Shipping commodities up and down America’s inland waterway system got pretty hard to do in 2022, especially along the Mississippi River. Extended drought cut water levels to almost impassable levels and resulted in shipping grinding to a halt in the river. The good news is those levels are finally beginning to rebound.
Mike Steenhoek is the executive director of the Soy Transportation Coalition, a group that keeps a sharp eye on shipping and the waterways year-round. They’re happy to see those river levels starting to rise because ships are once again carrying commodities to southern ports in the U.S.
Mike Steenhoek of the Soy Transportation Coalition. (photo by the Iowa Soybean Association)
“Meaningful precipitation has occurred over the past several months,” he said from Ankeny, Iowa. “It’s made a significant impact throughout the entire inland waterway system.”
Steenhoek offered up Memphis, Tennessee, as an example, calling it one of the “ground-zero” locations for the low-water conditions last fall. That location is currently 10-10.5 feet of water depth in relation to the gauge.
“Last year at this time, we were at 19 feet,” he recalled. “So, we’re below last year. To give that some perspective, we were just about at a negative 11 feet in late October. We’re easily more than 20 feet better than we were in October, which is a significant increase making shipping easier.”
St. Louis, Missouri, was another example of “ground zero” in the low water level picture. That location is just a bit higher than at the same time in 2022, so the area has seen a nice rebound from the low levels. He says the moral of the story is the waterways have returned to a degree of “normalcy.” But there is a catch.
“It won’t take a lot of sustained dry conditions to tip us right back into lower conditions,” Steenhoek said. “It could critically impact some of those areas like St. Louis to Cairo, Illinois.”
Shipping commodities is getting back to near-normal levels, for now. The waterways need continued rainfall in case dry weather returns. (Photo by AgFax)
Cairo (pronounced KAY-row) is a significant point in the waterway system. That’s where the Ohio River meets the Mississippi and provides a big influx of water into the system so that St. Louis to Cairo area can be very susceptible to low water conditions.
How dry did some of those areas get? The levels sank so low that ships were actually running aground and getting stuck in the Mississippi River. When that happens, one of two things usually occurs.
“Those ships sometimes had to get dug out,” he recalled. “Sometimes, they had to sit there until water levels rose to the point they could move again.
We also had sediment buildup, or ‘shoaling,’ in multiple locations,” Steenhoek said. “That resulted in shipping having to stop or significantly slow down. That meant there was a lot of dredging activity occurring last year and continuing into 2023.”
The timing for ships getting stuck last fall was awful, as that’s a time when a high percentage of U.S. exports occurs between September and February. “That’s when the U.S. soybean spigot is turned on and we supply a lot of soybeans to the world market,” he said. “Bad time for one of the main ways we move product to our ports to go down.”
Steenhoek monitors shipping in the waterways closely and says there is good movement up and down the waterways right now. U.S. export volumes are comparable to even a little higher than where they were last year.
“That’s really good news,” he said. “The reports I’m getting, particularly from the export facilities down in the New Orleans area, say they are back to a healthy degree of normalcy.
“As I mentioned, we’d love to see steady precipitation continue,” Steenhoek added. “We don’t have a lot of excess water in the tank to rely on if things go that dry again.”
Drought to an average person likely means “it’s dry.” And that’s fair. However, what you may not realize is drought, to a farmer, might mean “we’re struggling to stay in business because of something we literally have no control over.” It’s understandably a situation that non-farm folks have a hard time relating to.
In a more typical year, here’s a picture of the Roberts family selling their fresh produce at a farmers market. (Photo from Facebook.com)
The National Association of Farm Broadcasting’s News Service and the American Farm Bureau Federation undertook a project this month to put a human face on the challenges of drought, especially in the Western United States. That area of the country has been clobbered by a long and intense spell of dry weather.
Tyson Roberts is a farmer from Layton, Utah, who’s seen the challenge firsthand because he’s living it right now. I jumped on the phone with him on Tuesday of this week for an interview about what it’s like to face a drought of this magnitude. While drought is a big topic of conversation in 2021, he said the dry spell stretches back to 2021.
“We got started with this last year,” he recalled while on the phone from his Utah farm. “A lot of people may not realize that.”
It wasn’t quite as bad last year as it is in 2021. The water available for Roberts’ crops was below normal levels in 2020, but they still grew “pretty much” all of the crops that they would in a normal year. This year has been markedly different.
“We are a vegetable operation here,” he said, “and we grow fresh market vegetables for farmer’s markets.
“When you think about a tradition row crop farm, the producer plants in the spring and harvests in the fall,” Roberts says. “We work a little differently: we’ll start planting different vegetables in the spring and continue through most of the summer and into August.”
Their typical planting schedule came to a sudden stop. Roberts, the sixth generation of the Roberts family to work the farm in Davis County, Utah, got to the middle of June and figured out they wouldn’t have enough water to sustain the crops they have growing and grow the additional crops they’d be planting through the month of July.
“We ended up putting all of our planters away around the first of July,” he recalled. “About 20 percent of our property remained unplanted. We fallowed it because there just isn’t enough water to grow the amount of produce we normally plant in a given year.”
Drought is making the lives of farmers miserable in 2021, especially in the Western United States. (Photo from foxnews.com)
As someone who doesn’t live on a farm, imagine having to give up 20 percent of your income due to circumstances you had no control over. I don’t know about you, but a 20 percent drop in income would likely throw me out of my house and into the street.
The drought hasn’t forced Roberts to destroy any crops, but it has forced him to leave some crops in the field because they’re not harvestable quality, which amounts to the same thing. He offered up his sweet corn crop as an example.
“About 2/3 of the top part of our fields are pretty good quality and should get us good yields,” he said. “However, on the bottom end, we haven’t had enough water for all of the other plants. I guess you’d say we couldn’t get the water all the way to the end of the row.
“We’ve lost a lot of yield and in quality,” Roberts added. “In addition to the unplanted ground, there’s also a portion of the planted crops that are unmarketable.”
Crop farmers get paid when they harvest crops. Can you imagine knowing ahead of time that the one check you get for harvesting your crops won’t pay your bills? That’s what farmers face every year. These are the people that grow our food. It’s a rough way to earn a living.
He sums up the situation on his farm rather succinctly: “We’re in survival mode right now,” he said grimly. “With the unplanted acres and the loss of yield, we’re just trying to stay afloat. And I think that’s fair to say for a lot of farmers around us and across the state, as well as throughout the Western U.S.”
So how do farmers like him find a way to keep moving forward and get through this?
“I serve on the Utah Farm Bureau Board of Directors, and we met last week to discuss how we can help keep our farmers in business,” he said. “Every state has received a fair amount of COVID assistance, which is some help. We’re looking at the best ways to help the livestock farmers, the crop farmers, and get them the help they need.
“We’re looking into government programs to help them stay in business,” Roberts added. “I hate to say it, but sometimes a company or a farm may need a little help staying afloat when they face the challenges that we have for nearly two years.”
Roberts and his wife, Danna, have six children who each help on the farm, and Tyson’s parents, Dix and Ruth, also operate the farm with him.
Dairying in Ireland was an irresistible topic to a writer who grew up working at the Gerhold Brother’s Dairy of Castlewood, South Dakota. While on vacation in Ireland, Frank Costello, the gentleman that rented a beautiful cottage to us, put me in touch with a local dairy farmer named Tom Clesham. One phone call and a couple of texts later, I was on my way to visit the Clesham Farm in County Mayo, near Cong.
It was so much fun to talk to Tom Clesham, a dairy farmer from Cong, Ireland. I hadn’t been on a dairy farm in years. He was very kind and easygoing to visit with and had a lot to be proud of at his farm. (Photo by Dr. Greg Bourgond)
The 96-acre dairy farm stretches back several generations through his family tree. However, Toms’ father, Tim, and the rest of the Clesham family milked cows until 1990, when Tim switched to beef cattle. Over the next several years, the father-son farmers bred pedigree Limousine cattle alongside their commercial beef herd after leaving dairying.
But Tom became frustrated with the volatility of the Irish beef sector, something American beef farmers know all too well. So, looking at the books, Tom felt it wasn’t financially doable to keep raising beef animals. After 23 years, it was time to go back to dairying, and the work began in 2013.
“The process wasn’t too bad because a lot of the milking facility was still here,” Clesham recalled as the milk truck pulled into the yard. “Originally, when we took the equipment out, we filled the pit with clay, put plastic over it, and then covered that with cement. When we went back to dairying, I just undid that process.”
He runs a six-unit parlor that Clesham would like to make larger as he plans to expand his herd. When he redid the milking parlor, Clesham planned ahead by leaving room for a total of eight units. Once the cows are inside the parlor, Clesham hits a button to dispense feed into the automatic feeders to keep the cows busy while they give their milk.
“Every time I hit the button, I know they’re getting .6 kilos of ‘nuts,’” he said. “It’s a dairy pellet ration, or a ‘nut,’ as I like to call it, with a load of different ingredients. The cows are currently getting a 14 percent protein nut called ‘Grass Match,’ and is for feeding at lower levels while still giving a higher level of minerals and things for when they’re out on the grass.”
Tom Clesham’s six-unit milking parlor can be converted into an eight-unit stall when he’s ready to make the move. (Photo by Dr. Greg Bourgond)
“At the end of the year, I’ll start giving a little more protein in their pellets because they won’t be out on the grass as much,” Clesham added.
Cows get wiped pre-milking with a paper towel, and he’ll pre-draw them to check the cows, milk them, and then he applies teat dip from a spray bottle. “It’s also got a peppermint smell to it, and I think that helps with the flies,” he added.
As American dairy farmers know firsthand, expanding a parlor is a big undertaking. Clesham bought secondhand Pyrex parlor equipment over 20 years ago. The steelwork in the parlor will stay, but he plans on replacing everything else, including his milk pump, which is a diaphragm, in favor of an electric pump.
“It really wouldn’t be a difficult process, but it will be an expensive one,” the 40-year-old farmer said with a grin. “I got the equipment you see here off a well-known online platform in Ireland called ‘Done Deals.’”
From the first discussion about returning to dairying to the first milking, Clesham estimates it took two years to complete that particular journey. He spent a lot of time in meetings with the local milk cooperative on the way to running a full-time dairy and is quick to credit his father Tim’s knowledge of the business in getting it running.
“I also have a neighbor down the road named Martin Jennings who’s about the same age as I am and was a great help to me,” he added. “He’s a great friend of mine and is always at the end of the phone to ring him up and ask him about things I didn’t understand. Mark was a great help in that regard.”
During the conversation with Tom Clesham, the local milkman showed up to drain his bulk tank. Clesham has won national awards over the past couple of years due to low Somatic Cell Count in his milk production. (Photo by Dr. Greg Bourgond)
It was at this point in the conversation that the milk truck was backing into the yard to hook up to the bulk tank. For the last few years, the milk coming out of the Clesham’s bulk tank won awards from Animal Health Ireland for its low Somatic Cell Count. “It doesn’t make you any more money,” he said with a smile, “but the cows stay healthy, and that’s important in dairying.”
Clesham credits that success to the cleaning routine and the drying-off process he uses for the cows. “Last year, I started doing a few culture tests on the cows,” he recalled. “That’s going along with my veterinarian and knowing what sort of bacteria we may be fighting by getting the right antibiotics.
“I’ve also been fairly strict when it comes to drying off cows,” Clesham says. “I won’t do too many at a time. I also never dry off cows in the evening; I dry them off in the morning. They’re standing up for a bit longer in the day and seal up. We treat them with dry cow therapy and teat sealers. If we do it in the evening, they’re probably laying down for the night soon afterward.”
Irish dairy farmer Tom Clesham has put in eight years of hard work to return to dairy farming after he and his father, Tim, left the beef industry due to price volatility. (Photo by Chad Smith)
With a big smile, Clesham added, ”Some people may say you’re daft, but it’s just the silly things I do.” Each of his dairy cows has a minimum of eight weeks when they’re dried off, not milked, and can recover to put on condition to calve again.
Calving season on the Clesham farm usually begins around the first of February. He gets the bull out to the cows and aims for them to calve in a six-week period. “I generally try to have the cows dried off by December,” he added, “and they’re off in January and hopefully calving by the first of February.
“I breed all my replacement cows,” Clesham said. “The only calves I keep for myself are Friesian females. All the rest of the calves will get sold.
“There’s a push now in Ireland that emphasizes the welfare of dairy-born calves that will be finished and put into beef,” he says. “The push says that that the animals are worth something even if they won’t bring you a lot of money. Family farmers in Ireland will still call the vet for a sick bull calf even if that might cost more than what he’s worth.”
Ireland has new regulations in place to ensure proper animal care for its 1.55 million dairy cows, including one that prohibits farmers from selling calves until they’re at least 10 days old. “It’s just to make sure the navel is dry, the calf is reasonably hardy, and it keeps two-and-three-day-old calves from going into the market, which is a good thing,” Clesham said.
Clesham milks a herd mostly made up of Holstein-Friesian cross cattle, although he will throw other breeds in from time-to-time to improve the protein and butterfat content of his milk, which Irish cooperatives are now paying premiums for. (Photo by Dr. Greg Bourgond)
Most, if not all of the milk produced in Ireland, comes from grass-fed cows. Clesham, one of more than 18,000 dairy farmers in the country, says that’s the most profitable way to do dairying in Ireland. In fact, the Irish dairy industry markets itself as selling “grass-produced milk from small family farms.” He said that is what makes Ireland dairying unique.
The temperate Irish climate allows farmers to grow large quantities of grass over a long season, so the 40-year-old farmer rotates his 80-cattle herd through a handful of different pastures, called “paddocks.” It’s going to get a little trickier over the next several weeks as the grass “slows down a bit come July” when grass gets a little “stemmy.”
“During this rotation through the paddocks, I’m going behind the cows and mowing the paddocks, which I call ‘topping,’ and trying to cut back any stringy grass that they won’t eat at this stage,” he said. “I think it allows the grass to come back a little better when I mow after the cows eat all they can get to.
“Some guys think it’s better to mow the grass before the cows come into a paddock,” Clesham added. “Other guys say it’s better to skip paddocks entirely and make baled silage out of it. We do cut some silage here in addition to running them out on paddocks.”
As with most American dairy farms, the milk goes to a local cooperative for processing. Clesham says Irish co-ops are now paying bonuses from dairy farmers for higher-quality milk, so the higher the protein and butterfat content, the higher the check. Clesham works on what’s called an “A, B, C Milk Payment System.”
While walking on the road running between different paddocks, Clesham stops in front of a new building to house the cows before they head into the barn for milking something American farmers might refer to as “stanchion barns.” The cows lay on rubber mats in each of their cubicles. While some Irish dairymen may put down chopped straw or sawdust, he puts down lime in each cubicle.
“The manure pit is down below where the cows walk,” Tom said. “We spread it out on our land here. It’s mixed around and stirred before it goes into vacuum tanker vehicles that put it down on the land.”
Speaking of caring for the land, an American Farm Bureau survey in November 2020 showed that Americans trust their farmers to do the right things when it comes to sustainability and the environment. Clesham feels the Irish hold their dairy farmers in equally high regard.
“What we produce is grass-based, and I suppose, is more environmentally friendly than big barn systems that feed a lot of grain,” he said.
Clesham’s beautiful Springer-mix hunting dog Ivy was more than happy to join us as we walked down the gravel road between the paddocks. (Photo by Chad Smith)
Carbon emissions Is another topic that American farmers understand, and the conversation has also begun in Ireland. The dairyman says there’s “been a little bit of flak” when it comes to farming and carbon emissions.
“I’m not an expert on the topic, but I do think some folks have been led a bit astray on what it is,” Clesham said thoughtfully. “There are some cattle on lands across Ireland, but there are also huge plots of land that absorb carbon too. On my farm, I can easily say I have more trees than cows.”
That in no way means Clesham isn’t concerned about caring for the environment. After all, if he doesn’t take care of his land, he won’t be able to continue dairying into the future, something he clearly loves doing. “As we talk here, you can see I’ve planted a long row of flowers I call my ‘Bee Bank,’ he said. “That’s to help the bees in my area stay healthy.”
Clesham planted a row of flowers he calls a “Bee Bank,” something he put in just to keep the pollinators around his field happy and healthy. (Photo by Chad Smith)
Clesham is currently milking 47 cows and looking at more. He has visited with a government-run advisory service (Teagasc) that helps farmers with their dairying plans. At one point, they discussed not having any heifers and just having milking cows on the acreage.
“I might be able to milk over 70 cows then, but that would lead to other troubles,” he said. “I’d have to find a source for heifers. I’m definitely going to milk a few more next year as I have 16 in-calf heifers that will add on to the milking herd.”
Dairying is not the only thing keeping him busy: He’s working at the Falconry School on the grounds of Ashford Castle near Cong, Ireland, and raises pheasants for future hunting opportunities.
Farm State of Mind in recent years can be summed up in one word: stress. While things are starting to turn around due to higher commodity prices, it doesn’t mean farmers are out of the woods yet.
In recognition of May as Mental Health Month, the American Farm Bureau Federation launched a comprehensive, easy-to-use online directory of resources for farmers, ranchers and their families who are experiencing stress and mental health challenges.
The American Farm Bureau launched the Farm State of Mind website to help farmers find the help they may need in dealing with farm stress.
The directory, which is on the Farm State of Mind website at farmstateofmind.org, features listings for crisis hotlines and support lines, counseling services, training opportunities, podcasts, videos, published articles and other resources in every U.S. state and Puerto Rico. Listings for crisis support, counseling and behavioral health resources that are available nationwide are also included.
“For far too long, farmers and ranchers have been trying to cope with increasing levels of stress on their own,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “Our Farm State of Mind campaign is encouraging conversations about stress and mental health in farming and ranching communities. It is so important to spread the word that no one has to go it alone.
“This new online directory of stress and mental health resources in every state gives farmers, ranchers and rural communities a user-friendly, one-stop shop to find services in their area that can help them manage farm stress and find help for mental health concerns. Whether you’re looking for information about how to recognize and manage stress, trying to find counseling services in your area or are in need of crisis support, you can find help here.”
Mental health services are much needed in rural America because of stress on the farm that spills over into the local communities. The American Farm Bureau put together the Farm State of Mind website to help farmers find the assistance they need in the battle against on-the-farm stressors.
National research polls conducted and published by AFBF in 2019 and 2021 showed that a number of factors including financial issues and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic are impacting farmers’ mental health, highlighting the need to identify local resources that can help farmers and ranchers cope with chronic stress and mental health concerns.
The Farm State of Mind directory lists resources specifically geared toward farmers, ranchers and rural communities in states where these specific services are available, with additional listings for county and statewide mental health and other support services in every state. The listings can be filtered by state and type of resource, including hotlines, counseling services and published information.
AFBF partnered with the University of Georgia School of Social Work to research available resources across the U.S. and Puerto Rico and compile comprehensive information included in the directory.
Farmers and ranchers are encouraged to share the directory with their family, friends and community networks to ensure widespread awareness of the availability of these important resources.
As farmers prep for spring planting, don’t forget to upgrade the technology in your machinery. It’s every bit as important as a mechanical tune-up on your tractor. (Photo from blog.caseIH.com)
Technology is as important to today’s farm machinery as the nuts and bolts that held old-school equipment together back in the day. Maintaining your machines is a never-ending task when it comes to farming. When you’re lubricating moving parts, changing filters, or checking bearings, don’t forget to keep the technology that runs your machinery up to date.
Just like the typical equipment maintenance farmers all know and love (and occasionally hate), the technology the runs your machines need a regular tune-up as well. Technology advances quickly, and farmers have to be just as quick to keep up, which can sometimes be an overwhelming task.
Farming sure has changed a lot, hasn’t it? We know have to make sure the technology running those machines is as up to date as the machinery itself. (Photo from agupdate.com)
“As technology advances, you have to keep up to date with the software upgrades,” says Chris Ehman, Case/IH Aftermarket Solutions marketing manager. “That becomes even more true now as 3G is either going away or gone for good, depending on a farmer’s location. That’s why it’s even more important to get connected than before now.”
The new technology brought massive changes to the way farmers run their operations. For example, modern technology now gives farmers instant access to every machine in their fleet.
“The new technology in the CASE/IH Connection Portal frees up farmers to do their work, share data, and to manage their fleet wherever, whenever, and however they want,” he said. “It allows you to gather that data throughout the year and easily visualize what’s happening in your fields.”
The technology gives farmers a better grip on optimizing the performance of their fleet. Computerization helps Case IH owners of equipment made in 2010 or newer the chance to coordinate all of their machines and share their data to a central computer.
“Farmers can see each machine’s data as it’s running, including the location, the machine’s status, engine hours, idle time, acres per hour, and fuel levels,” he said, “so it helps them better track of what the operators are doing with the machines.
“Another way the technology helps farmers is with the security of their machines,” Ehman added. “It can set up geofences and curfews. With geo-fencing technology, you can set up pre-defined working areas for your machines and get alerts if they leave that specific area. And the curfew setting will alert you if the machine is working outside of a pre-defined timeframe. It gives you a lot of peace of mind at the end of every day.”
And if you’re one of those who don’t consider yourself “technologically efficient,” the software will help you know when it’s time to update. You’ll notice error codes and alerts that will get sent via the tech portal.
“That alert will help you understand what’s happening with your equipment out in the field,” Ehman said. “It will help you decide if it’s a simple setting that needs to be adjusted and can get fixed over the phone, or if a tech will instead need to make a trip to the field. If a tech support worker doesn’t need to come out and fix the issue, taking care of it over the phone can be a real time and money-saver.
“And if a tech is needed, they’ll have a much better understanding of what the issue is and what’s needed to fix it,” he added. “That makes the repair move at a quicker pace and gets the machinery back into operation and making money for the farmer. Quicker repairs, less money, and more uptime is always a good thing.”
At the end of the day, Ehman said farming is one of the most challenging occupations in the country. There’s a lot at stake and many difficult decisions to make. The agricultural economy has struggled in recent years, and farmers need success this year without question.
“A profitable operation is possible, and these new technologies help make that happen,” he said. “You don’t have to wait to benefit from the advantages of the new technologies. The equipment you already own can be capable of so much more than you may realize.”
Data protection is a big deal for farmers, and Ehman says companies like Case IH are taking good care of that vital information. The company is upfront in saying that farmer’s data belongs to each individual farmer and that farmer alone.
“For our dealers and our partners to access that data, they have to get permission from the farmers,” Ehman said. “That is a move in the right direction for Case IH as a company and a brand.
“The technology we use to analyze that data has come a long way as well,” he adds. “We’ve gotten much better at collecting and aggregating the data from multiple machines on the operation, and then overlaying that with yield data and field maps to allow farmers to see all the conditions that may be affecting their yield. It’s moving past the machinery data and into more of the farming and agronomic data.”
Any farmer can then use that data to help improve their yields and return on investment. A 4G update will get farmers into the Case IH Connect Portal with an AFS Connect subscription. That will let farmers take advantage of the new 4G technology and the benefits that come with it.
Gardening is something you might be getting excited about after a recent spurt of warm weather in March. If looking through seed catalogs and running your hands through the black dirt gets your heart pumping, you’ve been bitten by the gardening bug. However, I talked to a gardening expert who says don’t jump the gun on planting your garden because it could lead to problems.
Nancy Kreith is a horticulture expert with the University of Illinois Extension Service. (Photo from Illinois Extension website)
Nancy Kreith is an Extension Educator specializing in horticulture at the University of Illinois. She understands the excitement to get that garden growing but wants you to check your calendar first, specifically relating to the weather forecast and the final expected frost date. Most gardeners in the north are likely a couple of weeks away from working in the dirt.
“We could have as much as three weeks to go yet, depending on where you’re at,” Kreith said in a phone interview from her office in Matteson, Illinois. “You’ll want to find your local frost-free date, either through the National Weather Service or your local weather forecaster. That’s the last day they’re predicting frost.
“For example, the local frost-free date here in the Chicago area is on Mother’s Day, May 15,” she added. “For our cool-season crop varieties such as lettuce and root crops, you can plant those anywhere from four-to-six weeks before the frost-free date. We might be starting to plant in my area during the first week of April.”
The crops built to handle the cold weather include broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, kohlrabi, leek, onions, peas, rutabagas, spinach, and turnips. Those are the hardiest crops you can plant in a garden, so as soon as a gardener can get out and work the soil, they can go in the ground.
Cabbage is one of the many hardy crops that can handle cold weather conditions. Nancy Kreith of the Illinois Extension Service says hardy crops can be planted 4-6 weeks before the final frost date in your area. (Photo from harvesttotable.com)
What makes these hardy plants so tough is good genetics. She’s seen ornamental kale planted in gardens during the fall for decoration, and the kale held up with snow sitting on top of it. The plant won’t be actively growing in that case, but rather it tolerates the cold and will sit in the garden until the weather perks up and the kale grows again.
What about the garden crops that don’t like frost?
“The best advice I can give you when planting the less-hardy crops in your garden is to give yourself a little wiggle room,” Kreith says. “I mentioned that the frost-free date in my area is May 15, but you never really know with the weather, so a little extra time doesn’t hurt.”
Kreith says she tries to wait an extra week past that last frost date when planting the warmer weather garden crops like tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers. Those kinds of garden crops are very tender and won’t tolerate any frost. Plus, waiting a week or two after that date will still leave you enough time in the growing season to get a good crop from your garden.
In between the hardy and the tender crops is what she calls the “half-hardy” garden crops. That includes a lot of root crops like beets, carrots, potatoes, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, lettuce, mustard greens, parsnip, Swiss Chard, and radishes.
“Those plants can go in the ground two or three weeks before that frost-free date,” she says.
Soil temperature is one of the most important factors in deciding when to plant your garden. (Photo from gardeningknowhow.com)
Gardening crops are like traditional commodities because you need to consider soil temperatures in deciding to plant your produce. “For example, the half-hardy vegetables will want soil temperatures above 40 degrees Fahrenheit,” she says. “Get an inexpensive soil thermometer, stick it in the ground, and document the soil temps for around five days in a row.
“That will give you an idea of how the seeds will germinate,” Kreith added.
While it’s still too early to plant, it’s more than all right to get out and do some work on the garden soil. General cleanup of the garden area after winter is a good place to begin.
“Go ahead and remove any debris from your vegetable garden,” Kreith said. “If you’re starting new, you want to kill off any existing vegetation where the garden is going to go. If grass and weeds are growing, I use a method that doesn’t require any chemicals to remove them.
“I use cardboard from shipping boxes,” she adds. “I remove the tape, but you don’t have to remove the label. Once I’m out gardening, I lay the cardboard down as a weed barrier, get it wet, and then put compost on top of the cardboard. I then allow it to decompose for one to two months.”
If she runs into areas of the garden that are hard to dig, Kreith cuts through the cardboard with a knife and then plants into that spot.
It’s important to remember that cardboard is rich in carbon, so she recommends adding some nitrogen to balance that out in the soil. While the compost will add a little to the soil, it’s important to put down some nitrogen fertilizer. “As the cardboard breaks down, it robs some nitrogen from the soil,” Kreith said.
“If all the weeds and plant debris are removed from your garden bed, go ahead and spread about two inches of compost on it,” Kreith says. “That’s something I recommend you do every year in your garden to get it ready to go.”
No-Till November? Is that like No Shave November? Yes and no. The Natural Resources Conservation Service is asking farmers to keep your stubble – out in the fields, that is. NRCS is encouraging South Dakota farmers to “keep the stubble” on their harvested crop fields and improve soil health during No-Till November.
The three-year-old “No-Till November” Campaign kicks off soon, encouraging farmers to “keep the stubble” in their fields. (Photo from cropwatch.unl.edu)
First launched in 2017, the NRCS project is, of course, mirrored after the national cancer awareness No Shave November campaign that encourages people not to shave during the entire month. The NRCS campaign encourages farmers to keep tillage equipment in their machine sheds this fall and keep the crop stubble on their fields.
The campaign has reached more than 1.5 million people through Twitter and local media since 2017.
“No-till farming is a cornerstone soil health conservation practice, which also promotes water quality while saving farmers time and money,” said South Dakota NRCS State Conservationist Jeff Zimprich. “One of the first soil health principles is ‘do not disturb’. This campaign is a fun way to remind farmers about the important relationship between tillage and soil health. Utilizing cover crops and leaving residues on the soil surface improve soil health while increasing soil biological activity, providing erosion control and adding beneficial nutrients.”
Terry Ness has been farming in central South Dakota for 42 years. He describes the changes he and his wife Mary have made to improve their soil health helped to give their soils more resilience. After utilizing tillage for the first 14 years of his career, he switched completely to a no-till system and noticed that many challenges became easier to overcome.
To see Terry and Mary’s full Profile in Soil Health video feature, visit: bit.ly/TerryNess.“With all these good things I’m doing, you can see it in the insect population, the bird population – healthy soil makes healthy animals, makes healthy food – all this ties together.” – Terry Ness
More InformationTo learn more about soil health and no-till in South Dakota, visit your nearest NRCS service center, visit bit.ly/contactnrcssd, or ask questions from a local soil health mentor! E-mail Rachel.Giles@usda.gov to receive a digital copy of the “Building Connections” SD soil health mentor network directory, or have one mailed to you at no cost.
Nitrogen fertilizer is a valuable tool in a farmer’s soil management toolbox. Farmers need to know there are some restrictions on that tool coming soon.
Nitrogen Fertilizer application restrictions kick in. It’s important for farmers to remember that they start on September 1st. (Photo from morningagclips.com)
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) reminds farmers and landowners that beginning September 1, 2020, applying nitrogen fertilizer in the fall and on frozen soil will be restricted in areas vulnerable to groundwater contamination. This applies to Drinking Water Supply Management Areas (DWSMAs) with elevated nitrate levels. Vulnerable groundwater areas include coarse textured soils, karst geology, and shallow bedrock. Approximately 12 to 13 percent of Minnesota’s cropland is vulnerable to groundwater contamination. The Groundwater Protection Rule website shows vulnerable groundwater areas and a list of exceptions to the restrictions.
A short video on the fall restrictions and links for additional information are available on the MDA website. The MDA is holding a webinar on August 12, 2020, from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. to answer questions. The video and webinar details are available online.
The nitrogen fertilizer restrictions are part of the Groundwater Protection Rule. The rule minimizes potential fertilizer sources of nitrate pollution to the state’s groundwater and works with local farmers to prevent nitrate contamination in public water supply wells.
“Mystery Seeds.” The first thing that came to mind was a possible title for a “Scooby-Doo” episode. Just when you thought 2020 couldn’t get any stranger, people in at least 10 states have received packages with a Chinese postmark and a label that says some kind of jewelry is inside. However, it’s a different story after they open the box.
What these Americans are receiving is an unsolicited package of seeds. States like Minnesota, Louisiana, Utah, Virginia, Kentucky, Washington state, and others are reporting similar situations. One thing to get out of the way right away is that under no circumstances should anyone plant those seeds.
One example of mystery seeds that were sent to a Minnesotan recently. (Photo from the Minnesota Department of Ag)
“We’re uncertain what those seeds may be and why people are receiving packages they didn’t send for,” says Denise Thiede, Seed Unit Supervisor with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. “Until we know more, we’re encouraging people to contact us because of the risk those seeds may pose to Minnesota agriculture and our natural landscapes.”
Washington state just recorded its first known case of an unsolicited seed shipment late last week. I talked with Karla Salp, the Public Engagement Specialist with the Washington State Department of Agriculture. Not one but two Washington residents picked up seeds in the mail they didn’t order from China.
“One of those residents sent us a picture of the seeds so we could see what they were talking about,” Salp says. “We thought they looked a lot like some kind of citrus seeds, while the labels said the packages contained some sort of jewelry.
More “Mystery Seeds” from China. (Photo from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture)
“Initially, we had been telling folks who received the seeds to report it to USDA,” she said. “They handle reports of agricultural smuggling. “The social media post advising people to contact USDA has been seen by over 30 million people. We’re sure that USDA knows all about the problem now.”
So, the Washington Ag Department is asking their residents to put the seeds in a Ziploc bag and put them in their regular trash. Do not putt them in something like a compost pile. “Most of the packages have another package within them,” Salp says. “The seeds are often in a second package inside the shipping container. Residents need to leave the seeds inside the sealed container. Do not open them up, and definitely do not plant them.”
Each state will have its own directions for residents who receive the seeds through the mail. The Minnesota Ag Department says don’t throw away the package or its contents and do not plant the seeds,. After that, contact the Arrest the Pest line at 888-545-6684. They’ll need your name, contact info, and the date you received the package.
Minnesota officials will then coordinate shipping the package and its contents to the MDA Seed Program. The MDA is currently working with the USDA’s Smuggling Interdiction and Trade Compliance Program on identifying and destroying the seeds.
Salp says putting unknown seeds in U.S. soil could be problematic.
“It could be a combination of any of those three reasons I just listed,” she added. “It could be an invasive species that also carries a specific plant disease. These are some of the serious reasons that things like this need to go through the proper channels at the border if they’re a plant-based product.”
The USDA is working with federal and state agencies to investigate these unsolicited packages.
“We are also working with various online retailers to address some of these issues as well,” Salp said.
Invasive weeds make yet another first appearance in southeast Minnesota. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) has positively identified the invasive weed Palmer amaranth in Winona County.
It’s official. Palmer Amaranth has made its first appearance in Winona County down in southeast Minnesota. (Photo from MDA.org)
The MDA was contacted by crop consultants after they discovered several suspect plants in a soybean field. MDA staff scouted the area and removed 20 Palmer amaranth plants, which were then confirmed as Palmer by genetic testing. The field has since been treated with a herbicide application, and follow-up scouting by the MDA did not find any new invasive weeds. The site will be monitored for three years for any new Palmer amaranth.
The MDA is trying to determine the source of the invasive weed.
Now is the time when Palmer amaranth becomes visible in agricultural fields. The MDA is asking farmers, crop consultants, and agronomists to report any suspicious plants to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Arrest the Pest line at 1-888-545-6684 or arrest.the.pest@state.mn.us.
If you’re one of the fortunate ones who haven’t seen Palmer Amaranth show up in your fields, here’s a quick refresher on identifying the plant, courtesy of Purdue University.
Since it was first discovered in the state in 2016, Palmer amaranth has been found in nine Minnesota counties, including Winona County. Details of previous finds can be found on the MDA website.
Palmer amaranth is listed as a noxious weed in Minnesota. All above and below ground parts of the plant must be destroyed, and it cannot be moved. The weed is also listed as a prohibited weed seed in the state. This means no Palmer amaranth is allowed in any seed offered for sale in Minnesota.
Left uncontrolled, a single female Palmer amaranth plant typically produces 100,000-500,000 seeds. It is resistant to multiple herbicides, can cause substantial yield losses, and greatly increase weed management costs in soybeans and corn.
