Producers share one thing, far apart on another this growing season

Donald Oesterle, Producer - Michigan: We are not doing anything today. Nor will be. Will we be for probably at least a week. So we got quite a bit of rain over the last 24 hours. So 4 to 5in. So. We'll be doing regular people do.

[Yeager] The last time we chatted, you were trying to basically get in rainstorms to plant, and I and I watched the weather and I felt bad that I probably took you that 20 minutes. Probably cost you some time in the field, but you had, again, small windows this spring.

[Oesterle] Yeah. Small windows. We never really, We never. It's been that way. All spring. We never get any stretch in whether it was planting or spring or hay. It was all a couple days here, a couple days there. So, where we don't get too tired so we get plenty of rest.

[Yeager] There's no big sprints for you.

[Oesterle] No, there's been no marathons this year. It's just, you know, just, you know, just little dashes. [Yeager] You, is everything in and planted? 

[Oesterle] Yep. We got everything in, in good shape. It was, the last little bit. Got in June 4th. So, just a few days later than what we wanted. But we were pretty happy. 

[Yeager] And if I remember correctly, that June 4th is ahead of last year's late plan that you had, right? [Oesterle] Yep yep yep. Last year we were like June 10th or 11th I think. 

[Yeager] So improvement?

[Oesterle] Oh yeah. Well, last year we had zero rain in June. So that's not the case this year. We've had plenty of rain in June.

[Yeager] Okay. So everything's up or everything's in. Everything came up. Is everything done that you want done to your crop? 

[Oesterle] Yeah. Pretty. We just have a little bit more spraying we were hoping to get done before we got all this water. just to touch up some beans, but everything else is done. Well, scratch that, we. It's not done wheat, but wheat is going to be, sitting for a second. Well what we run into a lot this week goes right to the mill's right here. And so it's all on quality. So if you have good quality wheat, you can get rid of it easy. If it turns poor quality, like if it starts to sprout in there then you're fighting it the rest of the year just to get it out. 

[Yeager] So what's the target date to get the wheat out?

[Oesterle] Well, it would have been this weekend, but, we're hoping to get back on next week. You know, I don't know if we will or not. We. I've to be honest, I've never had this much rain at one time on this farm. So I don't know how long it's going to take for it to dry out.

[Yeager] There are not many people that have used the word ideal in describing this year at all. So how many ideal days if you had Bryan.

Bryan Pippitt, Producer - Laurel, Nebraska: Well, this has been ideal for spraying. We did not have all ideal days during planting, but we were more fortunate than a lot of others. I feel like so it was stress all the time, but considering I think things look pretty good and I think maybe were through the most stressful part of it, I hope.

[Yeager] You are in northeast Nebraska, and your parallel is even to where some of the heaviest rain has fallen in the Midwest this year. Yeah. what were you in that path? Did you have a lot of water? 

[Pippitt] We've had a lot of rain, and we've had one big event, but the rest has been able to handle. I've had some big rains that we didn't get all soaked in, but we had a 3.5in rain, I believe, April 16th. But that was our biggest volume at once. And I'd say we're probably pushing 20 inches of rain since planting or shortly before planting, but it's come not all at once like some of our neighbors have. We haven't had a lot of storms yet, and for the most part a little excessive at the time. But after last year, we weren't going to complain either. So we took it, managed and got it in.

[Yeager] I guess I'm going to guess that 20in of rain since April would be equivalent to what you had the previous two years, almost combined? 

[Pippitt] Oh yeah, maybe more. But yeah, very close.

[Yeager] I had a guy ask me yesterday, he heard it in Nebraska that the pivots aren't really running, like they normally would by this time. What's your report from your area about pivots and how many are running? 

[Pippitt] Yeah. That's correct. I know we mentioned on our earlier chat that you want to see a pivot up close and the sun that we didn't get cooperative lighting but I background the neighbor has he is running a pivot in the cornfield behind us. But he's also putting on his nitrogen. I think the only pivot on radish right now, they're putting on fertilizer through the pivot. I don't think it is just running to water yet. I think it's all I would say. There's a I don't know, we got some neighbors running, but I know they're all putting on fertilizer with the pivot. So I think that's the only ones running that I know of right now. 

[Yeager] That has to be almost unheard of. 

[Pippitt] Yeah. Last year we were, heavily irrigating in June. We had made a few circles already in June. So yeah, we're in our profile for and on the field just a half mile south of here, we have a corn field with a soil probe, moisture probe in it, and it still says we're like 91% full. I just checked it before you cause I wondered if you'd ask him. So, yeah, I don't know. We it sounds maybe the extended forecast sounds a little bit dry. Not overly hot, but we may run next week just to run just so we're. But our profile is probably, I suppose has been in maybe three years. I don't know for sure two years. So I mean, even if we do start irrigating, at least we have something to work with this year. Last year we were just irrigating to keep the ground wet, and now we have subsoil moisture this year. So we're way from their head than we have in the past years.  I would guess since March we probably have had 22 or 23 inches of rain on most of our farms. So that's our annual rainfall in a matter of a month and a half, two months. So yeah, it should charge up. The groundwater should be up. I mean, it should just help with everything.

The full MtoM discussion will be available Tuesday.

Contact: Paul.Yeager@IowaPBS.org