Corn and soybean planting begins in South Dakota

In South Dakota Lee Lubbers takes benefit of moisture to start out planting his corn and soybeans. Chad Henderson hopes for a rain to maintain his knee-high corn in Alabama.

LEE LUBBERS – GREGORY, SOUTH DAKOTA

Lee Lubbers of Gregory, South Dakota, grew up within the farming custom, and remembers properly utilizing leftover scholarship cash because the down fee for his first tractor and hire for 200 acres. At the moment, he farms greater than 17,000 acres of dryland soybeans, corn, and wheat. Lubbers says one of the vital vital issues to him is to at all times be studying and difficult himself to construct an operation and a legacy that the subsequent technology might be pleased with.

Spring has sprung. We went from extreme drought to moist within the final two weeks. Planting began for us this weekend and corn and beans are each going within the floor on the similar time.

Final Thursday, a serious storm moved by means of simply to the east of us. We watched it construct as much as the west after which it took a swath by means of Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, Minnesota and North Dakota. It introduced heavy rains, hail hurricane power straight line winds, and remoted tornadoes. It actually affected lots of people. Our ideas and prayers exit to everybody affected. Complete cities and huge areas are with out energy indefinitely, and quite a few grain bins and machine sheds have been flattened. Heavy rains and hail in quite a few areas.

As planting gears up for us, we’re additionally spraying wheat. We’ve needed to rent planes to get it finished attributable to it being so moist now.

We’re persevering with to take care of quite a few spot shortages. Diesel gasoline has gotten to vital ranges within the jap and southern U.S. as I discuss to fellow producers. We would have liked to scramble final week to search out an additional 1,000 acres of a selected fungicide. It was ordered months in the past and shipments got here in brief to the retailers. Fortunately, we pulled some strings and made some calls and could have it in time. Keep protected everybody! Our ideas and prayers to all affected by the hostile climate recently.

CHAD HENDERSON – MADISON, ALABAMA

Chad Henderson is a part of a fifth-generation farming operation in Madison, Alabama. Henderson Farms operates over 8,000 acres of dryland and irrigated corn, dryland soybeans, wheat, and dryland and irrigated double-crop soybeans. When not farming, Chad might be discovered carrying on one other proud household custom as a drag racer for Henderson Racing.
 
Corn seems to be superb, however we’d like rain quickly. We had 0.2 inches of rain per week in the past, nevertheless it’s been dry since. On our floor we solely want 1 week with out moisture and we begin to get dry. Our knee-high corn is beginning to roll up. Inside the subsequent week we’ll be placing on the Y drops and begin to sidedress our corn.

We’ve bought our irrigation operating a pair weeks forward of regular. Sometimes, we begin irrigating over the last week of Might. This 12 months we’re beginning up the second week of Might because of the lack of rain. The early begin has allowed us to examine every thing out and ensure it’s all operating correctly.

 
We’ve round 300 acres of soybeans left to plant apart from our double crop beans. This week we are going to head throughout the river and knock these 300 acres out. If we don’t get some rain or decrease temperatures quickly, our plan is to be huge open slicing our wheat within the subsequent two weeks.

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