Martin Family Farms

Still going.....

Harvest is still rolling along really well in our area. With one of the best stretches of weather coming up that we have had the whole year there will be a lot of harvest work get completed in the next 2 weeks. We do not have a lot of soybeans to harvest, but we will finish our soybeans today and still have about 1/2 the corn left to harvest. Soybean yields have been really good this year. The yield monitor was reading between 50-85 bushels per acre with a lot of field averages over 60. The sad thing is we have had some corn yields also reading the same thing as those yields continue to be really variable. The positive thing is that prices are moving higher and field work is getting completed so we will be in a better position heading in to next spring. 

Ag Day Segment

Martin Family Farms was featured in a recent segment on Ag Day Television. Here is the link to watch.

http://rcpt.yousendit.com/952969495/06bd57603dbb339e657fe5220f0e1889

Ugh....

As most farmers in our area are finding out, there is a lot of variability  in yields this year. The last few days we have been in one of our worst areas again. I officially harvested the worst field of corn that I have ever had this past week with a couple of other fields trying to compete for the top prize. It is a little easier to handle with the crop insurance guarantee, but it can be pretty frustrating to go through the season with all of the risk and worries and then have some really bad yields in some spots. It is a good reminder that with all of the technology and tools we have, mother nature still has the final word. We have always had variability with our yields, but not as dramatic as this year. Yields from below 100 bpa to 220 bpa within 2-4 miles or even within a field. We have some showers predicted for this week so hopefully it will not slow us down too much. After this week we should be over 50% done with the 2010 harvest.  #harvest10

Going Good....

The past several days have brought a lot of harvest progress throughout the area. We are a little over 30% done with our corn and hoping to get some beans cut in the next few days. Corn yields are still in a wide range with the higher rolling ground yielding very well and the dark flat black ground about 30% below average. Overall, I still think we will be about 20% below our 5 year average for final yield. A lot of the soybean reports that I have heard have been very, very good. A lot of 60 BPA soybeans have been cut in the area. This past week we also did our first field of variable rate dry fertilizer application. This looks like it is going to work good. It is just another benefit that technology is providing to us. We are putting the fertilizer where it is needed in the field and not applying to the areas that have adequate levels. Hopefully over time it will allow us to continue to raise the yield averages on our farms.

Harvest is in full swing....

We are only in the second week of September and harvest is about 20% complete on our farm. The weather has been great so far and things are moving along pretty smooth. It makes me wonder what is going to be coming down the road next or is it some sort of relief from Mother Nature for the 2009 harvest. The one thing that is not so good is the yields. We have had yields from 100 bpa to 220 bpa. The difference is basically the amount of water damage in each field. If it is flat black ground with no drainage it has been yielding 120-150 and if it is on hill or has some roll to it yields are a lot better. So if you have ever been in our area you know that are not a lot of high spots, which means that yields will probably be 20-30% below average when we are done. The corn is also drying down nicely. It is almost too fast since it is only early September. This week we had moisture levels get down to 14%-18%.  We had a 1/2" rain this morning and are looking for good progress this coming week.

Below Luke was ready to go to the field!!

Harvest Reports... good and bad

Well harvest is officially in full swing on the Martin Farm. As of today we are already almost 15% done with harvest. That is both good and bad. The good is the corn is dry and we are getting an early start. The bad is the yield.  With each field that we have done we continue to be disappointed with the final outcome. This being said we have been harvesting some of our most damaged fields. We did one 55 acre field today and only harvested 32 acres. The rest was washed out this summer from one of the big rains. We are hoping to find better conditions this week as we move to some different fields, however we are hearing a lot of reports from area farmers that the crop is very dissapointing.  As we progress this week we will begin to spread our fall fertilizer and lime and begin fall tillage in the fields that need it.   Hopefully better updates by the end of the week!