ROAD AHEAD

(again) … Course not (till it is in a bin).

My long ago August update still looks in tack. 2025 corn pretty similar to 2024. My Meme Stock Beans maybe similar as rain again cut off and August stayed hot AGAIN BUT to be honest if we had zero yield beans it might not move the needle.

Come on boys, get your act together. Farmers can not legally do international trade like Temu does us. In every medieval war the poor peasants in the front lines with mere pitchforks were the first to go.

As for stress degree days, we are running a bit hotter, but a bit wetter in July as I say, so that might cancel out. And August turned off a bit dryer with a hardly matters rain projected for a little less and a little earlier than when the rain hit 2024. So as I say a bit “same ol same old” (including lack for exports to the once big buyer before we thought starvation might be a plan)

Of course fortunately there is no such thing a global warming (good luck with that) but tell that to the corn which got a drink quickly cancelled by some far more frequent hot days.

We blew through that “140 units of Stress Degree Day” so will be interesting if water breaks made any difference vs stress yield losses.

GDU vs 2024 comparison

NOW in 2012 by this time we had hit a whopping 220 Stress Degree Days back early July pollination window and were at 490 by dent stage … so there is that “a whole lot worse”.

Only the government and Chicago traders work off of perfect yields. Still at this point, with combines rolling, I still look at the numbers and my mid season corn even planted a bit earlier 2025 and I only come up at about 25% predicted moisture.

No one should know this stuff. I should either be dead by now from all the stress of decades punching my own numbers to even be able to calculate these worthless facts … or should go get a life (preaching to the crowd)

Still a witch doctor reading the bones useless effort but “Hay” we need something to ignore the lack of markets “elephant in the room” and oddly, lemonade out of lemons, I cut a grass waterway Tuesday and raked it Thursday 2 days later. THAT you can’t get away with in mid September most years. So the idiot here took down a pool way too early BUT at least we scrounged a bit of $ to turn the AC back on a bit longer while we wait for an affordable moisture to give away crops into.

MEME BEANS

So we went 3 hour drive over to the Farm Progress Show 2025 in Decatur

One of the many booths was the Illinois Soybean Association with some run the gauntlet, collect pins and listen to presentations to earn a tote bag

Not even noon and an investment of all that time nets a “oh we are out of our allotment for the day … as a pile of boxes for Wednesday and Thursday sat in plan view.

Now I won’t judge if my paying the association their check off at 5x what banks give in now interest on the bean sale cash left after their cut or if “free bags” to bean farmers is an applicable investment of “my money” but…

IF MY Illinois Soybean Association spends all the time and cost of investing in the premiere AG show the world attends each season and skimps on limited allocation of promotional materials… one has to wonder if they are treating my beans for $ale as a numbered print limited availability meme stock?

I mean the limited number of bushels in a certain countries possession it just as well be that attitude!

If they are not ready to peddle bags are they even planning right to peddle my beans?

Maybe 2026 they will figure supply and demand out cause beans are hurting and we may need bags for the food pantry runs with this mind set in the foreground <#satire>

GET LOST

Now the cows are (LONG) gone … but we do still wake up middle of the night in a panic someone calling they are out … I guess we will pass on some mental issues to what I can only describe as LONG DELAYED (and certainly now far in the rear view window) middle age crazies:

Geocaching: Something ancient yet in full swing back when we had cattle and no time to appreciate weird time killers. Now, instead of counting cows, we walk grave yards and cow pastures looking for someone’s little jars or containers hidden in bushes (instead of missing cows)

So HAY, all in, we got some cows, not sure the breed but NOT Angus 4 SURE (I bet CHINEESE!)

@AFFarms geocache cows by @AFePub
@AFFarms cows momentarily in the pasture & now scattered at geocache sites by idiot me @AFePub

And YES these too, branded @AFFarms, are getting out into various geocache locations under the log name @AFePub (Me, Myself and I) … sometimes you can’t trust the help NOT to peddle cows around

Cow: “Sleepez” (lower left dreaming) managed to slip away today … I am pretty sure not far from here over in the neighbors pasture: GC3TWWK. Be aware she wants to moooove (or dip…go for it). That leaves 13 left to get out, and I am pretty sure the Angus Association would be happy as they are not even CLOSE to “Black Hided”. Chewy steaks if you cook one (not advised)

These are NOT official geocache “track-ables”. Farming does not pay enough for one more monthly subscription, but @AFFarms on X if you need to alert me “last seen” location .

LAST KNOWN LOCATION: (Cows that got out)

  • SleepEz: 8/19/25 @ GC3TWWK *
  • SkyZ
  • DreamEz
  • GrazEz
  • BessEz
  • WannahugEz
  • PonderEz
  • SissEz
  • BabyEz

* Identifiying cows with @AFFarms on their bottoms is Ez however you will need a FREE geocache account or api on your phone for location left maps & logs to resolve

EARLY DAZE (again)

May 5: Are we there yet…hardly with months to go
(per usual, about the only thing that is)

So… Here we go again, drag out and refresh old post … other then I must just be getting older or this year is INSANE (maybe it’s just me but I seriously doubt it)

We can rehash how prices are hanging by a thread, exports and friends we need to buy our wares are running for the door but if you want something to really worry about knocking on the door is that despite insane hours & perfectly timed (historic trend wise) planting (still 3 days from emergence) we are hardly getting even the minimal rains that described the drought of 2012.

NOT having something to sell might solve the first 2 worries … but it opens a far worse irreparable can of worms.

FLY AWAY

So the ever popular “cover crop” saga continues…

September 11: Seeded
September 24: First measurable rain 🙁
October 10: Normal way way too late planting date after harvest

Every year we go to the seed store and they concoct something different. A few years ago I fed the in-laws “au gratin tillage turnips” for Thanksgiving (FYI not a big hit).

Radishes, Rye (always a bad idea) and last year was Wheat with Curly Vetch, whatever that was, interesting if nothing else and although it looked like nothing, Bambi was apparently thrilled all winter.

BUT it takes FOREVER for nothing to grow after the late date of corn harvest, then drilling it in right before cold inevitably hits.

SO in the interest of more money down a rat hole (thank goodness just play time on 10-15 acres to prove this is not a viable/profitable carbon sequestering strategy) we got out ye old check book (it’s a bad year for farming, why stop now?) and called up “The Drone Guy”

Turnips+Radishes+Curly Vetch ($30+/acre) applied by a drone ($20/acre) all to feed wildlife (yes having a go fund me page for the deer is making a lot more cents as the “dear” is a bit strapped for cash all this foolish test farming)

Drone cover crop application @AFePub

Good news: I am not the guy flying the $30 grand drone packing 100 pound jags of seed up and down the hills around all the trees in my test plot behind my house. Bad news the seed and his risk don’t come for free.

…and I apologize, my choice of “Fly” theme music is as questionable as the expense of cover crop. Both I fear have a failure to properly “cover up”…still bad decisions lead to bad decisions? I am a child of the 70’s like it or not…