DECATUR, Ill. (DTN) -- It's a cliche to say, but no two farming seasons are alike. Dan Lakey and Quint Pottinger might be apt to declare that's a good thing regarding 2024.
Weather dished out a rollercoaster year for both farmers as was documented through their reports as part of DTN's View From the Cab feature. Pottinger, from New Haven, Kentucky, and Lakey, from Soda Springs, Idaho, have been discussing crop conditions and other rural issues since May.
This 27th article wraps up the series for the year, but there's still work to be done. Rain showers slowed late-planted soybean harvest for Pottinger this week. Lakey was busy trying to rescue some land coming out of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and make grain deliveries before snow gets serious.
There are plenty of uncertainties for the coming year and many of them amplified post-election. However, what runs true for these farmers is a continued passion for a profession that offers independence and opportunity.
Read on to learn a few of the lessons learned and what it was like to purposefully record a farming season worth of thoughts and actions into words. DTN has offered this feature as an in-depth and daily look into farm life for the past 20 years. Interested in volunteering your time and thoughts for next year's View from the Cab series? Send a note to pamela.smith@dtn.com.
DAN LAKEY: SODA SPRINGS, IDAHO
Winter months might seem like downtime for farmers, but for Lakey, the intensity often ratchets up. Busy includes repairing equipment and hauling the current crop to market delivery points that can range from 5 miles to 750 miles away.
This time of year, it is important to negotiate with grain buyers to get as much grain hauled as possible. Winter poses a tough scenario as snow starts piling around some of the farm's rural grain storage locations.
"Some bin locations can have a drift to the top of a 10,000-bushel bin by the new year," said Lakey. Most years they move crop all winter and as late as June. But snow removal complicates winter runs.
"We can spend two full days with a three-man crew cleaning out a location for a single load. If that truck happens to be a no-show, the site can blow in and the process starts over from scratch," he said.
"I've been back on the farm since 2009, and literally every season has been unique," Lakey said. "Just about the time you think you've got it all figured out and you know what the recipe is for the next season, then you get a season like this thrown in your face."
Think of the lyrics to the song "Let it Go" from the movie "Frozen" and it becomes the soundtrack for Lakey's season in the high desert of southeastern Idaho.
While those storms didn't deliver much in terms of measurable precipitation, they raged on for much of the season by spitting out frozen challenges. Late-spring frost in June. Hail. More hail. Early frost in August. By comparison, the harvest was relatively fast and carefree (if you don't count a combine fire this fall).
"This year has reinforced my belief that a good solid crop insurance plan is key to our business. Without it this year, we might not have paid all the bills," he said.
Last year the farm upped coverage on wheat to 75%. "We covered barley at that level this year too, and it's going to pay dividends," Lakey said.
"This year we purchased some supplemental coverage options and it's going to help us," he noted. The goal is to not need crop insurance. But in years like this, it's been important to be well-covered," he added.
This year also cemented his belief in crop rotation and crop diversity. Back-to-back wheat acres were once the norm in the region, but they have almost disappeared on Lakey Farms.
"We have a few acres we've taken over that still have continuous wheat because we just kept going with that rotation. But we've seen how much better crops do and how much more resilient they are following rotation," he said.
During the past few years, Lakey has made grain marketing a priority. Together with crop insurance, he has become a firm belief in the need for a solid marketing plan.
That was reinforced when wheat started taking some post-election price swings. "Having that marketing plan in place really made life easier for me," Lakey said. "I just need to keep improving my skills in that area and making it a priority to get good solid contracts with break evens locked in place."
While Lakey might occasionally envy areas where weather is more stable, this is his land for better or worse. "We have so much potential in this area. We have decent soils and a lot going for us. But it is the one or two nights a year that can really change everything," he said.
The area is prone to late frosts and can turn around to experience a summer heat capable of hurting pollination. "We've had a couple of pretty good yield years in a row and it's easy to begin to believe we're in a new pattern. But then you get a year like this one where it smacks you back to humble.
"It's important to acknowledge the risk and doing what we can to control the downside," he said.
But Lakey said what really makes their farm work is a complementary blend of personalities. He credits his brother and farming partner, David, for having a laid-back attitude and being a stabilizing influence.
"We have a diversity of thought and balance each other well through respect. We've both seen drama in previous generations and don't want that. We have a future vision of what we want the farm to be and work toward that together," he said.
While Lakey enjoys sharing information through social media, the View from the Cab effort was outside of his normal. "I learned I need to get out of my shell more often. It's a little scary to put yourself out there, but you can't grow if you're constantly comfortable.
"I started to see other points of view. Just reading about Quint's (Pottinger) farm and what was happening there made me realize that others have similar struggles," he said.
Find the profile of Lakey and Lakey Farms here: https://www.dtnpf.com/…
QUINT POTTINGER: NEW HAVEN, KENTUCKY
Weather has definitely been a struggle for Pottinger this year. He went into the season wet, which delayed planting to the point it required switching corn acres to soybeans.
Then, the summer turned dry. November has brought rain -- enough recently that the creeks are about to get out of their banks. With 1,200 acres of soybeans left to harvest, he wants to put those beans to bed as soon as possible.
The good news is when things do dry out, most of the fields remaining are larger fields and logistically easier to harvest. "We won't need to make many moves without taking the head off and will be able to get them done fast -- if we can just get a weather break," Pottinger said.
While he's not finished with soybeans yet, yields are trending higher by about 5% from last year thanks to late July and August rains. Corn came in 45% under the farm's five-year average, which was a disappointment. Wheat yields were on trend. The farm is still establishing a meaningful trend line for rye -- yields were off 15% from last year, but 20% above the farm's five-year average. "If I knock out the outlier high and low yields, we were slightly above trend (on rye)," he said.
This has been a watershed year of sorts for Pottinger. He went into it knowing that difficult decisions were coming on several fronts. Some of that has included taking a hard look at rental ground and what can be farmed efficiently and profitably.
For example, one of the farms that still has soybeans to be harvested totals 120 acres made up of small parcels. It is so tedious that it will take the crew two full days to harvest the 120 acres. For that reason, it is one of the farms he will be giving up next year. The inability to control wildlife damage has also caused him to make the decision to give up some other tracts.
While some may see walking away from land as downsizing, Pottinger sees it as growth. "We spent so much of the last five years acquiring land to lease," he noted. "Now we are in the position to assess that risk and step back and say that we don't need it."
"Initially we thought we'd go to landlords and renegotiate. But in the end, we want what is best for them too. In some cases that meant stepping away," he said.
He went into the 2024 year with a critical eye on finances. "I was feeling the stress as some of the banks we were dealing with are either opting to stop lending or raising their rates enough to put us in a negative cash flow," he said. The farm's fiscal year ended in June and since then, the focus has been to pay off all operating loans for Affinity Farms.
"Our business model of selling to the end user is not conducive to that. We're making the premium. We're still making a little bit of money, but the interest cost to carry us is the problem," he said.
"There's not really a product out there offered by any institution that can help us roll interest costs," he added. "I knew this was coming. I didn't like the way the commodity market started turning last October (2023). Then, production has come in a bit disappointing. All that has made for a tougher year in 2024."
Pottinger partnered with a hedge fund group in 2018, and that relationship provides a unique financial base for the farm. But he still must compete for capital even within this investment structure. Despite some lowering of interest rates, available capital is tight, he noted.
Still, he likes the direction the farm is headed. "We have been able to pick up some better tracts to replace those we've given up.
"We've had some meaningful discussions with an independent distiller about working with us on drying and cleaning of grain. We've put ourselves in the position to be less reliant on third-party fertilizer applications for next year. I like my farm crew. The election is over, and I hope we can start to see where policy is headed," he said.
Pottinger is continuing to pursue the building of a meat processing facility that links local farmers, livestock producers and distilleries together in a vertically integrated local loop. His belief in the importance of investing in rural communities and the farm's role in that vision hasn't wavered. His concern now is the recent election indicates public sentiment is focused more on cost to the pocketbook and not what is valuable to the local economy in the long run.
"It's hard to find home runs in ag right now," he said. "The timeline on that project may need more evaluation."
Pottinger sees the real strength of his farm in the family surrounding him. He gets to work with his father, Ramey, every day. His mother, Donna, provides homemade lunches for the farm crew each workday. His wife, Leah, is becoming more involved in the operation.
"Our work with the bourbon industry and bagging corn keeps evolving. It is so unique and comes with a lot of problem-solving in real time, which is exciting," he said.
At dusk, Pottinger often heads to his farmhouse porch, which sits on a hill overlooking the patchwork of fields in the valley below. "I can't help but smile as I watch the sun set here," he said.
Shedding light on Kentucky agriculture through the View From the Cab feature was a slice of therapy during a tough year, he allowed. "Thinking about what we'd done and where we were headed each week forced me to get out of my head and look at things in different ways," he said.
Find the profile of Pottinger and Affinity Farms here:https://www.dtnpf.com/…
Pamela Smith can be reached at pamela.smith@dtn.com
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