The Winter So Far

Typically the months of January, February, and part of March are meeting months.  Joe and I attend meetings the learn about crop insurance, crop inputs like fertilizer and crop protection products, marketing our crops, as well as new technologies.  But this winter January, February, and March so far have been the months of meetings AND snow days.  I'm pretty sure the boys have not had a full week of school since before Christmas. 

With the regular snow storms showing up like clock work the boys have been keeping their rooms pretty tidy and the piano practiced.  But, Mom isn't keeping up with all of her work with extra bodies roaming the house and farm during the week days. (I had to throw in a third person sentence in for Joe)  Yesterday was one of those days.  School was called off for yet another snow storm.  While it was a nice snow in the fact that it did not blow around and the snow plow guys did a great job of keeping up it, winter is getting old. 

So here are some pictures of what we did during yet another snow day:



I'm pretty sure #1 son spent the entire day picking out
and designing his class ring.  It doesn't seem possible
the my little guy should be old enough to order a class ring.



#2 building a barge with Legos (I think he was told
to pick up Legos if I remember correctly)

I made a poppy seed cake from scratch that was darn good if I don't say so myself.  Poppy seed muffins are Joe's favorite, however, not yesterday as the cake was in a 9x13 pan instead of little cupcake papers.

Here is the conversation.  I'm in red and Joe is blue: 
"So, how do you like the cake?"  "It's not bad."  "So, what's wrong with it?"  "Nothing.  Why do you ask?"  "Well, you said not bad which means not good.  So what's wrong with it?"  "Well usually you make this in the little round cupcake papers."  "This is more environmentally friendly."  "I like the little round cupcakes."  "It's faster to make a cake in a pan than messing around with cupcake papers and tin."  "So what did you do this morning?"  A long pause.  "If I ever decide to make poppy seed cake again and put it in cupcake papers will it taste better?"  "I think so."

Thus, ended lunch conversation between Joe and I.



 

#3 coloring Shrinky Dinks

 

Joe moving snow

 



 

Waiting on those Shrinky Dinks



 

Snow Storm Web Surfing

I was doing some web surfing last night since all after school and evening activities were cancelled due to the snow and I came across this blog entry run by the Huffington Post back in 2011.  It is still relavent today. 

This was written by Noah Hultgren who is a corn farmer in Minnesota.  It appeared on the Huffington Post Business section in The Blog.

Face Of Giant Agribusiness
By Noah Hultgren

According to some, I am a giant agribusiness -- the worst kind of factory farmer.
What qualifies me for this dubious distinction? Nothing except that, based on U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) figures, my farm falls in the biggest six percent of U.S. farms. And these farms account for the bulk of federal farm policy support.

It sounds pretty damning, which is why it is the top talking point used by opponents of farm policy looking to dismantle a system, they say, is too tilted to agribusinesses and oppresses small, family farms.

But there's a lot more to this story than a 10-second sound bite would let on. For example, the USDA considers anyone with sales of more than $1,000 to be a farm, so that six percent figure is a little misleading.

The weekend grower on the side of the road selling tomatoes from her garden would be a farmer in the government's eyes. Ditto for the young retiree trying his hand at wine-making.

Ironically, my business is probably more in line with what most of us consider a farm. It is family-run. It was passed down to me from my father and grandfather. It is a full-time effort to support my wife and kids.

And, in order to make it my livelihood, it has sales exceeding $500,000.

Again, that figure can be spun to sound really bad, since most people don't know the difference between revenue and profit. But remember, the $500,000 represents gross sales, not how much money the farm or farmer is making.

A farmer may produce half-a-million dollars worth of goods but might have to spend just as much to grow the crop, making it a break-even proposition and sometimes a losing one.

Seems odd to call these farms corporate titans, especially when you consider that the Small Business Administration classifies most businesses as "small" if their gross sales are under $7 million a year.

How much profit could a "giant corporate farm" like mine hope to generate? The USDA puts profit margins in agriculture at 10 to 15 percent.

So under favorable circumstances -- Mother Nature cooperates, market prices are fair, oil doesn't spike and you don't run into any problems like equipment breaking down and needing expensive repairs -- that $500,000 in sales could generate between $50,000 and $75,000 in profit a year, according to the USDA's estimates.

No corporate executive in his or her right mind would get into such a risky business with such little profit upside. That's why 97 percent of U.S. farms are still owned by families, not by corporations like Cargill, or ADM, or Kraft.

I recognize that some may construe this article as a complaint about farm profits or an attack on smaller farm operations, but that is not my intent.

Farm prices are way up right now and near an all-time high -- and as a result, federal spending is way down. And I know that if America is going to meet tomorrow's food and fiber needs it will take farms of all shapes and sizes.

Smaller, organic growers are part of this puzzle, as are larger, conventional operations like mine, which supply more than three-quarters of our country's food and fiber.

As Secretary of State Clinton said this weekend, "We must redouble our commitment to sustainable agriculture and food security."

She's right. If this nation is going to keep pace with an exploding global population, and if it's going to do it in a sustainable way, then responsible farmers of all sizes have to come together in supporting and encouraging technology and best management practices.

In addition, America needs to urge the next generation to to get involved in farming, despite the low profit margins and risk, to replace aging growers who are retiring.

Our farmers and ranchers are a thin green line standing between a prosperous nation and a hungry world. It's time to refocus on holding all parts of this thin green line instead of tearing it apart with manipulated numbers and disingenuous spin.

 

I believe that Mr. Hultgren hit the nail on the head with this article.  Any other thoughts out there?

Until next time,
Suzanne

Cabin Fever

It's the end of January. 

 

It's been cold out.  It's windy and snow flurries are starting again.  Our farm operation's fiscal year ends January 31st.  I have spent most of this month to year end book keeping in our farm office. I'm pretty sure cabin fever has set in.

While looking for a file on the computer I came across pictures from last winters trip to Los Cabos, Mexico.  If you have a few minutes, I invite you to bask in the sun, heat and glow of Mexico from last January. 

Are we going some place warm this winter?  Nope.  We now have a highschooler.  If this doesn't make sense to you go ask a mom - she'll explain it to you.

 

 

Well, that was fun.  Now back to the grind stone.

Wednesday Wonderings

Our farm year ends January 31st.  January is definately not my favorite month.  I'm an agronomist by training not an accountant so my mind wonders off task quite easily.  So, while I continue to work on year end book work here are some of my passing thoughts.

Last week #1 son brought in this egg from the hen house.

It may not look big in #1's hand but check it out in the carton with other Extra Large eggs.

It was a double yoker.

All of our chickens are laying quite large eggs right now.  Usually in the winter the eggs get a little smaller but not this year.   We aren't sure why this is but the hens have been spending more time outside than they typically do in the winter and the hen house has been warmer that usual as well. 

All I know is that I feel really sorry for one of these hens because laying that egg had to hurt!

Anhydrous Ammonia Application

Today is a cold, damp, yucky day.  So, I'm going to take you back to about 10 days ago when it was warmer, drier and we were applying anhydrous ammonia (NH3). 

Anhydrous ammonia (NH3 for short hand) is the form of nitrogen we use in our farming operation.  There are several different forms of nitrogen fertilizer - liquid 28% and 32%, urea, ammonium sulfate - but in our operation NH3 is the best form to use.  Corn being a grass plant requires nitrogen to grow. The soybean is a legume and manufactures it's own nitrogen.

Tractor, NH3 Tool Bar and NH3 Tank

The NH3 applicator is the first tool we take across our fields in the spring.   Behind the tractor is what is called the NH3 tool bar.  It is 47 feet wide.

A view of a coulter.

View of the front of tool bar.

On the front of the tool bar is a row of large, sharp, round blades called coulters.  The coulters cut through the plant residue. 







Next, there is a row of knives.  There are 17 knives on this bar.  Each knife is curved and has a plastic hose running down the side of it.  This tube carries the nitrogen from the tank into the soil.  The knives go about 8 to 10 inches deep and this is where the nitrogen is placed.  The closing disks then seal the nitrogen  

View of a knife and closing disks.

into the soil right behind the knives.  There are two disks behind each knife that form a V to get the soil over the knife opening.

Behind the tool bar we pull the anhydrous tank.  There is enough nitrogen in this size tank to apply about 17 to 20 acres at the rates we use.  Anhydrous ammonia has an extremely low boiling point so the tanks are pressurized.  The NH3 is a liquid in the tank but when it hits the soil it turns to the gas form.  That is why it is important to have good closing devises behind the knives. 

A large hose runs from the NH3 tank to the cooling tower on the tool bar.  From the cooling tower smaller hoses take the NH3 to each knife.  Joe will probably cringe when he reads this since I have skipped a lot of the details but that is the gist of this implement. 

It takes us about seven days of running to get our nitrogen applied.  Joe usually starts in the morning about 5:00 am.  My dad replaces him about 7:30 am.  Joe then replaces Dad again about 8:00 pm and runs until midnight.  We have a retired gentleman who hauls NH3 tanks all day long back and forth from our supplier's facility and our fields.  

 I should make one comment about these pictures.  When we were putting on NH3 it was very dry.  We had not had any precipitation for a few weeks so it was very dusty out in the field.  So that is dust not NH3 behind the tractor.

Weekend on The Farm

This is what we woke up to Saturday morning.  It's a far cry from the 70F weather we had last weekend.

It's not the April 15th Blizzard of '72, '73, '74 or whatever year it was but it was definately Mother Nature's way of saying that it's a little early to be planting corn.

Last weekend we had
temperatures in the 70's with sunny conditions which was great for NH3, seeding alfalfa, and pulling fence lines.  It definately spoiled us.



Today, the sun came out and finished melting the snow but it definately is not warm out.  But, it is warm enough to clean out the calf pens.  Once planting breaks loose there will not be a lot of time get the corners of the pens clean so today it is serious, deep cleaning get all the nitty-gritty cleaned up.

 This is one of the chores that the boys hate to do.  I remember hating it when I was growing up but it is one of those character building jobs on the farm. 
It's also a great way to work off some of that extra energy that boys always seem to accumulate in the spring.

Observation/Question

This week since our icestorm I have noticed that our neighborhood bald eagles are not roosting in the tree tops or on grain legs like they usually do.  They have been hanging out in the fields in groups.   So, is this their reaction to icey conditions?

There were 10 eagles in this group - the rest are around the contour of the hill.