Around the Farm – Short rainfall, short corn
What a spring and summer this has been!
We started planting corn on May 5th with some pretty decent conditions. As planting progressed it got drier and drier, and we had to start chasing moisture with the planter. While we had planned to wait to plant our transitional soybeans in June, ...
Around the Farm – Blossoms & Babies
Nothing lifts the spirit like watching the earth come back to life after a dreary winter.
The cold winter months bring some necessary rest to our soil and plants (and maybe even ourselves), but eventually we are all ready to start buzzing again!
While flowers and green grass are the first ...
Around the Farm – Farm Transitions
Every new year in farming brings changes
Some years those changes are small things, like new products or new hybrids. Some years those changes are a bit bigger like a piece of new machinery. But every once in a while, a new year brings major changes like the year we switched ...
Around the Farm – Strong Roots
Greetings! Since I am a new face in this magazine, I would like to introduce myself.
I was born and raised on a farm in Clare – about eight miles west of Sycamore. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t involved in helping with the cattle and pigs we had ...
Around the Farm – Much to do after harvest
Farmers have a half-joke; the best days of harvest are the day you start and the day it ends. This year that statement rings very true.
We finished harvest just after thanksgiving this year, and it was a challenging year with breakdowns but the yields were pretty good. Even though harvest ...
Around the Farm – Harvest Requires Teamwork
If I could choose one word to describe harvest this year I think I would choose “teamwork.” This year I really relied on a team of people to get harvest finished, especially since I have another job off the farm.
I could make a list of several people that helped out ...
Around the Farm – Harvest is Coming
September is always one of the more hectic times of the year here on our farm.
We spend most of the month trying to get ready for harvest, which for us means repairing our combine, preparing the strip-till bar, ordering seed and fertilizer and getting the grain elevator cleaned out ...
Around the Farm – Back to School on the Farm
It’s that time of year when students go back to school to learn and prepare for their future.
This time of year reminds me of all the schooling I have had, and has me wishing that more of that education involved agriculture.
Everything I learned about agriculture I learned outside of the ...
Around the Farm – Crop Scouting & More
If you stop by our farm during the summer, you’re likely to find a flurry of different activities going on during any given day. We planted a little bit late this year due to the cool, wet weather so now we have to play catchup on a lot of the ...
Around the Farm – Barn Memories
One of my favorite things about my childhood is growing up on our family farm. I have so many sweet memories, some of which include our large red barn that was used to house our pigs. Growing up, my dad raised hogs from farrow-to-finish (from birth to market weight) and ...