DECATUR, Ill. (DTN) -- Where did summer go?
A wet spring pushed Quint Pottinger's planting season into June this year and the central Kentucky farmer feels as though he's been sprinting to catch up ever since. Fungicide applications, weed control, grain deliveries to the local distillery -- the days fly by when there's always something to do.
This week Pottinger got good news from his agronomist, who found fields faring well despite the rocky early start. As the calendar turns to August, thoughts begin to turn to how that grain will be handled and stored.
Dan Lakey is contemplating similar decisions as winter crops turn the corner in the race to ripen on his southeastern Idaho acres. He figures winter wheat and canola are only a couple of weeks away from harvest.
In this installment of DTN's View From the Cab, Lakey and Pottinger tackle a discussion about how they manage grain storage and update readers on current crop conditions. The two farmers have been sharing reports from their farms and fields since May.
And, since this is the 13th installment of the series this year, the farmers also reveal if they hold to any superstitious thoughts when it comes to farming or life. Read on to learn what long-held belief underpins both of their work practices.
DAN LAKEY, SODA SPRINGS, IDAHO
If Lakey knew of some lucky trick that would summon up a different weather scenario, he would have done it by now. On July 25, rain clouds formed to deliver one-half inch of rain in a few areas. In other places where he farms, the drops were mostly enough to smear the windshield.
Then, on the afternoon of July 26, moisture arrived again in form of hail -- some of it the size of golf balls. Unfortunately, late July to early August is known to deliver hailstorms. Last year he had malt barley, canola and wheat shredded by hail.
"We will get to the point where rain will hurt us rather than help, too. Rain on ripe crops hurts quality," said Lakey.
It's not unusual for the area to be dry this time of year. "Sometimes we'll get monsoon-type rains that kick up out of the Gulf and deliver a wet harvest. It adds insult to injury when you burn up all summer and then, start getting rains at harvest.
"If it happens, at least it sets us up for getting fall-seeded crops into some moisture," he said.
The short-term forecast indicates the area will mostly keep on cooking, said John Baranick, DTN ag meteorologist. "Extensive heat has been in full swing across Soda Springs this week. Temperatures throughout the Pacific Northwest have been very hot. They're getting a break over the weekend, which may come with an isolated shower or two, but temperatures will increase again going into August and the chance for rain is very low.
"It's a rough forecast for this area that has dealt with a lot of adverse weather this season," Baranick added.
Those dry conditions have pushed crops toward maturity faster than usual. With fields spread over 50-plus miles, Lakey's crop has endured a wide variety of conditions this year. He estimates the double whammy of a late frost coupled with drought has likely diminished whole farm yields by about 50% compared to last year. Wheat and barley may be about 25% off average yields, he said. Canola caught some rain around planting and he's hoping for average yields.
Of the dozen or so crops Lakey grows, several such as canola, mustard and flax, are small seeded. Itty-bitty seeds require a healthy helping of harvest and handling finesse.
"We were firm believers in Gleaner combines and ran them for dang near 50 years on this farm. They were great on wheat and barley. Then we started harvesting mustard," he said. After several years of tinkering with sieves and trying to make the grain tank tight, they moved to Lexion combines.
Combine housekeeping is still a must. He can spend a day cleaning out, blowing out and rinsing out the grain tank and threshing system on machines. Combine brands differ in how many places grain can hang up and hide, he reported.
"Get a little barley in wheat and there might be some forgiveness. Not so with mustard contracts," he said. The specialty grains he sells are often put into containers bound for China. There is zero tolerance of another grain or evidence of genetically modified (GMO) in the sample, Lakey added.
Fear of grain rejection has led Lakey to use a separate combine for mustard and when logistics allow, he harvests it first. Similar scheduling and clean-out procedures can also be required for canola, depending on the contract.
Semi-trucks and grain carts and grain bins need to be cleaned and sealed tight since some of the seed is like water. "Sometimes you'll have a full bin of mustard and see something shooting out the side. Or you'll load up and come back and see a little pile sitting underneath the trailer," Lakey said, noting that duct tape is his friend.
With about 250,000 bushels storage capacity scattered between farms he owns and rents, keeping bins checked for quality is also an ongoing chore. Small seeds can be difficult to store -- most are oily and must be stored at lower moisture contents. He's also had to change to aeration floors with smaller perforations in bins storing smaller grains.
"It's a regular thing to find out augers have hidden holes," he said. "We started buying belts when we started growing yellow peas for seed. Cracked peas are screened out and don't count toward paid weight. So, we try to be very gentle in handling," he said.
Bin size can influence how much of one crop he grows, as well. "We are always trying to line up our field sizes and expected production, so we aren't wasting or exceeding bin space," Lakey said.
Most of his specialty contracts stipulate winter delivery. Seed peas and forages grown for cover crops typically require three-to-four months storage. Lakey said malt barley can be the trickiest because random, just-in-time deliveries are common. He will sometimes take advantage of the local elevator's offer for a few months free storage when production exceeds storage capacity, and the commodity doesn't need identity preservation.
When it comes to a wish list, Lakey would like to have sensors in more bins, but digital connections are sketchy in some of his farming areas where the bins sit. "Sometimes we don't even have electricity out there," he said.
A grain dryer is another goal. Where he lives elevators require wheat to come in around 12.5%. Farmers mostly wait until it reaches that moisture level to begin harvest.
"We have the occasional year -- last year being one of them -- where we were forced to start early and ended late with harvest. We can take a couple of points off everything with fans and air floors, but it would be nice to start harvesting wheat at 18% or 19%," he said.
A handheld device from GrainSense that measures protein and moisture content is also on his radar. "Our malt barley is so protein dependent. We may be 50 miles away from an elevator and need a sample run. Being able to test it throughout the day just to know which direction to send the trucks would be awesome," Lakey said.
"Having a scale on the grain cart that records every load has been a big win," Lakey added. "We have a lot of leased ground with crop shares and having that accounting right at the field has been a huge help in figuring out shares."
Anything that saves moments and miles is a help, which fits in with his biggest superstition or saying he abides by: "Farm on Sunday; fix on Monday."
"It seems like every time we try to do something on Sunday that it bites us, and we end up working on the broken part all Monday and lose all that time we thought we gained."
Every so often a reminder of those farmers and the horsepower they used rises to the surface in the form of a horseshoe. Lakey's brother, David, has a collection of the artifacts. "I found one once and didn't realize there's a direction to how you are supposed to hang them and was informed an upside-down horseshoe would let my luck run out," he said.
"I flipped it around, but it hasn't seemed to change anything!
"I've decided over time that when we have luck, it's more that preparation met opportunity," he said.
QUINT POTTINGER: NEW HAVEN, KENTUCKY
That potential hex farmers encounter if they work on Sunday was also hammered into Pottinger at an early age. "I'm not saying we never work on Sunday, but sure try not to. Everyone needs a day, and we believe in taking Sunday off," said Pottinger.
While he's not sure it is a superstition, he also admits to having "a thing" about keeping the toolbox organized. "If I've got a day going to crap, one of the first things I do is go to my service truck and check the toolbox and make sure everything is in place. If not, then I put it in order.
"I'm not sure why, but suddenly, my head clears, and everything just seems better when I do that. It's just a thing I do to make myself breathe and get myself organized," he said.
This week Pottinger's crop seems to have finally gotten itself sorted and on track. Early planted corn has pollinated well, he noted. The last 100 acres of late planted corn is pollinating this week. Soybeans are doing their thing.
"Our agronomist went over everything this week. We've got some 130-bushel (per acre) corn, and we've got some 230-bushel corn. It's all over the place and it's all based on planting date and planting conditions," he said.
Rain has mostly stayed away this week. "It's been 99% humidity, overcast and 85 degrees. It's the strangest weather," Pottinger said.
Baranick said the heat will start building back this coming week. "At least this area has chances for rain. Models are all over the place with timing it out but give a chance to the area every day.
"Still, when you add it all up, the chance for getting more than an inch of rain is possible but isn't very high. Meanwhile, temperatures will be up in the 90s when the showers don't happen and overnight lows may not break below 70 degrees, not a great situation for crop health if the showers disappoint," said Baranick.
The big surprise for Pottinger in that scouting report was the lack of disease. "It blows my mind because of how humid it has been. We've decided to hang back and wait on additional fungicide applications. No need to incur the expense if we don't have a problem," he said, noting that rain in August is the biggest factor when it comes to pushing soybean yield. Some soybean fungicide trials are going out to keep learning about response.
Because the farm is non-GMO, eyes are peeled for European corn borer, corn rootworm and earworm in corn. Economic thresholds are always important, but they take on new meaning with current commodity prices, Pottinger noted. Scouting becomes critical as profit margins get squeezed.
Pottinger need only look out his back door to see the most important equipment on his farm. The ability to store what he grows is key to servicing distillery customers. Trucks don't have to drive very far to deliver Affinity Farms grains to bourbon makers, but they make the trip nearly every day.
"Were it not for the distillers' market, we'd probably need a little more storage as we are metering it out to them," Pottinger said. Deer corn is another market for the corn. Pottinger installed a grain cleaner, bagger and certified floor scale into a shop within the grain set up. The 50-lb bags of corn are sold to retailers who sell it to deer hunters all over the state.
Key to all of this is the drying system. "If you are going to grow wheat in Kentucky, you have to get corn out so you can get the wheat planted in time to get decent growth," he noted. They like to start harvest at 28%.
However, with the price of natural gas this year, they will probably wait until 24% this year and put both combines in the field, he said. "That means harvest will start a little later if we do that. We'd like to get as much out as possible before it gets to 18% moisture. It shells better that way," he added.
Pottinger is a believer in "phantom yield loss." He points to a Purdue University study that supported claims made by the seed industry and farmers that grain yield can 'disappear' when corn is allowed to remain in the field to dry after physiological maturity has occurred.
"Corn is sensitive to high impact. The drier it is, the more it pulverizes, which is why we can't track the loss behind the combine. So, we're chasing that 20% number. Corn is cleaner as it comes through the combine and that means we must clean it less to get to that Grade 1 that the distillers need," Pottinger said.
Inventory management is critical on this farm. Scales on the grain wagon help track averages and manage trucks in and out of the field. Grain is also run over a certified scale as it enters the granary. Every kernel, as well as screenings, goes across those same certified scales as it exits.
"We're tracking grain wet. We're tracking it dry. We're tracking shrink. You always have less than you think you've got," Pottinger said.
To capture non-GMO soybean premiums, the farm must fill barges. Barge availability is based on space on the river. "We like soybeans to be gone in January, but last year they didn't leave until April because companies couldn't get a barge up the river due to drought," he said.
Right now, he's storing wheat that isn't set to be delivered until late August or early September. Last year, it was held until December and January.
Keeping stored grain in condition depends on watching the weather. "Our bins aren't that big in diameter. If we know rain is coming in, we core that bin and we core it after a rain," he said.
"We're also monitoring humidity constantly, which is terrible here. Over the course of July and August we'll get about 20 to 21 days where we need to run the fans for a few hours," Pottinger said. All bins get filled to the top ring and not above to allow that air to move.
When it comes to his granary wish list, he might have put power roof fans on the tallest bins to help with that air movement. More sensors might be nice, but he would likely remain devoted to religiously coring bins. Besides bagging grain, he also fills boxes to deliver to distilleries.
"The advantage of doing that is we have to be able to get the grain from any bin through the cleaner to the bagging facility -- which means all our bins must come back to the grain leg. So, it is easy for us to core," he explained.
Pottinger would like to dig out the existing pit and put in an auger. "I'd like to be able to dump a whole truck. It would help with harvest to be able to dump in about 6 minutes instead of sitting for 20 minutes," he said.
He'd take a taller grain elevator. It doesn't need to be fast, but he'd like it to reach his two tallest grain bins without a cross auger to reduce the amount of power needed to elevate the grain.
There's an art to drying and storing grain, he said. "It's fun to do. I enjoy the challenge of it. I like the noise of the fans and at night the air smells like whiskey."
Pamela Smith can be reached at pamela.smith@dtn.com
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