The Field Report
More from The Field Report
Getting Ready For The New Crop Year
Trent Brandenburg was starting to think about planting during the recent warm days, but the big blizzard on Wednesday, February 24, helped him decide to keep the planters and tractors in the shed a while longer. Trent has completed delivery of last year's grain from his on-farm storage. He is now getting his seed delivered and completing the winter maintenance on his machinery. This is the time of year when the input expenses all come at once: seed, fertilizer, crop protection chemicals, and diesel fuel. Hopefully, and farmers have to be hopeful, the yield will cover the crop expenses and land costs...
Looking Back At 2015, Ahead To 2016
Trent Brandenburg is happy to recall the excellent spring and harvest weather and work progress during 2015. Yields were "very good", Trent observed, just not quite up to 2014 levels. Market prices, on the other hand, weren't good. The unusually dry fall helped corn dry in the field, thus saving drying expenses at the grain elevator. Looking ahead to 2016 after several days of record-breaking rainfall and record flood levels in Central Illinois, Trent recalls that warm, wet winters are often followed by hot, dry summers. Trent wryly speculated that a hot, dry summer might reduce yields so much that crop insurance would provide more revenue than the grain market...
Harvest Went Well – Early Start, No Rain Interruption
October 2015 Field Report Trent Brandenburg is happy to have completed his harvest early this fall. He got an early start and was able to work straight through "without getting rained out before you get done." Trent completed his fall tillage two days ago and [...]
All In All, Things Are Pretty Good
August 2015 Farm Report Trent Brandenburg, just back from a family summer vacation, looked over his fields and said, "It's been a strange year. All in all, things are pretty good." Trent sees good crops. He knows there will be some damage from ponding in [...]