Midwest Farm tour

[Tractorsdontfloat]

As many of you know, I hang with @Headless hula a fair amount and he has been after me for quite some time to start a thread here chronicling my life as a grain and vegetable farmer, so finally here it is.

First off, let me set a few ground rules. 1. I’ll try my darnedest to explain things as best I can. 2. If you have any questions about certain parts of what I’m talking about, ask questions. I’ll answer them if I can. 3. Try to be patient as I will post more over time. I can’t and won’t try to explain every bit of Cheeseland Agricultural practices in a single post. 4. I will post pictures as I go and try to make it as interesting as I can.

Beyond that? Sit back, read, enjoy, and interact as you wish. I’m doing this for your benefit, and maybe I’ll learn a thing or three along the way.

Also, if you are ever in the area visiting Hula, make sure you tell him to get my ass th Hula HQ 2.0 so we can partake in a little shenanigans!

Here’s a little teaser pic to start it all off. This is a shot from the seat, or as I call it my corner window office.

I’ll try to keep each post from getting too long, and May add several posts over a short period to keep them shorter.

It is a little early in the season yet too, so I’ll add a few posts over the next couple weeks detailing the winter processes too.

 

[Headless hula]

Bout time ya slacker.
Friggin lazy farmers....

 

[snowhammer]

Looking forward to the posts. Perfect timing as well, almost time to spend countless hours in the field.

 

[buck35]

When we were in the Midwest back in October .I pulled over to pick a bean, seed or something. Turned out to be a soybean... Hadn't ever seen one before.

 

[Ziggy]

Do you grow the same grains and veggies each season or is the harvest different each year?
Oh, and tell us what they are.

 

[Tractorsdontfloat]

Ill start out with a bit of background on me and the business. First off, my name is Mark.

I am a cash grain (field corn, soybeans) and vegetable farmer. We, and I say we because this is a family farm that I own and operate with my two brothers and a brother-in-law. We run approximately 5300 acres of ground which includes something around 3500 acres of field corn, 1000 acres soybeans, 700 acres green beans (or snap beans as they are known), and a few acres of kidney beans.

The area we live in is a large farming area with sandy soils that primarily are all irrgated and many vegetables are grown, including the snap beans, sweet corn, peas, and potatoes.

We were potato growers for many years, and still work with a neighbor farm for crop rotation of potatoes, so I’ll add some info on them from time to time as well.

Field corn, being our main crop, will be the majority of my reference.

 

[Tractorsdontfloat]

Do you grow the same grains and veggies each season or is the harvest different each year?
Oh, and tell us what they are.

Year to year, things are relatively similar, but rotated on the ground.

For example. If it was corn this year, it will probably be some type of bean next year, followed by something like a potato the next. Etc...

 

[Tractorsdontfloat]

When we were in the Midwest back in October .I pulled over to pick a bean, seed or something. Turned out to be a soybean... Hadn't ever seen one before.

Well buck, I hope to enlighten you some and maybe we will all has a bit of fun along the way.

 

[DrunkenSailor]

My epic thread senses are going off. Thank you for putting this together.

 

[Tractorsdontfloat]

A little more about me.

I grew up on this farm. I drove my first tractor at age six, and have been driving ever since. I’m a fourth generation farmer. I currently live three miles from where I grew up, and my commute each morning is a whopping three minutes on overcrowded roads that regularly I don’t see another vehicle.

As I was growing up, we raised a couple hundred head of beef cattle, had grain crops, and raised potatoes, cucumbers, sweet corn, snap beans, and peas.

You might say it’s in my blood.

 

[Headless hula]

You've got a good start now.

Told you this thread would grow some legs.

 

[Tractorsdontfloat]

Child labor?

I started working eight hour days working on a grading line sorting cucumbers at age 8. By the time I was ren, I was driving tractor running hay mower and cultivating crops all day. A much simpler time to say the least.

Back then, (early eighties) our snap bean seed all came in fifty pound bags, and my job during planting season was to help my father by setting the bags on the edge of the flatbed they were stacked on, opening the bags and helping him fill the planter. He would plant until the planter was empty, and I’d have the few bags prepped and ready.

At age 12, while being the bag boy, my father asked me to run the planter while he ate lunch. I’ve been the primary planter operator for the business ever since.

 

[monkeyswrench]

First off, Damn, I love your office. The thing I liked about construction was the scenery changed. It could be ugly, but at least you knew it was temporary. Your window looks on the countryside that I liked seeing when I was driving cross country to events. Growing up in California, we didn't see that type of farm. The central valley has some farms, but not like the miles of fields through the Midwest.

The other thing, I appreciate any type of multi-generational work. Farming has a long history in that area, neat to see it still going.

West coasters...drive down a side road in a Midwest corn field area. Get out of the car and shut it down...spend a few minutes in the breeze and sounds...it's unreal. Like another planet from where most of us come from!

 

[Tractorsdontfloat]

As with any business, changes are made over time. Back in the late eighties, the Midwest had a couple years of extremely hot, dry summers. This caused the vegetable contract companies to “buy their way into the central sands area”.

As I mentioned, this area is largely irrigated cropland, and the consistency of the irrgated ground gave the contract companies security when the dry land crops during that period were complete losses.

Our business saw this opportunity to move away from cash grains and beef, and focus completely on vegetables. Throughout the nineties, we were exclusively contract vegetables. We were raising potatoes for fresh market, or in other terms, for being packed and primarily being shipped to restaurants and grocery stores. We also had process potatoes for Ore Ida. These were made into French fries.

Just a side note, process potatoes and fresh market potatoes are different varieties. Generally, they are both russet type potatoes, but they are a little different. Many other farms grow, or have grown many different varieties of potatoes, from russets for process, to round whites for mostly chipping, to russets, reds and a miriade of odd stuff for table/fresh.

We continued to raise machine harvest cucumbers through 1995, at which time we chose to give up a mediocre contract and discontinued the cucumbers in our operation. Also, we were growing sweet corn, peas, and snap beans. This continued status quo through the end of the nineties, into the early 2000s. When contract prices continued to drop to a point of needing to look at options.

 

[Tractorsdontfloat]

I might add, during the early nineties, I was also blessed to have the opportunity to go to college and study the career path I knew and loved.

Ultimately, I went to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, a smaller 7000ish student college that a lot of primary degrees are Agriculture based. I say ultimately because I did a little shuffling throughout my five and a half years it took to get my Ag Business degree. Let’s just say I had lots of fun in college.

 

[Headless hula]

Well, shit. I just cracked another beer. Keep telling us the story

 

[Tractorsdontfloat]

First off, Damn, I love your office. The thing I liked about construction was the scenery changed. It could be ugly, but at least you knew it was temporary. Your window looks on the countryside that I liked seeing when I was driving cross country to events. Growing up in California, we didn't see that type of farm. The central valley has some farms, but not like the miles of fields through the Midwest.

The other thing, I appreciate any type of multi-generational work. Farming has a long history in that area, neat to see it still going.

West coasters...drive down a side road in a Midwest corn field area. Get out of the car and shut it down...spend a few minutes in the breeze and sounds...it's unreal. Like another planet from where most of us come from!

Gets to be long days at times sitting in those tractor seats, but to me it’s true therapy to be out there alone doing what I know!

 

[fmo24]

We have been traveling the country in our moho and as said when you get off the interstate and run state or county roads you see a whole different country than where I grew up in southern Ca

 

[Headless hula]

We have been traveling the country in our moho and as said when you get off the interstate and run state or county roads you see a whole different country than where I grew up in southern Ca

Welcome to America.
Last winter when I ventured into the edges of so. cal. To drop off a buddies out drive at Teague, I was blown away by the amount of trash, and not a single billboard in English. I will never set foot in that shithole ever again.

So sad.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

‘Bout time you got after this! Nice work, and keep it coming.

You might want to cover all the equipment necessary, rough cost of new, maintenance concerns/timing/costs.

How much air pressure you running in the tires? All eight of them get the same pressure? What’s it weigh?

 

[Headless hula]

‘Bout time you got after this! Nice work, and keep it coming.

You might want to cover all the equipment necessary, rough cost of new, maintenance concerns/timing/costs.

How much air pressure you running in the tires? All eight of them get the same pressure? What’s it weigh?

I think these dooooodes will shit their board shorts when they hear what a combine costs. Theres a fuggin fleet of dcb's out in the machine shed.

 

[Tractorsdontfloat]

So, in the early 2000s, as prices dropped on contracts, we explored options, and chose to go back to growing a few acres (when I say a few, I’m generally meaning a few hundred) of cash crops again. The first time since 1989.

Now, let me step back a notch and explain a little.

First, when we look at a cropping shift, keep this in mind. Shifting crops in a lot of cases also means a shift in equipment too, so it’s not always a quick, easy shift. Corn- sweet or field corn, snap beans, and soybeans can all be planted in rows using the same planters. The only change is the seed disks that are in the planter. Potatoes, however, are planted using a much more specialized planter, that isn’t used for any other crop. Peas are planted more with a grain drill in very narrow rows (7-10 inch width).

Also with cropping changes, and perhaps more important to the decision making process, is the fact that with the snaps, sweet corn, and peas the contract companies provide seed, and operate their own harvest crews. No equipment needed by the grower. In the case of cash grains, potatoes, and a few specialty crops like kidney beans, carrots, and small grains the farmer is on his own for basically the entire crop, including harvest, and maybe even storage of said crop. And harvest equipment for many crops can get extremely expensive real quick.

These things said, making major cropping shifts at times can be very tough, and May even take an “all in” mentality. So when I mention some of the changes we have made over the years it hasn’t always been an easy transition.

 

[HydroSkreamin]

I think these dooooodes will shit their board shorts when they hear what a combine costs. Theres a fuggin fleet of dcb's out in the machine shed.

Exaaaaactly!

 

[Tractorsdontfloat]

‘Bout time you got after this! Nice work, and keep it coming.

You might want to cover all the equipment necessary, rough cost of new, maintenance concerns/timing/costs.

How much air pressure you running in the tires? All eight of them get the same pressure? What’s it weigh?

I’ll try to cover most of it over time, but don’t be afraid to keep me honest and focused.

 

[Headless hula]

Hey Mark, what's that hood yooooor staring over in the first pic?
What series?

 

[RichL]

Good stuff. Looking forward to the thread.

 

[rivrrts429]

A little more about me.

I grew up on this farm. I drove my first tractor at age six, and have been driving ever since. I’m a fourth generation farmer. I currently live three miles from where I grew up, and my commute each morning is a whopping three minutes on overcrowded roads that regularly I don’t see another vehicle.

As I was growing up, we raised a couple hundred head of beef cattle, had grain crops, and raised potatoes, cucumbers, sweet corn, snap beans, and peas.

You might say it’s in my blood.

Similar scenario as Millennial Farmer on YouTube. I’ve subscribed to his channel for a while now and got a whole lot of insight into the corn and soybean versus livestock way of farming and why.

Great thread and excited to see where it goes. Thanks for sharing [emoji106]

 

[Headless hula]

Good stuff. Looking forward to the thread.

I've been after him for at least a year. Lolol...
We chat on the phone when I have a longish drive....


I give him shit. Usually ask, you making paperclip patterns on yore gps?

 

[Tractorsdontfloat]

Hey Mark, what's that hood yooooor staring over in the first pic?
What series?

That would be a John Deere 8360R.

Here’s a pic of my baby with the planter hooked up.

She’s not real clean, just a true worker.

 

[Tractorsdontfloat]

Similar scenario as Millennial Farmer on YouTube. I’ve subscribed to his channel for a while now and got a whole lot of insight into the corn and soybean versus livestock way of farming and why.

Great thread and excited to see where it goes. Thanks for sharing [emoji106]

Thanks rivrrts429. Hope you enjoy and maybe develop a few questions I can help answer.

 

[jb600]

I think these dooooodes will shit their board shorts when they hear what a combine costs. Theres a fuggin fleet of dcb's out in the machine shed.

About as much as a new skidder. Great thread.

 

[lbhsbz]

Looks like it beats making washers

 

[Headless hula]

Well....

We're waiting.

 

[Tractorsdontfloat]

Ok, so as I continue on the history of my farm to present.

As I said, in the early 2000s, we started moving away from a few vegetables and back to the cash crops, we were at the time running about 3500 total acres, and each of the four of us in the current generation (my older brother, myself, my brother in law, and my little brother) all had finished our college degrees and were all now full time in the business. And as of the late 90s, we purchased the whole business from the previous generation. This consisted of my father and his brother, my uncle. My uncle has two boys that chose not to come back to the farm, leaving him wanting to retire. He still stops by regularly and has coffee with us when he is around, but winters in Florida, and is enjoying retirement.

My father is a whole different story. I don’t know if he was fully ready to retire back then, but chose to do the same as his brother (dad Is the oldest of three boys and has a sister that is not part of the farm. More about the second brother in the future). My father, even though he chose to sell to us, has stayed involved in the business , basically as an additional helping hand, running tillage equipment throughout the summer for us, and as a cart operator during harvest. At 76 years young, it’s a blessing to have him around and helping to the level he does. It’s not all work for him, though. He winters in the warmth of New Mexico and spends more time each summer camping and relaxing.

 

[Tractorsdontfloat]

Well....

We're waiting. View attachment 737108

Settle down Hula. I can only type so fast.

 

[TripleB]

Waiting for what?

Last time I looked farmers work hours decline during winter

You might work as much as me during winter and that’s saying a lot

 

[Headless hula]

Settle down Hula. I can only type so fast.

Yoooor fingers are going to cramp before you back to your office in the a.m. to keep going ya know....


It's a real pita to go back and proofread before you hit post.....

 

[lbhsbz]

Settle down Hula. I can only type so fast.

Doesn't he have a Garage to shovel?

 

[Headless hula]

Doesn't he have a Garage to shovel?

Go make some more plywood furniture.

 

[lbhsbz]

Go make some more plywood furniture.

I am....in shorts and flip flops in my dry garage.

 

[Headless hula]

I'm proud to have tractorsdontfloat as my friend. He and his wife were there in the minutes in the aftermath of my situation back in December. He's been helping out with my boat projects and other things going on in my life for quite a while.
Our boys grew up together, played football, etc.
I coached his boy way back in Pop Warner..


I can count the number of good friends I have on 1 hand.


Guess who's on the list.

 

[Headless hula]

I am....in shorts and flip flops in my dry garage.

That made me laugh....

 

[lbhsbz]

View attachment 737118

That made me laugh....

 

[Tractorsdontfloat]

When we transitioned to some cash crops back then, we did have a couple benefits to that. One was the fact we still had storage bins. To grow corn and beans, delivery to a local elevator is always an option, but having storage gives some marketing options, and generally allows an opportunity to increase price some.

As I mentioned earlier, though, a disadvantage is that we needed to look into harvest options. For the first three or four years we were able to hire the harvest done, and also worked with a neighbor who owned a combine to share it for both our harvests. We could also use our fleet of potato transport trucks to also transport the corn and beans to storage. After the first few years, as we continued to shift more heavily into the grains, we began to have enough acreage to justify owning our own harvester.

Another side explanation for those of you that may not know. No judgement on you by the way, as I may not know anything about what you do. Just trying to make it more understanding.

Ok, the harvester. Known as a combine. This machine is really large, and expensive. The main power unit is the engine, cab, and all the threshing operations that remove the grain from the cob (corn) or pods (soybeans) or heads (small grains). After the threshing, the remaining trash can either be chopped and spread back on the ground. This is what generally happens with the corn and beans. Or it can be windrowed behind the combine so the straw can be baled later. Usually happens with small grains like rye, wheat, and oats. Different heads can be hooked to the front of the combine to harvest crops accordingly. Corn heads are primarily specific to corn, where platforms or Draper heads are used for soybeans and small grains.

 

[monkeyswrench]

Gets to be long days at times sitting in those tractor seats, but to me it’s true therapy to be out there alone doing what I know!

Long days, yes. Some seasons mean longer days I'm sure. But you must like doing it as well as just knowing what you're doing. Pride and sense of accomplishment at the end of the day...better than flying a desk to me. Different people for different jobs, but I admire yours.

 

[Tractorsdontfloat]

I'm proud to have tractorsdontfloat as my friend. He and his wife were there in the minutes in the aftermath of my situation back in December. He's been helping out with my boat projects and other things going on in my life for quite a while.
Our boys grew up together, played football, etc.
I coached his boy way back in Pop Warner..


I can count the number of good friends I have on 1 hand.


Guess who's on the list.

Thanks man! That means a lot to me. And I knew shit about boats back when. Now I know very little, but it’s been fun learning.

 

[Tractorsdontfloat]

Long days, yes. Some seasons mean longer days I'm sure. But you must like doing it as well as just knowing what you're doing. Pride and sense of accomplishment at the end of the day...better than flying a desk to me. Different people for different jobs, but I admire yours.

Thanks monkey. You’re right on with that. Not a simple task any more. And watching that crop grow from putting the seed in the ground to harvest is a new challenge every year.

 

[Headless hula]

Thanks man! That means a lot to me. And I knew shit about boats back when. Now I know very little, but it’s been fun learning.

Wtf you talkin bout? You still can't spell dcb.

 

[Headless hula]

So, maybe you can delve into what your crops are turned into?
In all our later night beer drinkin sessions at the old hula hut, I never did get around to asking you where in the hell yore soybeans went or what they got made into?

 

[monkeyswrench]

About three years ago I was rolling through western Kansas. Little two lane, headed towards Pueblo Co. Coming at me was a house sized tractor thing! Not being a farmer, didn't even know the thresher heads came off a combine. I believe it was some sort of harvest crew. 3 combines towing grain trailers, the biggest utility bed Id ever seen, towing a massive 5th wheel camp trailer...and an old Dodge 3500 towing a bizarre trailer with the thresher heads, and they were massive in comparison.

So, maybe you can delve into what your crops are turned into?
In all our later night beer drinkin sessions at the old hula hut, I never did get around to asking you where in the hell yore soybeans went or what they got made into?

Hell, aren't soy beans in everything? Soy based foam products in buildings and cars, and soy is like the duct tape of packaged food...in damn near everything. May have made it into some of the Californian's tofu!