Look up in the sky: it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s… a drone? This weekend I flyover fed my corn using a Rantizo drone. My corn has well exceeded the height of the ground rig, and airplane application is not an option. Since I wanted to feed and protect the
Growing up on the farm, we’d often eat our mid-day meal (what we referred to as dinner, but most of the world now calls lunch) at my grandparents’ house, which was the farm’s home base. It was a planned break from planting, harvesting, chore work, mowing, baling hay or one
How do you just find 1.5 million acres? That’s like finding two Rhode Islands. But that’s what USDA did on Friday, when they upped US corn acreage to 91.5 million, from the 90 million acres estimated in March. Predictably, that sent the market tumbling down. New corn prices are now trading
Farmers are not fast forgetters. They have long memories. Past weather events, cultural practices, product usage, and marketing decisions often drive future decisions. With that, I’m guilty as charged. Last season, a straight-line wind caused major greensnap to a new corn hybrid, wrecking my goals. This made me take pause and
“We’re always only five days from a drought.” That’s the saying here in the Delta. And for good reason. These light soils are unforgiving, as they lack the water holding capacity of those in the Midwest. Case in point this season: after a very wet May in Memphis – where
As we celebrate National Dairy Month, my thoughts are with Jack & Frances Watt, my old neighbors (when you live in the country, a “neighbor” can reside within at least 5 miles of you) who were dairy farmers. They were among the hardest working, kindest people I’ve ever known. Vacations
How many kernel rows, or rounds, will an ear of corn have? That’s being determined right now in my cornfield. My corn has hit the critical V6 growth stage (in just 31 days, no less). Next to emergence and pollination, V6 is one of the most significant times of the plant’s
Last week, I had the honor of helping my Native American friends from the Zia Pueblo in New Mexico plant corn on their tribal land. Every farm has its limiting factors, and for the Zia Pueblo the most prevalent is water. While I’m doing furrow irrigation on my Tennessee farm
When asked if he was finished with planting, dad would frequently respond by saying, “the first time.” His cynicism aside, replant decisions can be difficult. This year, too many growers are faced with that decision. If you plant when the soil is cold and wet, you’re inviting problems. But even if you
“Anticipation” is a famous song from Carly Simon (which also became the advertising anthem for Heinz ketchup). But it could also be the theme for how farmers feel from the moment they drop their planter. My first year of farming on my own, I waited over three nail-biting weeks for my
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