April 20th, 2022
Answer: We use a variety of soil conservation practices such as strip-till, no-till, reduced-till, cover crops, and grassed waterways to prevent soil loss/erosion and preserve soils.
“Essentially, all life depends upon the soil … There can be no life without soil and no soil without life.” Charles E. Kellogg
As DeKalb County ...read more
March 14th, 2022
We are at the mercy of weather. We have to wait until field conditions are right to plant. If planting is delayed due to weather we may have to change seed varieties or shift crops.
Temperatures are warming, the snow is melting, and everyone is thinking spring! For grain farmers, this ...read more
February 18th, 2022
We sell our beef cattle when they reach a market weight of about 1,500 pounds. Our beef is sold to Tyson, which can be found in grocery stores around the country.
Let’s start at the beginning of our beef cattle cycle. The cattle we buy for our feedlot are shipped here ...read more
January 19th, 2022
Answer: Farmers are price takers and we are doing our best to mitigate higher prices and control our costs.
“For the farmer is the only man in our economy who has to buy everything he buys at retail, sell everything he sells at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways.” – ...read more
December 14th, 2021
Answer: The simple answer is everything we haven’t had time to do in September, October, and November while 90% of our focus was on the harvest.
December! Harvest is wrapped up – if combines are still going in December, we are not in a good mood (2019… yikes).
On Hartmann Farms, our ...read more
November 10th, 2021
Answer: We constantly do health checks of our calves and make sure they have adequate feed and nutrition. We wean them at six months of age to allow the mother cows time to regain energy for their next calf.
Every year we breed our mama cows in the summertime in order ...read more
September 22nd, 2021
Answer: Most of the crops grown locally are used for animal feed.
This time of year the combines are rolling and the crops are being harvested. But what do we do with our crops after we harvest them? The answer can be a complicated one depending on what exactly we are ...read more
August 18th, 2021
Answer: We grow winter wheat and harvest it in July so we have the summer months to apply hog manure on the wheat ground. We empty our manure pits and the manure provides fertility to our soils.
Northern Illinois agriculture is largely dominated by corn and soybeans – green fields everywhere ...read more
July 14th, 2021
A: Our family has raised feedlot cattle on this farm for many years, but more recently added the cow/calf herd. Caring for the animals is similar, but different, based on their function and purpose.
Most farms have either feedlot cattle or a cow/calf herd. So why do we have a feedlot ...read more
June 7th, 2021
Answer: Pesticides are safe and effective in controlling weeds/pests and we use the least amount possibleto get the job done.
As a farmer there are a few topics that we receive push back on from time to time. Usually it is not a criticism that we face firsthand but rather a ...read more