Rain makes corn.... and is a good thing!

I've started off a rather somber post with a song - I hope you enjoy having it stuck in your head for the rest of the day - also, I LOVE the intro to this song. These farmers are really adamant about the critical role rain plays in food production.

Corn makes lots of other things besides whiskey by the way; cereals, baking powder, vegetable oil. You get the point.

As you've probably noticed, there hasn't been much rain in the midwest this year - or in general, actually. In fact, a report from the USDA as of August 1 highlighted pointed out the following sad facts:

- 65% of U.S. farms are in areas experiencing drought
- Severe or greater drought is impacting 65 pecent of cattle production, and about 75 percent of corn and soybean production.
- As of August 1, more than half of U.S. counties had been designated as disaster areas by USDA in 2012, mainly due to drought.

I live in God's country (Kansas) and we've needed rain badly for the past 2-3 months. In fact, the state of Kansas has placed all 105 counties into a drought emergency status and all but 3 Kansas counties have been declared a disaster. The good news is that it's supposed to rain tonight; the bad news is that when we really needed the rain, it was nowhere to be found.

In May, which is a very crucial time on the corn growing timeline (most corn is planted in late April), Kansas received a statewide average of 1.10 inches of rain. That's not very much to get good seedling growth started. June and July didn't treat us much better which has really had a negative effect on both corn and soybean growth.

For visual explanation let's look at this ear of corn

that came from this field near my hometown in Anderson County, Kansas. That's my husband's hand and that ear of corn is only about 4.5 inches long. This is a sad, sad sight for farmers.

Folks, it's August 8. Corn fields aren't supposed to look like this for another six weeks or so. There are just a few tiny specks of green in that field, some fields don't have any green in them and the corn stalks are half the height of this field.

Then compare to this ear of corn from Wood County, Ohio, where they've gotten  more rain this year than we Kansans- about 2.6 inches in May. That number is still a decrease from their normal precipitation but if you look at the difference that an inch of rain can have on a corn crop, that's a pretty important inch!

Here they are side by side - again, the corn from Ohio is on the left and although it's not near the size that farmers would like, it is better than our poor little Kansas ears.

            

So what does all of this rain and crop talk mean for you, the consumer? Unfortunately, food prices will likely increase in the long run and let me explain how.

Livestock producers (beef, pork) are having to cull their herds to avoid spending so much money on feeds. This could lead to a short-term increase in the meat supply which will lower costs. However, in the long run, once the shortage of corn and soybeans reaches the retail end (cornmeal, flour, cereal) we'll likely see an increase in grocery prices.

Furthermore, if producers are selling off parts of the herd now, they will have less to sell in 10-12 months which will probably lead to a long-term increase in meat prices.

So, if in the next 6 months you notice meat prices decrease only to increase again, please don't be upset with the farmer or grocery store. Farmers, especially livestock producers, are getting hit very hard this year. Many crop producers have insurance but that type of reassurance isn't available for beef, pork and poultry producers. They must feed their livestock regardless of feed prices because they're committed to utmost care for their animals. To read more about the strain on livestock producers and the perilous conditions that Mother Nature has created, you can read this blog post by pork producer, Chris Chinn.

We'd love to hear your thoughts and concerns about the drought or your situation. Leave us some comment love!

Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~

Welcome To My Sister's Family Farm

Celebrating harvest time for some people = apple cider, football, mums, pumpkins and craft fairs.

Celebrating harvest time for farmers = late nights, early mornings and hopeful wishes for a bountiful crop.

With corn harvest over in my neck of the woods, I thought I'd share a few photos from my sister's farm in Illinois. She married a man she met in college who is originally from the central part of Illinois. Transplanting a Kansas girl into Illinois wasn't an easy task, but seeing as they transplanted her to a farm made it that much easier.

Their family raises corn, soybeans, a little bit of wheat and for fun, a few vegetables (my favorite are their green beans). My brother-in-law is fortunate enough to work on his farm with two brothers and his father. They are a team in every sense of the word and have a very successful farming business. What I think is even more special about their farm is that for many years, the boys were able to learn from both of their grandparents who farmed in the area before they took over.

 These are some aerial shots of the 3 combines running through the field. I think these are beautiful shots of harvest time in Illinois.

These photos were taken by their agronomist. Their agronomist works for Pioneer Hi-Bred and offers her services to collaborate with the farmers and the seed companies to continuously improve products that Pioneer offers its customers. Pioneer Hi-Bred is a seed company that breeds different lines of corn seed for farmers to plant. Picking a seed company is a lot like choosing a bank. Farmers make their decisions on who to purchase seed from based on the data behind the specific breeds of corn that a company offers.

This is a really neat site that shows the various crop reports as they are coming in across the country. You can see different states by changing which view you are in. The data is presented in bushels per acre. That means that for every acre of farm ground planted to corn this is how may bushels of corn is yielded. You can also see the soybean harvest reports. If you forgot what a bushel is you can check out this post.

 I have to leave you with my favorite photo: 

With three combines running at the same time, my brother-in-law wanted a way to distinguish his combine from the other two. Proudly sporting a chrome powercat, his combine was out in the field this weekend during the big win for the Wildcats! During harvest, farmers are working around the clock since it is the most important time of the year for them. They are feeding the world, though, so even K-State football can wait.

Best,

Tera