Editor’s note: We are continuing our once-a-month series called Field Snapshot to provide you a view of what’s happening on farms in the region. Participating farmers are Chip Bowling, a crop producer from southern Maryland; Reid Hoover, a dairy producer from Lebanon County, Pa.; and Teeple Farms, an orchard in Wolcott, N.Y.

It’s been a dry year on Chip Bowling’s farm in southern Maryland. So dry that the crop insurance adjuster has been called out.

“I just had a farm of soybeans zeroed out by a crop adjuster. That was the first time ever,” he says.

Bowling grows 2,000 acres of crops in and around Newburg, Md. Full-season soybeans have suffered the most, with little relief from dry, hot conditions. Case in point, Hurricane Debby — which dumped buckets of rain across Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York earlier this month — essentially missed his farm, bringing only some scattered showers.

His double-crop soybeans are looking better, though, and most of his corn grew ears. He recently pulled a few ears and estimated a yield between 140 and 150 bushels. But overall, he expects yields to be way down.

“I haven’t done a full yield check. And I don’t really want to know. I’m waiting … because I’m not expecting good ones,” Bowling says.

With corn futures under $4 a bushel and soybean futures less than $10 a bushel, Bowling’s outlook for the rest of the year isn’t good. “We’ve got to prepare ourselves for a stagnant market,” he says. “There’s nothing to move the market right now.

“It’s that 18 to 24 months where you just ride it out and hope for the best. Quite frankly, crop insurance is going to be a big factor making us whole.”

What is he doing to tighten things up? He doesn’t plan on buying new equipment, nor does he plan on trying anything new, like buying a new type of seed or expensive inputs. His winter wheat crop will be half of what it was this year. “And the only reason is to bale straw,” he says.

He also won’t be in a hurry to plant next spring — only when conditions are right.

“I’m going to stick to the basics,” Bowling says.

SURVIVING CORN: Bowling recently pulled a few ears and estimated a yield of between 140 and 150 bushels per acre. Overall, he expects yields to be way down this season. (Photo by Chris Torres)

But certain things will continue. He is still planning to soil sample per his farm’s nutrient management plan. And he will plant seed genetics that have worked for him in the past.

“I’m not going to skimp, but I will look back at my records and see what works for me and stick with that,” Bowling says. “This is not the time to try new things. It’s time to buckle down.”

It’s almost time to chop silage

At Reid Hoover’s dairy in Lebanon, Pa., a June heat wave knocked his cows’ production down, but they came back pretty quick.

Then, a second heat wave in July hit harder. “That whole month of July was a little rough," he says. "Intakes were down; production was down.

“We had cows that had twins in the middle of that heat. That was rough,” he adds.

But August was much nicer, and a little wetter. Even though Hurricane Debby missed Bowling’s farm, it brought a much-needed 1.5 inches of rain to Hoover’s Brook Corner Holsteins, a 370-cow dairy with more than 400 heifers and young stock.

He farms 650 acres in partnership with his son, Brad; a brother; and a nephew. Cows are milked three times a day. The farm’s rolling herd average is 30,000 pounds with protein at 3.07% and butterfat near 4.0%.

"I think our tonnage might be down a little bit, but our quality might be a little better," Hoover says. “Some rains just held things together for us.”

Early soybeans came up well. He planted barley and then double-cropped additional beans behind that, and for the most part the rains hit, and those beans look good, too.

"Right when we planted, it was a little dry and we had a couple of rains, and this here [rain from Debby], the late beans surprisingly look good. What the yields will be, I don't know," Hoover says.

Chopping will start soon, and bunkers are getting emptied out. He fills a few silos, but he also fills bunkers and even some bags.

"The bags give us some flexibility, too. It seems like we don't have a lot of carryover, so we plant some BMR. And you can stick that in a bag, know exactly where it is and feed that right at the start," Hoover says. “Our cows, it just seems like they don't miss a beat much. It seems like BMR makes that conversion a lot better. You know where it's at, how to use it."

Apples ready for picking

The harvest of early apples recently got underway at Teeple Farms in Wolcott, N.Y. The 400-acre orchard includes 100 acres of conventional and 300 acres of organically owned apples.

“Life on the farm is extremely busy at this point,” said Danielle Teeple, co-owner of the farm with her husband, Frank. Early apples being picked include Honeycrisp, Macintosh and Ginger Gold.

The couple’s three teenage sons help with harvest, but it takes more than this family of five to get all the apples picked. The farm brings in H-2A seasonal workers to help with the harvest.

PICKED HONEYCRISP: The harvest of early apples, including Honeycrisp, has started at Teeple Farms in Wolcott, N.Y. The 400-acre orchard includes 100 acres of conventional and 300 acres of organically owned apples. (Photo by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant)

Teeple is also busy as promotions and education chairwoman of Wayne County Farm Bureau, which exhibited at the Wayne County Fair.

“I have had the pleasure of educating not only children about local agriculture, but also the adults that visited our booth,” she said.

Teeple also aids in manning the New York Apple Association booth at the New York State Fair, which opened Aug. 21 and runs through Labor Day. She enjoys sharing with fairgoers all about apples.

Despite these outside interests, the farm work can’t wait.

Recent heavy rain events in areas of upstate New York caused flooding. A few counties, including Wayne, experienced two few tornado warnings. But “we did not get hit with any of the adverse weather,” Teeple says. “Our proximity to the lake protects us quite well.”

The harvest season should wrap up by Nov. 15.

Crop estimates

Harvest is right around the corner on our Field Snapshot farms. Here is the regional crop yield estimates from USDA’s Crop Production report: