The sun’ll come out tomorrow!
Precipitation comparison in inches 2012 & 2019
CUSTER COUNTY - In the 2019 growing season, the sun coming out was the hope of many area producers. The farmer raising crops or the rancher putting up hay, they just did not see enough of that Nebraska summer hot sun.
There are years in our area’s history that stand out more than others for the farmers and ranchers. It is believed that 2019 will be one for the record books, but not in the best way.
Some Ag producers might take the drought of 2012 anytime over what they saw in 2019. In dry years, with the access to the “gold” that the land can come up with (that being water), producers can use irrigation to replace the water on their crops when they get the sun and heat units to go along with it. But the ranchers suffer with the loss of feed in dry years like that. Of course, there is an expense to running the irrigations systems. So many factors go into play.
One thing that is more difficult to add back to the growing season on producers’ demand is the sun shine and heat. More heat units mean higher yields.
Without the higher yields there is less corn to take to market and less money in the producer’s pocket. Now the cycle starts all over again for 2020.
What will the 2020 growing season mean is anyone’s guess. Coming off two years of 2018 and 2019 that gave the producer wind, hail, not enough sun and too much moisture, Warren Coulter, Pioneer Territory Manager CEE said, “We just need one good growing season.”
With the higher moisture levels in 2019, for 2020 crop land is showing lower levels of potassium, zinc, manganese, copper. According to Nolan Hueftle of Ag Advisory Services, those minerals can be added back to the soil of course at a cost to the producer.
“Producers found lack of sunshine was their biggest yield factors,” Hueftle said. “The more sunshine, the more the plant produces. Dry years, you can replace water. Wet years, there is no way to replace the sunshine.”
Dryland fields saw plenty of rainfall, however, they also were short of expectations due to the shortfall in heat units.
Yields were still very good being just under what full potential could have been.
Getting the seed in the soil was an issue, then getting it up and growing was another issue according to Tim Lewandowski, Pioneer Field Agronomist.
“In the seedling phase with the late planting, we saw pythium. That is when the seedling came up, but when it was about four to six inches tall, the plant died,” Lewandowsksi said. On average there was about a 10 to 30 percent stand loss. That equates to a three to four bushel per acre loss. Add that to not enough sun for the plants that did get a stand.
Ag producers know a strong relationship with their bank and loan officer is critical. Taking all the conditions mentioned about moisture and sun, another key component are the funds needed to operate. The team of Ag Lenders at Nebraska State Bank (NSB) have over 100 years of Ag Lending experience.
Ag Lenders Craig Barta, Ira Spanel and Jacob Parsons sat down with me on a discussion of the 2019 year in review. They all agreed that the producers are in need of some help from Mother Nature in 2020.
Spanel stated, “The last 18 months, they have seen everything they could - hail, wind, rain, flooding and the lack of sunshine.”
Parsons talked about the narrow window of opportunity to get the
crop in the ground last year. Technology continues to play a major part in rapidly getting the crop planted. Machinery continues to get larger to cover ground more quickly. Auto-steer and powerful LED head lights allowed producers to work as teams for 12 or more hours at a time to accurately move through the field on those few days they could plant.
Barta said, “Marketing is everything in today’s market,” Parson agreed, stating that NSB encourages their producers to work with marketing experts who can assist them. All three spoke of the updates given on cell phones these days and recalled when the price for grain did not change seven to eight cents all year. Now it can vary 50 to 60 cents depending on the day which can require farmers to make quick marketing decisions in order to take advantage of rallies.
“We work to help them make sound decisions. We are not successful if our customers are not successful. We also must remember the past to learn and plan for the future,” Spanel remarked.
The Ag Crisis of the 1980s is a strong memory for the farm families that have weathered the industry for the past 40 years. Unlike the interest rates of the 80s topping out at 18.45 percent, today you see 4.5 to 10 percent, depending on the type of loan and the financial strength of the borrower.
Challenging could be another word to describe 2019. One thing for sure, our community will more than likely come together and repeat the words of promise to the song as an anthem for 2020” “The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow!”