sacrificed.

By honoring our men and women in uniform, groups like you keep alive the memory of those who paid the ultimate price. So I want to thank those of you responsible for putting this ceremony together reminding us to pause and honor our veterans. God Bless America and thank-you for allowing me to share with you on this Veteran’s Day! Can I ask all the veterans to stand or wave so we can all tell you thank-you and I SALUTE You!

LTC Daniel M. Swanson

"Redleg"

A Wonderful Day

Yesterday was one of those days where everything came together. It was almost too much for one day, but I will take it. The weather was perfect, the help was fantastic and there were no major breakdowns. Everything worked pretty much like clockwork.

We started early tearing out a tree I wanted removed 3 years ago. Low and behold, we found an old drain tile underneath it! Jack tore that tree out in less than an hour, ran to get some solid wall tile to patch the line and we were off to the next project.

My load of number 4's showed up and I had the driver spot the pile near the fence row in a low but dry spot. Any left over gravel will help fill the spot.The driver was a really rough looking character but a really nice guy.  "He doesn't look like he's from around here."  We talked about retirement and grandkids then he was off on his way.

One tile blowout turned out not to be one. It was an old flat stone laid up hand dug well! It is dry now so we dumped some number 4's in it and filled it back up.  Maybe it will show up again but it was not a tile line blowout.

I took our Mule to scout tile hole repairs and marked them as I went. There is one big blowout near the creek and I am not sure what we will get into on that one today. There are a few more lesser blow outs in the same line towards the hill to the west.

Soon a friend came to help cut up logs we cut out of a fencerow(above) 2 years ago. I didn't have enough time to spend with him. Then I got I picked up some rye seed and the neighbor boys to help me fill the notill drill. Another friend ran the tractor while the boys and I loaded up a load of cut up firewood and headed back to the house.

The Emerald Ash Borer dried out some of those logs too quickly and they should have been burned last year.  We got sawdust in our eyes loading the wood.  The borer holes aerated some of the ash a little too quickly but it will still make a good fire.

The boys and I unloaded the wood and we loaded another load of seed. Soon we will have several pick up loads of big cut up logs to split.  We have 4 big loads in a pile now and Graham said that was the biggest pile he had ever seen.  Me too except for piles where guys sell firewood as a business.

It was just a wonderful day but I was so busy I didn't get to appreciate it like I would have liked to. I could have just sat there and watched everything going on but there was too much to do.

I am very thankful for days like this and very thankful for my friends.

It was a wonderful day in a pretty wonderful life.

Ed

How Do I Make My NoTill Planter Work Better?

I got another good email question yesterday and thought I would share how I answered it.  He stated where he farmed and described his planter and I took it from there."

"I used to report to the Extension office in Trotwood. I have a friend Tom Hertlein there I haven't seen in a long while but I do see the Stebbins brothers on County Line Rd and buy some chems from our good NAT friend Philip Huffman nearby.


"I have read many of your posts on new agtalk forums, and others too, mainly referring to your white 5100 planter. A little over a year ago I bought my first planter, a white 5100, from a former customer of mine. I have gleaned a lot of information about this planter from your posts. I am writing to you just to get, first hand, any recommendations that you might have for me. I am interested in your thoughts about what is needed to make this as near as perfect as possible no till planter."

For me, the Martin setup works best on that planter. The full Martin setup costs $1000 per row or so unless you can buy some parts used cheaper like the row cleaners.

"For a little background my planter is an 8 row 30" vertical fold. No starter of any kind right now, when I plant my corn in 2014 I will probably do some type of in-furrow set up. It has yetter frame mounted no-till coulters."

My partner Les had one but he traded it off before I could Martinize it.

"It has keaton(that is Eugene Keeton, Howard Martin's friend, Keeton works in the trench, rebounder works above the trench)s on 6 rows and schaffert rebounders on row 7 and 8 for a comparison. I had to switch them out any way due to damage. It was already converted to 2 - 12 inch closing wheels so I changed them out for two 13 inch Martin spade wheels."

That's a good move, that is superior to any closing system I have seen.
"I didn't run a drag chain last year but I can see how it would help in certain situations."

I like that extra 20 inches of crumbling and leveling in all conditions offered from the 40 inch long, 3/8 inch square chained looped and dangling behind the spading, tilling wheels.

"I have been very impressed by the dawn curve tine, but new ones are expensive and used Martins are cheap, just more contankerous depending on soil conditions."

The Martin row cleaner is the best I have found and the small row cleaner reversed as a spading, tilling, closing wheel makes the best closing wheel I have ever seen.

"I would like to have row cleaners but this year's crop didn't do well (12 Bu beans) so that is for another year."

Get Martins someway somehow when you decide to put row cleaners on your planter.

"I've been thinking about the RID gauge wheels,"

Case IH invented those gauge wheel tires and made the Early Riser planter famous.  Those will allow you to plant in near tacky condtions, the whole system is designed to plant when others are working ground so you gain planting days and yield.

The best thing I ever did was take the coulters off and use a single disk opener 2 plus inches off the side to put N and S off the row in corn or calcium nitrate and water beside corn or beans.

"especially since a 20/20 and Air Force aren't in my budget right now. Any advice and suggestions would be very much appreciated."

Look at Jeff Littrel's principles, they use the Martin planter with fertilizer openers on both sides in the U trough system, best corn and beans I saw in the US.

http://fhrfarms1.com/

You can see my old planter at Jim Smith's near Ft Wayne, I can arrange a visit.

New Carlise has good prices on parts but Dave Moeller in Iowa is the most knowledgeable sales source/mechanic/trouble shooter I have met.

http://moelleragservice.com/

You are welcome here anytime.

937-728-1478

That planter is the very best, high yielding notill planter I have ever operated.  I have witnesses, too.

Ed