Little field work being done now
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Some field work continues in Douglas County in December. There is a little harvest to finish, and drainage tile is being installed. The freezing weather mostly stopped tillage operations. Here and there I have seen chiseling or nitrogen being applied.
We got only a little nitrogen on. At first, the ground was warmer than recommended. The cooler weather we needed was accompanied by enough rain or snow to keep us from getting much done. A friend from far Northern Illinois said that it was frozen eight inches deep there and no nitrogen got applied in that area.
There are other options for applying nitrogen to our corn fields. It can be applied before planting next spring. This was how most of it went on until fall application became common 30 years ago. It can also be put on in the growing corn crop. We like to have it on in the fall to lock in the price and make spring less hectic.
There are risks with all three modes of nitrogen application. Most nitrogen applied in the fall goes on with stabilizers to keep it in a form that will not leave the soil. A warm, wet spring can still cause nitrogen loss. We often jump the gun on spring applications and start before the ground is really fit. This can cause compaction that will haunt us throughout the growing season.
Side-dressing nitrogen into the growing corn is the most efficient but we are always concerned about doing very many acres of that in a season. If we are kept out of the field by a wet May, that can push nitrogen application into the time when growing corn really needs that nutrient. Modern rigs with auto-steering can cover a lot of acres in a short time and lessen that fear.
We also like to make a fall application of herbicide to our bean stubble that will be corn next year. There are barely visible weeds in these fields. Those weeds will grow when it warms up in the spring and bloom with yellow and purple flowers. These will be hard to kill with tillage in the spring and may go to seed before we can work them down. The fall herbicide gives us a clean field to start with in the spring.
Like our Department of Agriculture which issues crop estimates for the United States, there is a World Agricultural Outlook Board that makes estimates of the world grain supply situation each month. The December version is usually just an affirmation of the most recent reports. This December however, they cut the US corn supply by 200 million bushels. On top of this, the use of corn for making ethanol was raised and US corn exports were raised.
Our corn prices went up one day on this seemingly important change in the corn supply and then went down for the rest of the week. Traders seem sure of an oversupply of corn in this country and worldwide. US corn exports to Mexico remain good and India is a growing market for our ethanol. That country is turning to biofuels to clean up a chronic air pollution problem. The slump in all commodity prices is proving hard to turn around.
The WASDE reports are extensive, much like those of the USDA. The production and use of wheat, rice, all feed grains, and oil seeds are totaled up. Cotton, rice, and all types of meat, dairy, and cheese are tracked as well. The reports are a snapshot of world supplies for each commodity each month. Changing those supplies, up or down, is a long-term proposition, however. Lowering the supply usually takes a drought somewhere in the world. Adding to world supplies lately is as easy as planting the next crop.
As usual, when cold weather hits, we are glad for a heated shop to work in. The farm magazines are fond of running articles on showplace shops with break rooms and high ceilings. Ours is rather small and fourteen feet to the ceiling but it is adequate for us. I recall putting a new water pump on a loaded grain truck in the gravel driveway with snow falling. Our current facility is a big improvement over that.
One tractor has been in the shop twice already. The first time was for an oil change and the return trip was to replace a belt and fix a fuel leak. The loader tractor was in for filter changes and to grease the loader. We do as much service work as we can. The price of a real mechanic has gone higher like everything else.
There is outside work to do as well. We have some brush piles to burn and a tree to take down. We could work all winter cutting invasive honeysuckle that grows on the edges of our woods. It is the plant you see that is still green after everything else has lost its leaves. The honeysuckle puts on lots of berries that birds carry all over. There are some plants in my windbreak I have noticed and must cut.
Many times, foreign plants have been brought into the country that ended up being undesirable. In the 1950’s, multiflora rose was touted as a good wildlife cover. It too became invasive and spread where it was not wanted. We have better luck keeping it from spreading than we do the honeysuckle.
Of course, the crops widely grown in the US, only corn, pumpkins, and dry beans are native to the Americas. Soybeans from China and cereal grains from the Middle East are very important to US agriculture. They are invasive too, I guess, for the number of acres planted to them each year.
The year-end is a busy time for us from a financial standpoint. End-of-the-year prepays are the best deal for seed and herbicides. Ordering the right quantity of seed and trying to guess what varieties will perform the best next year is an important task.
We are looking at a specialty contract with a buyer we have not dealt with before. It requires a different soybean variety than what we have ordered. It is not genetically modified and needs a different herbicide program too.
I went off the Illinois Farm Bureau Board at the beginning of December so I will thank you for reading this and sign off as Larry Dallas, Douglas County farmer.