I drove around the neighborhood begging for money yesterday as I am something like $15.37 short on my $5,800 drill cart payment. If I call CaseCredit and tell them I am $15.37 short and need 30 days will they laugh at me? Probably... A real farmer would be $10,000 short or $350,000 behind. $15.37 is pathetic... Chicken feed-literally in my case...
But, I digress.
I opted not to no-till corn as it has brought us spectacular failures in the past. I think some of the fields I planted look a little yellow. It is too cold and too wet.
Saturday it is supposed to be 80 degrees! That would turn our ground to concrete.
This is what I was doing last week...
It costs something like $7,500 in corn seed to plant 85 acres. All the field corn guys think they have to have round-up resistant corn.
From Pioneer (of course). I would think it would really be painful for some people to have to hire a White planter pulled by a Minneapolis-Moline tractor because it is the only no-till corn planter in 50 miles. But then again, they didn't hire me...
The isolation between GMO corn and sweet corn is a problem in some places. At this point, corn with less than 90 day maturity is very scarce and finding it non-GMO is very difficult. Most smaller farmers work together and try not screw up someone's sweet corn with GMO field corn. Although, Monsanto claimed at one point it did not cross-pollinate. (mostly when they were suing people)
I have learned something about planting corn in the last two weeks.
The difference between 32,000, 34,000, and 36,000 seeds per acre may only be 1/2" per step but it means a whole bag of 80,000 seeds over 80 acres and one bag is $175.
I was worried about closing the seed trench but if it rains for two weeks after planting that is not as important as getting the seed in too deep.
It is better to plant for other people and let them take the risk, than plant your own corn. (I think)
Have a nice rainy day! I'm going to go grind pig feed-whoop! whoop!
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Maybe you should consider raising some pigs? Which way does the wind normally blow at your place?
ReplyDeleteMy dad's best profits were those made at custom hire, whether farming or sawmilling.
ReplyDeleteSeed costs for gmo are outrageous alright. Every time I dumped a bag of RR canola into the air seeder this spring it was roughly $400. Sure hope it grows a crop, enough to pay the expenses at least.
ReplyDeleteMuddy, no... you should grow pigs and I would even deliver pig feed for my "special" customers!
ReplyDeleteGorges, I hope no locals are reading this blog because i'm going to agree with you. In general I have a more steady and reliable income working for everyone else! My major no-till failures have been on our own farm!
Ralph, Seed cost in general are insane. Non-GMO alfalfa $4 per pound, Teff seed $4 per lb, Barley was even $360/ton. NON GMO, Soy beans are up there also, plus to get Non-GMO beans or corn I have to pay shipping from across the counry!