Done For A Week Or So
November 2014 Farm Report
Trent Brandenburg is happy to have completed his 2014 corn and soybean harvest. “I’ve never known of elevators shutting down because they were full of beans,” Trent observed.
Trent is 75% done with his ground work, which has been slowed due to wet soils, “wet but tillable.” Trent likes to fall till to eliminate the tracks of heavy machinery and get a head start on next year’s spring planting. He estimates “a couple of days of nice weather” to finish up.
Trent explains that this is the season that will be remembered for many years. “Remember ’14,” farmers will say, recalling the near perfect weather but wishing the market prices would have been better. The yields were near-miraculous for Trent: a farm average of 70-bushel soybeans and 240-bushel corn. Trent will now begin planning for next year’s inputs.
More from The Field Report
Waiting For It To Dry Out
Trent Brandenburg got 1.5 inches of rainfall over Easter Weekend, so he is "waiting for it to dry out," to resume planting. He began planting last Tuesday, April 15. Trent estimated he has about a third of his corn and [...]
Shoveling Bins, Discing, and Waiting
Trent Brandenburg has been shoveling out the last contents of his grain bins to market the last of his stored grain. He has been able to do some discing to prepare for soybean planting. The windy days have been too [...]
A Warm and Wet Winter
Trent Brandenburg is getting ready to do some pre-season spraying. He is maintaining his machinery. Except for a burst of zero weather a week or so ago, the winter in central Illinois has been warm and wet. The soil moisture [...]