Knee high by the 4th of July?

If you’re around farmers, you’ve probably heard the saying “knee high by the 4th of July.” The phrase really is irrelevant to us anymore thanks to modern agriculture and improved farming practices. This year on the 4th, the corn was around eight to nine feet tall. Modern hybrids, more fertilizer, and efficient use of herbicides have all but done away with the knee high by the 4th of July saying. With that, our corn crop is looking very promising this year.

Each year, farming is a gamble. You plant your crop in hopes that it will have sufficient rain and not be affected by disease or insects. This year, we thankfully have had appropriate rains to build up soil moisture for our crops. Under- or over-watering the crops can cause damage either way. Just like overwatering a houseplant, if the corn gets too much rain, it has the potential to be damaged and affected by disease. The nitrogen that we apply is also water soluble, so with too much rain, it can be pushed down deeper in the soil, making it impossible for the corn to reach it, which in turn would restrict yield potential.

A strong crop and high yields can potentially increase the farmer’s profits, but there are a lot of variables to consider. With the high yield potential of this year’s crop and pulling additional factors into consideration, we’ve watched the price of corn fall in our markets. Corn prices are figured per bushel, with a bushel of corn weighing 56lbs. Every load of corn a farmer takes to market will be tested; this test figures the weight of the load using known factors and moisture content. As of July 8, 2014, new crop corn will be worth $3.75, but that will all change tomorrow when the Board of Trade opens again. A few years ago corn was selling for over $7.00. Prices fluctuate daily, again by considering current yield potential and market factors. Market analysts have projected that the markets could drop even lower yet this year, which could radically affect profit potential for farmers.

Even with a high yielding crop, prices being so low will dramatically affect how much income a farmer receives this year. Fertilizer prices, as well as other input costs do not often change with the markets, so the farmer is forced to spend a very high percentage of their income on inputs leaving little room for profit.

In other farm news, we have finished spraying our Hebrides. Our corn was sprayed long ago, as you might guess with it being so tall now. We are hoping to not spray the soybeans again, but weather factors could force us to make one more pass over the fields. In soybeans, we have spraying Roundup weather max and Extreme. The product called Extreme is a residual herbicide, meaning it will stay in the soil for a longer time (around 90 days for this product) and kill any weeds that start to grow. When a plant is small, it’s very easy to kill and the herbicide does not have to be strong to be effective.

The soybean crop is looking very promising this year, just like the corn. The soybeans are more sensitive to moisture, due to shallower roots, so heavy rains early in the growing season may have affected yields some, but the soil moisture is very good right now. Soybean yields are very different from corn yields; an outstanding soybean crop would be 70-75 bushels per acre, while more average yields would be 50-65 bushels per acre.(average corn crop would be 150-180 bushels per acre) The soybean price has stayed higher but still fairly low for soybeans.

More blog posts about the crop status, markets, and general farm happenings are coming soon!

Steven Zimmerman