Trent Brandenburg does not foresee any big corn and soybean market moves upward in 2018. He believes careful management to maximize yields will provide enough cash flow to maintain most farm businesses. A combination of low yields and lower prices will be challenging for operators paying very high cash rents.

"Spring planting took forever, so harvest took forever too." Trent [...]

Trent rated his corn crop "better than expected. Not a bumper crop and not below average." Trent had completed his soybean harvest several weeks ago. His corn harvest was delayed due to frequent rains making field conditions too muddy.

Trent Brandenburg is about two days' field work away from finishing his soybean harvest. He decided to harvest his soybean crop before starting on his corn harvest. Two weeks ago the moisture content of his corn was 36%, way too high to store.

Trent Brandenburg expects to begin picking corn on September 10, depending on the weather. Recent rains have helped his soybean pod fill, "but we could use some more," he added hopefully, but then admitting that the next rain might be too late, as the pods are "beginning to turn."

Trent Brandenburg is pleased with his corn and soybean crops' recovery from a challenging start to the crop year. "You can't see the holes," he observed, referring to how the crops have developed enough to mask some smaller ponded areas.

Asked what a farmer does when 5.5 inches of rain falls on his place overnight, Trent Brandenburg replied,"Stay in the house!" During the overnight between Thursday and Friday, May 18 and 19, a 5.5-inch rainfall was reported at Cerro Gordo. Trent knew of measurements up to 7 inches.

Trent Brandenburg completed his corn planting April 21. His earliest corn planting is up and growing well. Much of his later corn planting is sprouting, but it has been slower to due to the cooler weather in the past week.

Trent Brandenburg has been getting ready to plant for a couple of months, going over machinery maintenance, seed and chemical orders, and watching the weather. Trent wants to do some spring pre-plant tillage, but needs a little rain first. He does not want to work his soil as dry as it is, because if there is then no rain, the newly-tilled soil will get dry too deep for quick, dependable germination.

The first two items on Trent Brandenburg's Christmas List for 2016 are: better crop prices and warmer temperatures. With the between-seasons farmer optimism, Trent is looking forward to starting another crop year.