Editor’s note: This is the third article in a series highlighting these young farmers in Ohio. Read the first two articles, "Young Ohio farmers tackle wet, warm planting season” and “Challenges at planting show for Ohio farm couple.”

An unexpected flat tire on a newly purchased used combine put a wrinkle in harvest plans for young farmers Andrew and Martha Winters, but harvest conditions were spectacular, yields were better than expected, and a crew of friends and family helped close out the season in an organized and efficient manner.

Sulfur turned out to be a good investment on sandy soil soybeans, as was the strip till they did last fall, even though it was wet.

The Winters, who farm 510 acres of soybeans and 450 acres of corn in Ohio’s Sandusky County, trudged through a very wet planting season that started in April and didn’t close out until June with a few acres of soybean replant.

In the end — Martha is still going through the data — it appears soybeans yielded an average of 57 bushels per acre, while corn came in at 215 bpa.

The Winters are eighth-generation farmers working with Martha's 88-year-old grandfather, Lee Havens, who has continued what his family started in 1831.

In addition to Andrew and Martha, Havens helped with harvest, as did a neighbor and a friend from church, while the grandmas were watching the Winters’ three young children — Lee, 7, Emi, 5, Robby, 2.

“It was the best harvest weather we’ve ever had, and even Grandpa agreed,” Martha says. “The sun dried down everything, and we had some beautiful days in October. We had only one day where we were rained out, and frankly, we needed the rest.”

COMBINE RIDE: Andrew Winters took sons Lee and Robby for a combine ride toward the end of harvest. (Photo by Martha Winters)

This year, the Winters bought a 2013 Case combine they intended to use for soybeans, while utilizing their existing 2002 Case combine for corn. However, the newer unit didn’t come with a rock trap, which required some hunting for that part and work in the shop to get it installed, and then an unusual-sized back tire went flat.

“Losing that tire on the new combine was an unexpected challenge because we couldn't find a replacement,” says Andrew, noting it was a Michelin tire discontinued 10 years ago.

The Winters solved the tire issue with a patch. “The tire already had a tube and was patched in two other places, but we needed it, so we patched it again,” Martha says.

Andrew adds, “Nobody makes them, but we have a pair on order from the local tire shop that are a slightly different size that will work.”

Beautiful, busy harvest

There were days when the Winters were running two combines (in beans), a grain cart (in corn) and three trucks. “It was really great having all that help,” Andrew says. “One day. we had three mechanical issues, but we were able to get those all solved in a short amount of time.”

While much of Ohio struggled with drought this year, the Winters were thankful for sporadic rains until the growing season winded down. “We were a little surprised at how dry the beans were at 9% moisture,” says Martha, adding they quit harvesting for a short period, but quickly changed their minds.

Corn ran about 15% to 16% during the second half of harvest, and with no drying or storage on-site, the Winters were more than pleased to have low-moisture crops. They market most of their corn to an ethanol plant 20 minutes away.

LAST PASS: Andrew Winters operates the grain cart tractor with the corn combine coming back after finishing the last pass of corn for 2024. (Photo by Martha Winters)

Sulfur pays on beans

After taking some advice from Purdue University’s Shaun Casteel, the Winters applied sulfur on sandy beans.

“We put 20 pounds of liquid sulfur on our beans at planting, which resulted in a 4- to 4.5-bushel-per-acre increase in bean yield,” Andrew explains. “We plant corn and soybeans with the same planter, a Kinze 3600. So, we had our corn two-by-two cultures on this planter while we planted soybeans, and used those cultures to inject the sulfur.”

Casteel’s research suggested growers could get a yield bump with the sulfur on early-planted beans. “But, our beans really weren’t that early, and we still saw a benefit,” Martha adds.

At harvest, Andrew says you could see the difference where sulfur was applied. “The beans were just thicker and taller where we added the sulfur, and on the yield map, it was a statistical difference,” he says.

Cost of the sulfur was $19.12 per acre, Martha says. “If you use $9.80 for a bean price, and with an extra 4.4 bushels, that's $24 of net profit per acre,” she says.

HARVEST BREAK: Martha and Andrew Winters with their children — Lee the dragon, Robby the owl, and Emi the tiger — took a break from harvest to go trick-or-treating with friends in Lindsey, Ohio. (Photo by Meredith Edwards)

The Winters are noted for trying new things and have several test plots on their farm. A complete analysis of their findings is expected to be published in an upcoming eFields report from Ohio State University Extension.

The beans were planted into very sandy soil with plenty of cover crop residue. “It’s a different system if you’re planting into bare ground, and it might not produce that bump,” Martha says. “We might experiment with sulfur on our heavy ground.”

Another experiment with strip till during last year’s wet fall also paid off. “We were worried it was too wet to strip till and found out that it wasn't — we got 11 bushels better where we strip-tilled,” Martha says.

A dry fall this year made the decision to strip till a no-brainer. “But if it had been wet, this result gives us more courage to do strip till, even if it is wet,” she adds.

Plans for 2025 include expanding sulfur application, testing strip-till methods, and hopefully avoiding the poison ivy they both battled through after getting exposed while fixing a damaged fence during harvest.