We are getting a late start to the 2022 year, both with our web updates and with the field work. That being said, it has been a crazy year so far! Grain markets and input costs are climbing to record levels. Lauren and I welcomed our first child in February (Callie Rae Beutke 8 lbs 10 0z and 21 inches). The weather has yet to show much cooperation, cold and wet has been the story of the spring so far. We also lost Evan, our young employee that worked with us last year. He had the opportunity to take over a large portion of his family farm due to an uncle retiring. We wish him the best and hold out hope that we can work with him again in some capacity in the future. David and another local retiree both have agreed to help us on a part time basis this year. We are continuing to look for a full-time employee, hopefully someone young with ambitions of farming long term.
With everything happening in the world today, we are facing new challenges daily. Grain markets are up to unprecedented levels. Cash 2022 crop corn for local delivery is over $7.00 per bushel and soybeans are nearly $15.00. That being said, input costs are at record levels too. Luckily, nearly all our needs for the 2022 crop were priced and purchased in September of 2021. As just an example, the same corn fertilizer program we purchased in September would cost $200 per acre MORE if it was purchased today.
The weather for field work has been limited and our start is about two weeks behind that of a year ago. We have sprayed two days. One day we terminated some cover crops and the other we applied pre-plant soybean herbicides. Saturday, the 16th of April, we were able to plant 175 acres of beans and do a limited amount of tillage. We received a little snow last night and about 0.15” of rain. We hope to be back in the fields tomorrow but it looks like rain toward the middle of the week. On a positive note, forecast temperatures are on the rise!
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