Among the thousand variables crops are subject to each growing season, planting is the most crucial. Corn Product Specialist, Nick Benson offers these tips for proper depth and spacing as planters hit the ground rolling this spring.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7W-IO7AvD4
Warm weather means Joy Bonin can look through the patio window and take in her favorite view, watching black cattle grazing in the green pasture. Her husband, Dave, jokingly calls their cows and calves “lawn ornaments” because she comments so often about what a pretty picture the cattle make.
The Bonins raise Angus and Black Baldies bred to an Angus bull near Belmond in Wright County, Iowa. Their farm includes 40 acres of creek pasture where the cattle graze in the summer months. They also grow corn, and they’ve been contract Latham® soybean growers for approximately 35 years.
Dave and Joy began farming 46 years ago. For the past 44 years, they’ve lived on a farm that Joy’s grandparents purchased in 1950. Joy’s father purchased the farm in 1986, and ever since then she and Dave have farmed it. It is now owned by the Bonin’s and Joy’s four siblings. It’s also where they raised their two children, Michelle and David.
“The farm is a great place to raise a family because there are so many things to do and so many wide open spaces to roam,” says Joy. “Both of our children have a very good work ethic and we believe it’s because they learned to work alongside their parents.”
The Bonin’s daughter, Michelle, earned a bachelor’s degree from Drake University and a master’s degree from the University of Chicago. She works as a financial services consultant for Deloitte. Her husband, Mike, recently started his own business. They also stay busy with their two children, Madilyn, age 11½, and Matthew, age 8½.
The Bonin’s son, David, plays an active role in the family’s farming operation. He and his son Colton do cattle chores daily, as well as farm in partnership with Dave and Joy. David is an electrician and has his own business with three additional employees. His wife, Rachel, works part-time at Fareway and stays busy keeping up with their five active children. Mike & Colton work for David, Zach will be a senior at UNI majoring in accounting, Liberty is graduating from Belmond-Klemme this Spring and will be attending DMACC majoring in Entrepreneurship. Cole just completed his sophomore year at Belmond-Klemme.
With seven grandchildren, Dave and Joy have a busy calendar! They enjoy attending as many sporting events and recitals as possible. They also enjoy weekend visits to Glen Carbon, Illinois. In addition, they’re active in their community. Dave serves on the Belmond Community Housing board and the Art Council. He enjoys pencil drawing and riding motorcycle in his spare time. Joy serves as their church’s bookkeeper plus teaches Vacation Bible School. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, gardening and baking.
Because Joy has worked off-farm at Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds for nearly 43 years, she values meals that are quick, easy and flavorful. Joy often relies on beef when she prepares supper and takes it to the field during planting and harvest.
Today Joy is sharing a couple of her favorite seasonal recipes with us, one for Rhubarb Crunch Cake and another for Beef & Rice Casserole. Enjoy!
Crust:
Filling:
Crust: Combine ingredients and cut together to make crumbs. Save ¾ c. crumbs for top; put rest of crumbs in a 9X13 in. pan
Filling: In sauce pan, combine sugar, cornstarch and water and cook until thick. Remove from heat and add pie filling, rhubarb, and almond extract. Pour over crumbs and sprinkle with remaining crumbs. Bake at 350° F. for 40 minutes.
A soybean-corn crop rotation allows farmers to spread out spring and summer fieldwork and provides a larger window for harvest. Plus, a soybean-corn rotation can lead to energy savings during production and when handling, drying and conditioning of stored grain, according to recent issue of “Advance” published by the ISA On-Farm Network.
“Studies show us that corn yields are higher following soybeans. The advantage of a soybean-corn rotation still centers on yield. The positive impact is probably due to several factors,” says Ed Anderson, Iowa Soybean Association senior director of supply and production systems. “Soybeans break disease, insect and weed cycles and provide a nitrogen credit for corn the following year.
It’s true that crop rotation can help achieve higher yields, as well as reduce risk ranging from volunteer corn to weed resistance. Other benefits include better soil health, less disease pressure and higher profits are a few of the benefits that come from rotating corn and soybeans if farmers are careful about rotating traits and chemistries. Plus, crop rotation can be one of the best management practices to control CRW.
However, it’s no longer enough for farmers to merely rotate crops. Farmers also must rotate between herbicide chemistries, as well as hybrid/variety traits. Rotating between various herbicide traits is important from the standpoint of reducing weed resistance. It also has been proven that it helps in overall herbicide performance.
Rotating traits, especially insect resistance traits in corn, is especially important for the same reasons – to decrease the risk of insects becoming resistant to those traits and also to improve overall trait performance. As newer traits become commercially available in soybeans, the same will be true. We will need to be good stewards of these traits and rotate them whenever possible!
One advantage of working with family-owned and independent Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds is that we can help you select the trait packages needed to change up your modes of action. Latham offers the industry’s broadest, deepest seed lineup – which makes it more convenient for farmers to get all their seed needs met.
Is farm transparency going to end just as we are starting to roll? Yesterday Radio Iowa reported the Iowa Senate voted 26 to 21 against providing new legal liability protection for landowners. This bill was introduced after the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that farm owners who host tours could be held liable for accidents.
Iowa farmers had been protected for more than 40 years under the recreational use and immunity statute. It stated: “farmers are immune from liability of injuries that occur on their property aside from a farmer willfully injuring an individual.” That all changed on February 15 when the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the owners of a Northeast Iowa dairy farm could be sued by a chaperone, who was injured when she fell through a hole in a hayloft during a kindergarten class field trip.
“It is important that farmers reach out to the general public and show them what we are doing on our farms and why. Iowa agriculture has a tremendous story to tell, and it is important we make it easier for farmers to share what they are doing, not more difficult,” said Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey in a FarmWorld article posted Feb. 27. “It will be extremely unfortunate if the Iowa Supreme Court decision discourages farmers from opening up their farms for tours and other educational efforts.”
Secretary Northey said it well. The Supreme Court ruling, without corresponding state legislation to provide immunity, could cause many farmers to shut their doors. The Daily Iowan, on April 11, quoted me as follows: “It’s one of my passions to show people who don’t know a lot about a farm what a farm is.”
I’ve been very involved with giving people, who are removed from farming, a porthole to view how modern farms operate. I believe in letting them watch as we go about our business of making food, fuel and fiber! I was – and still am – under the impression that we must do everything possible to protect visitors to our farms. Sometimes, however, things happen that are beyond a farmer’s control.
When I think back to the visit to my farm last fall by a group from Japanese Public TV, I believe there also has to be some personal responsibility. That camera man stood on top of anything he could climb to get the right angle! He stood on top of tractors, climbed into wagons of corn, and crawled all over my combine. I could tell him he wasn’t being safe, but he would choose to get the angle.
That same week, Fox News Network, was in my field as we harvested soybeans. The man with the camera hung on the outside of my combine as my son Corey drove across the field. Personally, I think these camera guys are nuts! If something had happened to one of these people, I would’ve been responsible!
I’ve been involved with the Franklin County Bloggers Harvest Tour. For the past two years, we’ve invited urban bloggers to spend a weekend in rural Franklin County where they tour historic sites and see firsthand how we harvest our crops. These tours have been highly successful because our guests are very active with their followers on Twitter and Facebook. They also post blogs to their vast readerships, spreading what they have witnessed far and wide. They share farming insights with literally thousands of folks across the country, who enjoy learning more about Iowa agriculture.
Consumers, our customers, want to see how their food is raised. I want them to see how their food is raised, too! There are too many misunderstandings being spread through the mainstream media and through social media networks. That’s why there is a need for our harvest blogger tour, on-farm visits and on-farm interviews. Hopefully, these will be able to continue. I encourage you to contact your elected officials if “transparency at the farm gate” is important to you!
Increasing the value of U.S. soy meal and oil, maintaining farmers’ freedom to operate, as well as meeting customers’ needs for high-quality soy products are strategic objectives of the United Soybean Board (USB). They’ve also been a personal mission for North Dakota farmer Vanessa Kummer, who has served on the USB board for the past decade.
“I really hope my involvement opens the door for more women and helps empower them to believe they deserve to have a seat at the table,” says Vanessa, who was the first woman to be elected as USB chairperson and the first North Dakotan elected to this position.
Thirty percent of U.S. farms are operated by women, and an even higher percentage of farming operations involve women along with other family members. Women’s roles in farming are changing as more women are earning business degrees and even MBAs before returning to their family farms. That’s why Vanessa believes it’s important for women to be active in the industry and represented in leadership positions.
When asked how more women can become involved in agricultural organizations, Vanessa said, “Show up to meetings regularly, ask questions and participate.” As one of three female panelists at the Top Producers Executive Women in Agriculture event last December in Chicago, she said the amount of misinformation being spread about farming is a real concern. She also said that more and more consumers are being misled by media.
Consumer outreach was one of Vanessa’s main focuses while serving as USB chair. She worked with leadership within the National Corn Growers Association to launch the CommonGroundTM program aimed at addressing consumers’ food concerns by sharing facts about farming and dispelling food myths. CommonGround focuses on women-to-women communications to bridge the gap between rural and urban areas. It involves a group of volunteer farmer participants, representing all sectors of agriculture.
“Food safety concerns can affect our freedom to farm,” says Vanessa. “That’s why U.S. farmers must connect with consumers. It’s important to share our stories and promote understanding. If we don’t give consumers the facts about U.S. agriculture, then who will?”
Vanessa recently finished serving her term as USB chair, but she remains active within the industry and in her community. But being active is nothing new to Vanessa. She’s held leadership positions within several organizations during the past 35 years that’s she’s been farming.
Vanessa has been active on the United Soybean Board for the past decade. Her service included four years on the USB executive committee including two as chair for the Communications Program. As USB Vice-Chair, she also served as chair for the Global Opportunities Program and as team lead for the USB Strategic Planning Team. She has termed off USB, but continues to serve as a director for the United States Soybean Export Council (USSEC), the international marketing arm for USB and the American Soybean Association (ASA).
On the state level, Vanessa has served the North Dakota Soybean Growers Association as a board member, treasurer and past president. She also has been active with the North Dakota Corn Growers. She served as a 4-H leader and as softball coach, plus she’s a member of the North Dakota State college of Science’s Athletic Hall of Fame. In addition, Vanessa is active in her local church.
Vanessa and her husband, Paul, continue to operate their family farm. Their daughter, Rachael, is a math teacher in Colorado. Their son and daughter-in-law, Blaine and Megan, farm with them south of Fargo where they raise sugar beets, corn and soybeans.
As a soybean grower, Vanessa sings agriculture’s praises by advocating for America’s soybean farmers. That’s why, in celebration of April Soyfoods Month, Vanessa is sharing with us one of her favorite recipes for Key Lime Pie.
After being cooped up for the better part of the past month, I’m as eager as any farmer is for the spring planting season to begin. Cold and wet weather in April has delayed planting, but we must remember that all of this moisture helped recharge the soil – and farmland across the Midwest desperately needed that!
The hardest part is going to be waiting to enter fields once the skies clear. Clear skies and sunshine don’t necessary mean that conditions are fit for planting. That’s why today I want to take a few minutes to remind you that it’s “worth the wait” to let fields dry before doing any work.
You’ll cause yourself headaches – and your crop problems – throughout the growing season if you try to plant in unfit conditions. The top 10 reasons to avoid soil compaction include, but are not limited to,: stunted plant growth; slow infiltration of water and/or ponding; high surface runoff and soil erosion under normal or light rainfall; poor root system establishment; and nutrient deficiency.
It literally pays to understand and manage soil compaction. The #1 way to avoid soil compaction now is to wait for the fields to dry. In a video I made this week, you’ll see how to use a quick field test to check the soil moisture. You just mold a length of soil between your index finger and thumb, or roll it into a ball in your hand. Observe whether the soil breaks apart as you work it. If you toss the ball of soil into the air and it shatters or cracks upon falling to the ground, then conditions are likely suitable for tillage or planting.
For additional tips on how and why to avoid soil compaction, take a few minutes to read these related posts:
I am a rich man. No, I’m not talking about being a rich farmer. That I’m not! But, I am rich in the ways that matter most.
The tragic events that unfolded this past week – from Boston to West Texas – caused me to pause for a moment and think about how good life really is here in the Heartland. For example, yesterday was Earth Day. Such a day reminds me of what a wonderful world God has created! I also caused me to reflect upon the change Janice and I are making as we transfer our memberships to the church she attended as child.
Thinking about Janice’s childhood then caused me to reflect upon my own childhood. I was born to farm! From the time I was a toddler, I literally followed in the steps of my great grandfather, my grandpa and my dad. Fifty years later, I’m still proud to call myself a farmer – but it hasn’t always been easy.
In the 70s, I was one of what they called the “Young Tigers.” I reached my goal of farming 1,000 acres, which at that time, was worth $1,000 per acre. I spent all my available hours working on the farm. As a workaholic, I was focused on the wrong goals!
My way of thinking changed a decade later. On my 30th birthday, I married Janice and had an instant family. We joked that “something had to go” to make room for four kids, so I sold my airplane. During the 1980s Farm Crisis, I sold off some farmland. Janice ran the farming operation, including doing hog chores, while I took an off-farm job working construction. We built hog units across the Midwest, so I was gone from home too much of the time. We did what we was required to provide for our growing family at the time, and we were all thankful when I could return to farming full time.
Over the last 30 years, I’ve become very wealthy in a non-material way. Our family has brought us so much joy! The past two weeks have been particularly enjoyable: our grandchildren Jessica and Zach went to prom; and grandson Devin finally was healed enough to play some great football in Iowa State’s spring game!
I mentioned in a previous blog post that each of our grandkids has his/her unique talents and interests. Some, like Devin and Jessica, have a passion for sports. Carlie enjoys writing and dancing. Darin enjoys hunting, fishing and gardening. Zach is interested in wood working and mechanics. Hallie, Lindi and Jessica are very artistic. Sydney is an avid reader, while Quinten is a computer guru.
Today I’m showing some of my favorite photos of each. While it’s not exactly a “Wordless Wednesday” post, it’s about as close as this proud grandpa can get!
Hopefully, looking through family photos will help you remember to take time to count your blessings. I can’t think of anything better to do, especially on a gray day!
“DIY” is the buzzword among people who enjoy making crafts and repurposing antiques, but we all know that “do it yourself” was a farmer’s motto long before the advent of Pinterest! With that said, however, I have found many inspiring “build your own burger bar” ideas on Pinterest. I’m not sure what intrigues me most about this concept – the idea that this type of building doesn’t actually involve a hammer and nails or the fact that the end result is so tantalizing for the taste buds.
Burgers are the top of the list of my all-time favorite foods, so I enjoy taking a self-guided burger tour across Iowa while traveling the state to visit Latham® dealers and customers. I’m always on a mission to find a recipe that I can share on TheFieldPosition.com.
I’ve had the pleasure of taste-testing burgers from some of the Top 10 restaurants in Iowa’s Best Burger Contest. I loved the signature “Roscoe’s sauce” at Roscoe’s in Norwalk. I also enjoyed every bite of a Rodeo Burger, topped with pepper straws, at the 1st Street Grill in Keosauqua in southeast Iowa. (I wonder if I could make them at home, similar to onion strings, only substituting onions for green pepper strips. Hmm…)
My burger fetish started in 2011 when the Iowa Beef Council treated us to “tailgate lunches” during the WHO Radio – Latham Seeds Crop Tour. Michelle delivered gourmet burgers, fresh and hot, to the fields where we were broadcasting “The Big Show” live. They also shared tips on how we could make tastier burgers at home. The number one mistake people make is squishing burgers with a spatula; they literally squeeze all of the flavorful juices out of the meat.
To grill like a master, the Iowa Beef Council offers these grilling tips:
Because we “eat with our eyes first,” it’s important to make sure your condiments are as pleasing to one’s eyes as the burgers are to the tongue! Food that is aesthetically pleasing to the eye may help trigger appetite. Plus, food that is prepared and displayed well may also entice someone to eat what they’d otherwise avoid.
Make your condiments more appealing by displaying them attractively as part of a burger bar. Check out all the Pinterest-inspired ideas that we’ve pinned to the Latham Seeds “burger board.” If you decide to experiment on your own, I’d love to see your creations. Feel free to send your photos to shannonl@lathamseeds.com.
If you’re feeling inspired to mix up some burgers this week, try Rachel Ray’s version of the Tex-Mex Bacon Cheeseburger. The chipotle ketchup is simple to make and definitely complements the burger. I recommend serving these burgers with a side of fresh pineapples and strawberries plus Mexican fruit dip.
Daytime highs during the month of April haven’t been much warmer than the average lows for this time of year. As a result, soil temperatures haven’t warmed much during the last week. Plus, many fields are too wet to work after nearly a weeks’ worth of rains.
As eager as everyone is to get corn planted early, we need to let soil temperatures and soil conditions – not the calendar – dictate planting dates. Early planting dates lead to higher yield only when conditions are fit for planting.
Optimal planting conditions include warm, moist soils. Right now our soils are cold and wet. We recommend soil temperatures of 50 to 55 degrees at corn planting time. But current 4-inch soil temperatures in Northwest Iowa are only averaging 39 degrees; they’re averaging 42 degrees in North Central Iowa.
Soil temperature isn’t the only factor delaying the planting this spring. Iowa experienced its wettest week since July 2010 with a statewide average of 2.90 inches of rain, according to the April 15th crop report by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. We need soils to dry before fieldwork can begin, but more rain is in the forecast. The forecast for the area surrounding Latham headquarters calls for a 100 percent chance of thunderstorms today with total rainfall of one inch. There’s a 60 percent chance for another quarter to a half inch of rain tomorrow with snow in the forecast for Friday.
From the sounds of it, field work isn’t likely to begin anytime soon. Be sure to wait for “fit conditions” before getting your planter out of the shed. To avoid working soils that aren’t fit, there are 3 things for Midwest farmers to consider:
Working soils that are too wet leads to yield loss and more problems during the growing season from soil compaction. Restricted root development, nutrient deficiency and reduced infiltration rate are among the top 10 reasons to avoid soil compaction. For ways to reduce soil compaction, click here.
Select a territory in the drop-down menu below to view your region’s most recent crop updates.
Choose your region:Iowa- Central and Eastern: Kevin MeyerIowa- North Central: Latham HeadquartersIowa- Northeast: Nick BensonIowa- Northwest: Glenn FullerIowa- Central: Nick ColemanIowa- Western: Bart PetersonIowa- Southwest: Larry KrapflMinnesota- Southeast and Iowa Northeast: Craig HaalandMinnesota- Southwest: Greg BrandtNorth Dakota- Southeast: Gary GeskeSouth Dakota- Notheast: Scott StadheimSouth Dakota- Southeast: Bill EichackerWisconsin- Southwest: Steve Bailie
While sipping my morning cup of coffee, I usually browse my social media news feed. While doing so last Thursday, I came across a post entitled “Did You Know?” on the blog Jean’s Boots Are Made for Talking. Imbedded in this post was a video that I’d seen before, and honestly, it blows my mind every time I watch it. This video virtually reminds how we’re not isolated in our own part of the word, and it also explains why I believe we must work diligently to educate others about farming practices and how their food is grown.
Why should farmers care about consumers? The long and short of it is that hate stems from fear. People, who lack a clear understanding of GMOs, for example, fear the GMOs and hate everyone who grows GMO crops. More consumers need to understand why farmers plant GMOs, for example.
Another reason farmers should care about consumers’ thoughts and opinions is because – thanks in large part to social media – misinformation spreads faster than wildfire. Below is an excerpt from a post I saw last week on Facebook:
DANGER TO YOUR FAMILY!!
from the Department of Life Education:
The small cocktail (baby) carrots you buy in small plastic bags are made using the larger crooked or deformed carrots, which are put through a machine that cuts and shapes them. What you may not know and should know is the following…
Once the carrots are cut and shaped into cocktail carrots they are dipped in a solution of water and chlorine. (This is the same chlorine used in your pool). Since baby carrots don’t have a skin or natural protective covering, they’re given a higher dose of chlorine.
You’ll notice that once you keep these carrots in your refrigerator for a few days, a white covering will form. This is the chlorine which resurfaces! At what cost do we put our health at risk to have esthetically pleasing vegetables? I used to buy those baby carrots for vegetable dips. I know that I will never buy them again!!!
I was watching this conversation – trying to decide if when and how to engage – when I saw a fellow agvocate, Carolyn Olson, post. Carolyn shared “Myth & Fact about the white film on baby carrots” and then shared a related link for waterandhealth.org. Great job, Carolyn!
It’s difficult to always be in the right place at the right time as Carolyn was, but I hope this explains why there is a group of agvocates speaking out and trying to have that conversation. I hope this also helps explain why we need more farmers to join our effort. Agvocating: It’s harder to say than do. Just do it!
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