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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
“Plants sure know the difference between rainwater and hose water.” That was my wife’s observation Saturday morning, after seeing the rapid overnight growth, beautiful green color, and new blooms from our garden plants, following a thunderstorm that brought a half-inch of rain.
Last week my wife and I frequented a rather posh coffee shop in Gilbert, AZ. I was wearing my “God Made a Farmer” t-shirt, likely not common attire for such a place. Yet the number of compliments I received about it was astounding. The well-to-do clientele ranged from fancy-iced-coffee-drinking twenty somethings to retired couples. But the tenor
“Free seed can cost a lot of money.” That was dad’s less-than-tactful response to a seed salesman hoping to woo him with a special offer. Was dad exaggerating (as he was notoriously known to do)? Not in this case. Even using today’s financial standards – where seed costs have more than quadrupled in the 30 years
“They’re on 30s, we’re on 36s.” The cultural practice of row width is often as defining to a farm as the color of tractors they drive. Row width speaks to how far apart you plant your rows. This can vary greatly depending on the crop, geography, agronomic challenges and what the farmer wants to achieve. Here’s a look
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