June 6 2009

June 6, 2009

Greetings,

As strange as it seems, all crops are planted and the beans got in on time. But, we have another very strange year. Temperatures are unbelievably cold. Rain mixed with snow is expected today in northwest North Dakota. We are getting some rain today. After a rainy first part of May, where we were lucky to get only minor amounts of precip with the wet soil, the only rain since was 0.32 here at Forman. As I say, most all the crops are in. Some farmers simply did not plant wheat and went straight to corn. Wet spots will probably be left as there will be more damage done to the existing crop getting to the wet spots then it is worth to plant them. I don't think most farmers are too happy with how the crops got put in, but it looks like stands are good and I have not heard of any replanting. I was quite concerned on the CCSP farm as like everyone else, when it is the mid to end of May, you can't wait for good soil conditions. I seeded a little deeper than I had in the past with the idea that the row slot would open back up. As long as the seed was tucked down into moisture it came. I also used only a minor amount of residue manager action. It became apparent that the residue cut easily this year and served to protect soil moisture. Not that it was dry, but I noticed last year that with using the residue manager aggressively, the soil dried rapidly. The residue also keeps the planter from mudding up, and with the lateness of the year I knew we get at least some heat. There was a lot of sidewall compaction but it seemed that the crop made it up just fine.

We are fortunate to have a new drill to use. Amity Technology of Fargo have provided us with a custom built 20 foot twin disc drill commonly referred to as the "Australian" drill. This drill offers a new disc type seeding process. I was able to use it on a few acres on the farm and was quite impressed with how it handled 3 years of corn residue in rather imperfect conditions. It will be on display at our field day, July 9 and hopefully we can do some demos.

According to the NDAWN weather station at Oakes, we are 43 heat units behind. That is of course if you had corn planted May 1, and not too many people did. I am surprised to see that they recorded 4 days in the 80's. There were at least a few nice days.

Remember to be safe out there!

Have a good week.

Kelly Cooper- farm manager