The Field Report

March 19, 2024|

Machinery and Tile Repairs While Awaiting Warmer Weather

Trent Brandenburg is enjoying the first day of Spring finishing up some machinery repairs. His fieldwork right now involves fixing broken field tiles and clearing waterways to ensure good drainage during the crop year. Trent has not started serious field work to begin planting yet. “It’s too cold,” he said. He wants a warmer soil temperature in order to get quick germination when he sows his corn and soybean seed.

Trent does not plan any changes in his planting or in his crop protection investment this year. Despite farm publications observing
cutbacks in crop protection chemical purchases, Trent does not plan any cuts. “You shoot yourself in the foot,” he said. “You gotta have a crop to sell,” even when the market price is low.

More from The Field Report

Need More Cold Weather, Warmer Markets

Fred2024-01-31T13:20:12-06:00January 31, 2024|

Trent Brandenburg wants more cold weather to freeze the soil deeper and kill more overwintering insects. "We are having too many 40-degree days," he observed. Trent noted, "Not much grain is moving," due to lower market pricing. "Eventually, the owner has to be the seller," [...]

December Details, Then Christmas

Fred2023-12-06T15:19:51-06:00December 6, 2023|

Trent Brandenburg has a lot of details to work with in December before the presents can be wrapped and the tree trimmed. Trent farms plots of land for many different owners. In December the harvest is done. No two plots of farmland are the same. [...]

A Good Season For Trent Despite The Drought

Fred2023-10-31T14:30:23-05:00October 31, 2023|

Trent Brandenburg is happy with his farming results this season. He still has about 20 acres of corn and another 20 of beans to harvest. Despite the drought earlier in the season, it is now too wet to get into these areas. Trent expects to [...]

Harvest Is Looking Good

Fred2023-10-06T16:53:48-05:00October 6, 2023|

Rain at the end of September called a pause in Trent Brandenburg's harvest, giving him time to chat. Trent is about 25% done with his corn and soybean harvest. At first, his corn harvest moisture content was in the mid-20s, but "our last load was [...]

View All Field Report Articles

The Field Report Archive

Machinery and Tile Repairs While Awaiting Warmer Weather

Fred2024-03-19T17:29:31-05:00March 19, 2024|

Need More Cold Weather, Warmer Markets

Fred2024-01-31T13:20:12-06:00January 31, 2024|

December Details, Then Christmas

Fred2023-12-06T15:19:51-06:00December 6, 2023|

A Good Season For Trent Despite The Drought

Fred2023-10-31T14:30:23-05:00October 31, 2023|

Harvest Is Looking Good

Fred2023-10-06T16:53:48-05:00October 6, 2023|

August: Crop Tours and Farm Shows

Fred2023-09-01T08:10:42-05:00September 1, 2023|

The Rain Came Just In Time For The Corn

Fred2023-07-26T15:25:22-05:00July 26, 2023|

“We need rain,” Trent Says

Fred2023-06-27T16:40:55-05:00June 27, 2023|

We Need Rain in Central Illinois

Fred2023-06-01T17:10:31-05:00June 1, 2023|

Great Planting Weather Gets Seed In Ground

Fred2023-05-01T07:55:55-05:00April 24, 2023|

Trent’s Backhoe Finds Dry Subsoil

Fred2023-03-12T14:34:45-05:00March 12, 2023|

Trent Has A Farmer’s Perennial New Year Hope

Fred2023-01-11T11:15:34-06:00January 6, 2023|

It Was A Good Year

Fred2022-12-05T10:35:28-06:00December 5, 2022|

Soybeans are Done with Just One-Third Of Corn To Go

Fred2022-10-25T13:50:24-05:00October 25, 2022|

Soybean Harvest Begins In Two Days, Maybe…

Fred2022-09-21T17:19:01-05:00September 21, 2022|

Beans Look Good, Corn Is OK

Fred2022-08-25T15:47:57-05:00August 25, 2022|

Timely Rain Helps Corn And Beans

Fred2022-07-19T05:57:54-05:00July 16, 2022|

Corn Leaves Starting to Roll From Lack of Rain

Fred2022-06-28T16:57:46-05:00June 28, 2022|

Wind And Sun Dried The Fields Fast

Brandenburg Farms2022-06-06T12:54:59-05:00June 6, 2022|

Spring Planting is Really Really Slow

Brandenburg Farms2022-04-30T13:00:29-05:00April 30, 2022|

Growers are Ready for Fieldwork – Soil is Not

Fred2022-04-20T18:52:27-05:00March 4, 2022|

Good Yields + Good Markets = Merry Christmas!!

Fred2022-04-28T14:48:56-05:00December 21, 2021|

Excellent Soybean Yields But Slow Going In The Field

Fred2022-04-28T14:50:04-05:00November 12, 2021|

Still Some Corn & Soybeans in the Fields – Taking a Break From Wet Fields

Fred2022-04-28T14:50:52-05:00October 12, 2021|

Perfect Weather For Corn Harvest

Fred2022-04-28T14:51:14-05:00September 20, 2021|

Trent Is Spraying His Corn And Soybeans

Fred2022-04-28T14:56:39-05:00August 3, 2021|

Crops Getting Plenty of Rain

Fred2022-04-28T14:56:45-05:00June 28, 2021|

Fields are 95% Planted — Happiness Reigns

Fred2022-04-28T14:56:49-05:00May 5, 2021|

Brandenburg Planters Are Rolling

Fred2022-04-28T14:56:53-05:00April 7, 2021|

Looking Forward To Warm Weather

Fred2022-04-28T14:56:58-05:00February 15, 2021|

The Crop Year Is Above Average…

Fred2022-04-28T14:57:22-05:00November 9, 2020|

2020 Harvest Going Well

Fred2022-04-28T14:57:26-05:00October 13, 2020|

Lack Of Rain Took The Top Off

Fred2022-04-28T14:57:30-05:00August 31, 2020|

Corn Tassels and Bean Blossoms

Fred2022-04-28T14:57:34-05:00July 20, 2020|

Muddy Fields Cause Slow Planting Completion Again This Year

Fred2022-04-28T14:57:37-05:00June 1, 2020|

It’s April 15, Time To Plant Corn

Fred2022-04-28T14:57:55-05:00April 20, 2020|

Waiting For It To Quit Raining

Fred2022-04-28T14:57:58-05:00March 23, 2020|

Tax Time Around the Farm

Fred2022-04-28T14:58:02-05:00February 15, 2020|

We Are Not Having A Normal Winter

Fred2022-04-28T14:58:06-05:00January 10, 2020|

How Are 200-bushel Corn and 65-bushel Beans Not Good?

Fred2022-04-28T14:58:09-05:00December 10, 2019|

Gonna Be A Lo-o-o-ng Harvest

Fred2022-04-28T14:58:52-05:00October 22, 2019|

Recent Rains Helped Corn And Beans

Fred2022-04-28T14:58:58-05:00September 3, 2019|

Corn Looks “Amazingly Well” For Bad Planting Conditions

Fred2022-04-28T14:59:28-05:00July 9, 2019|

Latest Planting Year Ever Experienced

Fred2022-04-28T14:59:21-05:00June 3, 2019|

“I’ll Take It Not Getting Wetter”

Fred2022-04-28T14:59:16-05:00May 2, 2019|

Wet Soil Planting Delay? Too Soon To Tell

Fred2022-04-28T14:59:58-05:00March 26, 2019|

Federal Shutdown Muddies Ag Markets

Fred2022-04-28T15:00:02-05:00January 21, 2019|

“We’re Passengers Along For The Ride”

Fred2022-04-28T15:00:06-05:00November 23, 2018|

Three-Quarters Done With Beans, Corn Next

Fred2022-04-28T15:00:10-05:00September 24, 2018|

We’re Way Ahead On Growing Degree Days

Fred2022-04-28T15:00:15-05:00July 16, 2018|

Everything Looks Great

Fred2022-04-28T15:00:50-05:00June 4, 2018|

Started Planting This Morning April 23, 2018

Fred2022-04-28T15:00:55-05:00April 23, 2018|

“The Jobs Are Gone” March 2018

Fred2022-04-28T15:01:00-05:00March 9, 2018|

Planning For A Year Of Low Prices

Fred2022-04-28T15:01:04-05:00January 12, 2018|

Trent Looks Back On 2017

Fred2022-04-28T15:01:20-05:00December 10, 2017|

Trent Is 90% Done With Corn, 100% With Beans

Fred2022-04-28T15:01:49-05:00November 1, 2017|

Beans Nearly Done, Corn Next – September 2017

Fred2022-04-28T15:01:53-05:00October 4, 2017|

Harvest Begins September 10, 2017

Fred2022-04-28T15:02:02-05:00August 28, 2017|

“It’s Looking Pretty Good”

Fred2022-04-28T15:02:17-05:00July 31, 2017|

Corn OK, Beans Slow

Brandenburg Farms2022-04-28T15:02:12-05:00June 29, 2017|

5.5 Inches Of Rain Overnight

Fred2022-04-28T15:02:44-05:00May 23, 2017|

Corn Planted and Growing, Beans Going In

Fred2022-04-28T15:02:49-05:00April 24, 2017|

Rows Of Bright Green Corn Seedlings In Weeks

Fred2022-04-28T15:02:56-05:00March 28, 2017|

Trent’s Christmas List – Better Prices, Warmer Temps

Fred2022-04-28T15:03:01-05:00December 16, 2016|

“We Need Higher Prices”

Fred2022-04-28T15:03:09-05:00November 22, 2016|

“Real Good!” Harvest Progress Reported

Brandenburg Farms2016-10-04T14:01:07-05:00October 4, 2016|

Above Average Corn, Below Average Price

Brandenburg Farms2022-04-28T15:03:34-05:00July 25, 2016|

Crops Look Good Overall, But Not As Good As Last Year

Fred2022-04-28T15:03:46-05:00June 14, 2016|

It Won’t Take Long…

Fred2022-04-28T15:03:59-05:00April 12, 2016|

Getting Ready For The New Crop Year

Fred2022-04-28T15:04:07-05:00February 29, 2016|

Looking Back At 2015, Ahead To 2016

Fred2022-04-28T15:04:40-05:00December 30, 2015|

Harvest Went Well – Early Start, No Rain Interruption

Fred2022-04-28T15:04:48-05:00October 13, 2015|

All In All, Things Are Pretty Good

Fred2022-04-28T15:05:00-05:00August 10, 2015|

Crops Look Good!!

Fred2022-04-28T15:05:11-05:00June 10, 2015|

Seeds All Planted, Get Timely Rainfall

Fred2022-04-28T15:05:22-05:00May 13, 2015|

Planting time: planting rock in the driveways

Fred2022-04-28T15:05:42-05:00March 30, 2015|

January On The Farm – Moving Grain And Year-End Reports

Fred2022-04-28T15:05:48-05:00January 22, 2015|

“Lotta Desk Work” – Trent Brandenburg

Fred2022-04-28T15:05:58-05:00December 10, 2014|

Done For A Week Or So

Fred2022-04-28T15:06:05-05:00November 12, 2014|

Now Picking Corn, Starting Soybeans In Two Weeks

Fred2022-04-28T15:06:12-05:00September 25, 2014|

“We’ve come a long way in a week.”

Fred2022-04-28T15:06:37-05:00August 29, 2014|

Ukrainians Visit Brandenburg Farms

Brandenburg Farms2022-04-28T15:07:28-05:00July 31, 2014|

“Ponds are gonna be ponds.”

Fred2022-04-28T15:07:49-05:00July 16, 2014|

“We’re In Pretty Good Shape”

Fred2022-04-28T15:08:01-05:00June 6, 2014|

Corn All Planted and Growing

Fred2022-04-28T15:08:08-05:00April 30, 2014|

Waiting For The Warmup

Fred2022-04-28T15:08:52-05:00March 25, 2014|

Looking Back And Looking Ahead

Fred2022-04-28T15:09:01-05:00January 27, 2014|

“A Whole Lot Better Than Last Year”

Fred2022-04-28T15:09:12-05:00October 16, 2013|

Combining Corn?? Yes and No

Fred2022-04-28T15:09:18-05:00September 19, 2013|

“Corn Looks Real Good”

Fred2022-04-28T15:09:26-05:00August 11, 2013|

Slow bean start makes more weeds

Fred2022-04-28T15:10:00-05:00July 26, 2013|

We Can Grow More With Rain Than Without It

Fred2022-04-28T15:10:08-05:00July 9, 2013|

Corn Planted and Up In Five Days

Fred2022-04-28T15:10:14-05:00May 22, 2013|

Flooded Farms Cause Planting Delay

Fred2022-04-28T15:10:22-05:00April 26, 2013|

The Threshold Of Planting Is Here

Fred2022-04-28T15:10:28-05:00April 10, 2013|

The New Normal?

Brandenburg Farms2022-04-28T15:10:53-05:00February 12, 2013|

Rain for Christmas?

Brandenburg Farms2022-04-28T15:11:07-05:00December 5, 2012|

Getting Things Wrapped Up

Brandenburg Farms2022-04-28T15:11:22-05:00October 12, 2012|

There’s Always A Positive To Every Negative

Brandenburg Farms2022-04-28T15:11:29-05:00September 7, 2012|

October Corn In July

Brandenburg Farms2022-04-28T15:11:35-05:00August 10, 2012|

Please Give Us Just a Handful of Rain

Brandenburg Farms2022-04-28T15:11:59-05:00July 20, 2012|

We Need A Rain!!

Brandenburg Farms2022-04-28T15:12:03-05:00June 21, 2012|

Soybean Planting Half-Done; Corn Looks Good

Brandenburg Farms2022-04-28T15:12:16-05:00May 11, 2012|

Longer Days, Getting Closer To Planting

Brandenburg Farms2022-04-28T15:12:26-05:00March 9, 2012|

Next Year Won’t Be the Same as This Year

Brandenburg Farms2022-04-28T15:12:31-05:00December 29, 2011|

A Decent Year But Not A Home Run

Brandenburg Farms2022-04-28T15:12:50-05:00October 21, 2011|

Trent Is Harvesting The Downed Corn First

Brandenburg Farms2022-04-28T15:12:55-05:00September 19, 2011|

Every Different Color of Tractor

Brandenburg Farms2022-04-28T15:13:39-05:00September 2, 2011|

Corn Tassels, But Not All At Once

Brandenburg Farms2022-04-28T15:13:59-05:00July 19, 2011|

Corn and Soybean Planting Completed – Almost

Brandenburg Farms2022-04-28T15:14:03-05:00June 14, 2011|