Tax Time Around the Farm
Late Winter Means Tax Time and Spring Equipment Preparation
Trent Brandenburg is “doing my taxes” and added, “I do what my accountant tells me.” Taxes are not Trent’s favorite farm chore but has to be done anyway. The mid-February big snow and deep freeze (minus 15 wind chill) make these few days a good time to finish up paperwork. Trent has moved most of his grain to sell and is now moving equipment. The fall equipment is moved to remote storage so the spring equipment can be at the main farmstead ready to roll at planting time.
Trent’s equipment moving depends on the weather, just like anything else on the farm. Maybe the ground is too muddy or maybe the machine-shed doors are frozen shut. Trent works around the challenges.
In two or three weeks his seed will arrive. Can spring be far behind??
Looking forward to a more “normal” planting and harvest season for 2020.
More from The Field Report
Dry Weather Speeds Harvest
Trent Brandenburg is trying to get his field work done "before it rains". Much of the area Trent farms is in "extreme drought" according to the Illinois Drought Monitor https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?IL map, which is updated every Thursday. The very dry soil [...]
In a Drought, but Corn is Too Wet to Harvest
The current Illinois drought map (11 September) shows severe drought in the northern 40% of Piatt County and moderate drought in the rest of Piatt and adjacent areas of neighboring counties. Trent Brandenburg has barely started harvesting because his corn [...]
Summertime Mowing And Spraying
Trent Brandenburg has been busy mowing his lawn and his roadsides due to the sunshine and frequent rains making his grass grow as well as his corn and soybeans. He has been hiring aerial spraying of fungicides to suppress disease [...]