Friends Don’t Let Friends Work Wet.

By W Kevin Nelson - Senior Agronomist Prairie Agronomics LLC

2019 A Year We’ll Remember

Though the year isn’t even half over, 2019 will go down as a milestone year for anyone involved in agriculture. Every year is different, but some remain more memorable than others. We got off on somewhat of a wrong foot by finishing off ‘18 without getting as much work done as we would have liked. Fertilizer applications and tillage were not completed in many areas last fall, putting farmers behind before the crop year even started.

Then the rains came. When we would have liked to have been catching up on those things left uncompleted, soil conditions kept getting wetter, and time kept on ticking. Several of my colleagues and I were talking about images and posts we were seeing on social media of people working ground in less than optimum conditions, and in the second week of April, we didn’t feel there was any need to feel rushed. There was plenty of time to get the #plant19 crop in the ground. I even created a meme: Friends Don’t Let Friends Work Wet.

And still the rains came. Most of Illinois, and much of the middle part of the country continued to receive above average precipitation. My colleagues and I continued to counsel patience and stress levels of growers continued to mount. April turned to May, then May was fast fading, June was in the windshield, approaching fast. Patience was nearly gone, and growers began looking at getting something in the ground, even if soil conditions weren’t ideal.

And the rains continued. The end of May and first few days of June brought a flurry of discussion surrounding Prevented Plant options, corn hybrid maturities, drying costs, black layer, the dreaded “F” word (frost) and MFP ”Trump Money.” Patience flew out the window. Planters rolled on corn, seedsmen were asked to find earlier maturing hybrids, and any window of sunshine brought the machines to the fields.

But the rains stopped. Now it’s starting to become apparent that those decisions made earlier may not pan out the way we hoped. Seed slots not closed, crusting, mud balls turned to dry clay balls. This crop is far from in the bin. The remainder of the growing season will challenge everyone. Even far from the farm gate. I have said that the ripples on these ponds in the fields will spread wide, and will touch everyone.

So 2019 is going to go down as a milestone year. Young people today will say to their grandchildren in 2049, “I remember ‘19. That was a terrible year in farming.” Much as my grandfathers talked about 1934 (drought and heat), my father talked about 1970  Southern Corn Leaf Blight and Texas Male Sterile seedcorn) and I talk about 1988 (drought.) We all have milestones in our lives, some personal, some shared with the broader community. The challenge before us is to not let the negative milestones become millstones around our necks, but to find positive milestones to balance the negative and keep us looking forward to the future

W Kevin Nelson