1946

"I keep hearing that 2012 may be the largest corn acres year since 1946. I realize that was the year following WWII & the US govt wanted food production to get back up. But, I really question the acreage thing. 1946 was 2 yrs before I was born. But, in my recollection of the early '50s, it just doesn't seem possible that USA farmers could've had that many corn acres in 1946.

I realize we have lost acreage due to urban sprawl, but still, the acres in the '40s & early '50s were split between cash grain & animal production...at least in our part of the world, NE IL. Also, there are many parts of the USA that weren't capable of growing corn then ('40s) that may be now due to irrigation.

And, I think there were other crops such as cotton, vegetables & fruit crops that also impeded on the corn acres, but were necessary nonetheless. I wasn't a world traveler then or now, but I'm guessing much of the US had similar per farm acre balances. Soybeans weren't a big cash crop in Illinois in the late '40s yet, in fact I understand that we first grew them for hay in our area.

Still, there was a good percentage of ground growing oats back then. Oats for the food value for livestock & humans & the straw needed for bedding...again for livestock, and then oats was also the starter crop for the new hay needed. Then, another good portion of the farm was dedicated to the alfalfa, timothy or whatever hay crop. Then a smaller, though still significant portion of the farm was devoted to growing nothing at at all. It was known as "pasture". Again, for the animals.

With all those secondary crops, I doubt that left 1/2 the acreage for corn...here. So, was this just a Chebanse thing? Or did the rest of you grow corn fencerow to fencerow in '46? If so, how did you handle the harvest & where did you put the ear corn?

I'm skeptical of the numbers."

How about you? Are you skeptical of the reported USDA numbers Friday? I guess I am not. All of the above points make sense but since there were so few soybeans and no CRP in 1946, I am guessing the USDA has a pretty good estimate on acres of corn to be planted.

Ed

March 30

96 million acres is a lot of corn! Everyone has been waiting for the March 30 USDA Report to come out and it is here. The stocks are bullish though, so a good yield is needed to make that number have impact. I am not sure it will, guess we will all know in a year from now!

I see farmers and others are asking if there is enough quality seed to go around. Probably not, there is plenty of seed, but I am not sure what the quality is of that seed or the hybrid it is supposed to produce.

I wonder how much is in the ground already? I have a gut feeling it is at least one million acres already and could be closer to three. It really doesn't matter, one bad weather snap and that production could be damaged and planting halted. Things won't get roaring across the midwest until this coming week and next. Many farmers wait until Easter Sunday to plant corn.

Hearty congraulations to our son-in-law Kevin Abt. I opened the electronic edition of the Wilmington News Journal last night and there he was in a picture of educators from Clinton County. They were reconized at the regional meeting for educators recently. We have two fine educators in the family, Kevin and our oldest boy Matt. Keep up the good work, guys!

Ed

March 29

We only got .06 inches of rain so that is enough not to plant our heavy soil, let alone what I mentioned yesterday. The Farmers Almanac says seeds will rot planted today and tomorrow so I planted some to see if they would this year or not. I have done that in the past and I would say they have at least a 50% chance of rotting underground under these conditions.

Do you plant by the signs? I can't find hardly anyone who does. Every farmer or gardener I know plants when the soil conditions are right. They have been lately.

The signs use lunar gravity and other effects on the seed in the soil to maximize or reduce their growth. There are signs of good days to plant like next week and days when they are not, like today. I have watched the signs on cutting hair and weaning calves and they are pretty accurate so why shouldn't seedling germination be the same?

Most farms are built around speed and efficiency today so you plant when you can get over it and the weather forecast looks pretty favorable. Three inches of rain in the next three days is a big no-no but rarely predicted, and doesn't happen 50% of the time when it is.

The big thing this year is I noticed that seed and chemical companies are dragging their feet on delivery. They don't want you to make a mistake. They want you to do it once and do it right.

That is a good motto to have but probably a few million acres have been planted across the country and the grain merchants are dying to know what USDA will report tomorrow. If you look at their bids, they are thinking negative or bearish numbers.

Ed

March 28

March 28 and 29 are poor days to plant seeds, according to the Farmers Almanac. They claim the seed will rot in the round. I have 50 acres ready to plant but the weatherman is calling for rain so I won't plant until the signs improve.

Planting time is here. Now, it's pick your day. Keep busy until you pull the planter into the field. It is too late to worry if the planter is ready or not, it is time to use it. If it is not ready, you have a few days until crop insurance will pay for your mistake.

We don't want any mistakes. We want to do it once, so we have to do it right. Reader Rob was asking me about open pollinated corn compared to hybrid for sileage and I told him I didn't think open pollinated would compare. I wuold love to plant a row of Bloody Butcher beside Reid's Yellow Dent though, and select ears from those rows for next year's planting. I would have my own first hybrid seed corn, just like Grandpa did.

This blog will be short for two weeks.

Ed

Mentoring

"Mentoring is usually a formal or informal relationship between two people-a senior mentor (usually outside the protégé's chain of supervision) and a junior protégé. Mentoring has been identified as an important influence in professional development in both the public and private sector."

A young man posted this on Crop Talk this morning: "The farmer I work for on weekends and summer breaks offered me a job after college running the sprayer and handling all agronomic side of the farm. Scouting, application, soil tests, recommendations, etc. I am really interested in pursuing this offer but the overwhelming fact of scouting 7000 acres a growing season fresh out of college with no past agronomy scouting is a bit intimidating. Anyone have any ideas on how to approach this and be able to manage all the acres in 2 or so years after college?

I have thought about maybe start scouting a few fields this summer and compare my findings with our current agronomist or something like that. Just a huge responsibility and alot to understand and know to be as good as a full time agronomist. Any ideas are greatly appreciated!"

This is how I replied: "I feel your fear, Zach. Let's look at the bright side, it is a great opportunity for you to build your skill list. Many your age is chomping at the bit for your opportunity. It is good you ask but remember, Rome wasn't built in a day.

The main thing is to learn how to spray first, study and get your commercial license if possible. That alone is a big task. At least do the study for it even if you don't have to take the test. Learning how to spray and what to spray is two entirely different things.

You need mentors. Could you apprentice with a young spray guy a little older than you somewhere? Spend at least a day or two with him and just get a feel for what he does to take the spray order, mix it, and apply it?

Identifying pests and correlating that with a spray order is a whole different set of thoughts and skills. Here you need someone to teach you how to scout enough to get a feel of what pests you are up against so you can come up with a spray mixture to apply. If you were close, I could put you through a quick course and be there for your questions but there are guys like me scattered all over the country if you find one to work with.

So to me you really need two mentors so you won't feel lost and confused. You have a big opportunity with a big undertaking but you can do it!

My email is open if I can help any. I started scouting for a fee in 85 and it took a couple of seasons to understand the pest side to understand the spray side.

Take each lesson in stride but don't be hard on yourself."

Mentoring and apprenticing are great opportunites to fill the information and skill gaps between young and old today.

Ed

God's Country

I found links to a series of videos taken by a family that moved from Europe to America in the 1970's. What a story! The series is named God's Country. It will take a week to watch all these videos if you just watch one when you are taking a stint at your computer. Part 3 is almost ten minutes long so that will give you an idea what you are getting into when you click on my link.

You will see parts one through nine on the right side of your You Tube viewer page. Watch any and all that you choose and leave a comment on what you think. It is a very interesting report of starting a farm in Minnesota in the 70's and reporting more what happened during the 80's.

A friend sent a much deeper piece on the future of agriculture, climate, and the world called The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. It also is very interesting and intriguing but takes us from the farming in the 70's in Minnesota shown in God's Country to what God might have in store for us. Neither one is required viewing of course, unless you are a very curious person like I am! Your comments and email also will be appreciated on this deep subject. It's all just "food for thought."

CBS Sunday Morning had several good pieces yesterday. I really liked this one on Columbus Ohio, "The World's Marketplace." You can see other stories on this list of links. The Fiesta dinnerware and the Goya Brands were very interesting to me, too. I got hooked on that program when Charles Kuralt travelled America in an RV. Yesterday was one of the better shows since those times.

I had a good early question this morning from a young farmer in Virginia who was considering putting Capture insecticide on his no-till corn on corn. He already has 2 X 2 fertilizer on the planter where he puts down nitrogen, sulfur, boron and zinc off the side of his highly weathered soils.

I told him to go for it.

Ed

China

Steve Groff is finishing his trip to China with his daughter and her school choir. LuAnn and I have been following his excellent email reports of his great adventure with the kids across China. I am always interested in this subject because I had the opportunity to be one of the first American citizens invited to the country in 1985 after travel there was opened.

We were talking this morning, how could a farmer go away this time of the year and focus on the trip during the beginning of spring? For Steve, it was a great opportunity for his teen age son to "take over" while dad is gone. How do you focus on what needs to be done or what you could be doing when you are away?

It's easy for some. Steve has made it look easy this past week when others were reporting planting from all over the U.S. and even Canada! He has been eager to learn how our trading partners live and work and was willing to share his experience to anyone who would "listen." If you would like his email review of his trip to China, drop me an email or comment at the bottom of this post.

I can see that a lot of things have changed in China since I was there in 1985 but a lot of things have stayed the same. The average person had no transportation, just their own two legs. Even though we hear of the traffic jams in China and world demand for fuel while we are cutting back, most of them still walk or ride their bicycle.

Steve did get to see John Deere building tractors in China, something most of us will never see. One question was raised, is their quality and tolerances as good as the USA or Europe? China is considered the source of "junk" we don't need and throw away. But they have come a long way in quality of their products which is reflected in the way people live there now.

China is a whole new world that has changed ours. Is China on your "bucket list?"

Ed