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Our irrigated corn was among the best we ever had.

Kyle Stackhouse 2

November 27, 2020

2 Min Read
farm drainage equipment at work. Machinery used to install plastic drainage tile in a farm field at work.
SimplyCreativePhotography/iStock/Getty Images

Monday of last week I was able to go through the grain cart scale logs and confirm field yields. The yield monitor was not as good as we would have liked to see this year. Even with regular calibration some fields were off 5-10%. Since dad and I are separate operations the only fair way to divide up grain is with a scale. We scale everything.

The results align with what we are seeing as we begin to review plot yield data from seed companies. There was a large range of yields in 2020, some were pretty big yields and others were pretty mediocre. My earlier thoughts were confirmed. Our irrigated corn was among the best we ever had. Irrigated soybeans were above average, but not record-breaking. Dryland crops varied with rainfall, for us, both corn and soybeans were below average and will likely result in shallow losses being paid from crop insurance.

It’s dark outside, but I can hear raindrops falling to the back porch. Right now we are in a bit of a wetter pattern. This has brought a pause to our drainage projects. It couldn’t have come at a better time as we ran out of tile Monday. In fact, the manufacturer ran out of the tile we prefer last Thursday and weren’t running more until this week.

Admittedly, we are fair weather ditchers. When the cold and wet sets in, we are out! We’ve got at least one more project on the list but it may be bigger than weather will allow. So far we’ve done about six miles of tile. It’s not a lot, but it will definitely make a difference to us. (And the tile plow has paid for itself yet again!)

Related:Fall tillage done, time to check soil tests

We don’t mind some time out of the fields as office work is demanding some attention after two and a half months of neglect. We need to get the books to the accountant. Salesmen are calling and want to meet. There is always work that can be done in the shop too. We are hoping for many more wet rainy days as we are still abnormally dry and hope for quite a bit of precipitation to replenish the soil before spring.

The opinions of the author are not necessarily those of Farm Futures or Farm Progress. 

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