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 of dozens of other never-ending
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 in the $3s. These are
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 return to some of the
“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 we received nearly seven inches
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 were a foreign concept to
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 life. This is when the
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 to utilize and manage our
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 plant in good soil conditions,
“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 soybeans to emerge. This year,
My #Plant24 corn went in the ground on May 1, and it was up in just five days. We planted in ideal conditions: soil temperature was 76 degrees, and while the surface was dry, the seeds were placed two inches deep in moist soil. We’ve had nearly 1.5” of rain since. Preplant broadcast applications included our Supers
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