Meet Bryan Pippitt - one of 2024’s Farmer Conversations

Hi everybody, I'm Paul Yeager. This is the M to M Show podcast, a production of Iowa PBS and the Market to Market TV show. It's time to go into the field for 2024. We have our two farmers set. We're going to introduce you to the first one for this year. His name is Bryan Pippitt. He's in Laurel, Nebraska, which is northeast Nebraska. So NE NE, south and west of Sioux City, Iowa, if you're trying to figure out where it is on a map, Bryan is going to talk about his family operation kind of how his path started as when he graduated school and went to the next level and to the next thing, kind of lay out his path, what his plans are there in irrigation country. We're going to talk a little bit about irrigation. Now after we got done recording, we did talk a little bit about cover crop at no till. And maybe we'll hit that later in these episodes with him as we discuss, like we have the last couple of years with some farmers in different growing areas just to kind of get a sense of what's going and that's what we will do today with Brian pipit. If you have any feedback for me, or you want to just send me an email, it's Paul.Yeager@IowaPBS.org. New episodes of this podcast come out each and every Tuesday. But now let's start with Brian and get to know him. What is the most famous thing about Laurel, Nebraska Bryan?

Bryan Pippitt: Oh, put me on the spot right away. Don't know we celebrated our 125th a few years ago.

[Yeager]  It's a town, still in search of something.

[Pippitt]  When I don't know you might do more research tonight, though.

[Yeager]  You're in northeast Nebraska. Right? Correct. Look out your window. What's it look like on the plains around you?

[Pippitt]  It's a little cloudy and gloomy today. But it's starting to green up. I don't know what am I supposed to be looking for?

[Yeager]  Well, you have green. That's the key. Right. You had rain this week? 

[Pippitt]  Yeah, it started turning green. We had probably a little too much rain this week. Between three and four and a half inches yesterday. 

[Yeager]  Is that normal when you get rain? 

[Pippitt]  No, we've been dry for the last going on three years. So yeah, this is a pleasant surprise. I wish we could have saved half of that for a couple of weeks.

[Yeager]  We're lakes and creeks and rivers low. 

[Pippitt]  There's not a lot of lakes in our exact area. But the creeks were very cool yesterday, and I'm not sure nothing right around us. Right. And we're but I know there was people talking about that they were coming out of the banks yesterday, and a lot of water went through fields and quick shuffle. And it just seems odd to see because we've been so dry the last so many years a trick hasn't changed, and we're probably two thirds irrigated. It just means that we irrigate nonstop the last three summers. So it was not, it doesn't seem normal. It's like from the past. But we kind of forgot what this is like.

[Yeager]  Where does the water for the irrigation come from?

[Pippitt]  It's all underground. We have wells. There's and maybe a couple around here? That's correct. But everybody else is underground wells. 

[Yeager]  At what point can you tell how much water is still left in those wells?

[Pippitt]  It's hard for us to tell. But we have one ear irrigation system that just historically has been low. And like on a summer like last summer we get in, it just starts losing pressure. And we have to shut it off every day or every other day because it just the first couple of hours on it. We'll just start pushing the air. You can hear it pushing the air through it. And we just saw I mean, it's kind of a signing and tell flow. I don't have exact measurements on how low the aquifer is. But you can tell when you start losing water at the end.

[Yeager]  I forget you're not. You're not East enough for the Ogallala are you? Yeah, it's underneath of us. It is it is you. Okay. Have you always been irrigated as long as you remember.

[Pippitt]  Yes. And a lot of our ground is family ground. And that was kind of my grandpa's deal with him. Like when he was buying ground, they just automatically put a pivot on it right away when they bought it. And so a lot of ours are gonna be 30 years old because a lot of ground was purchased in the 80s and 90s. And you can tell on the path of the center point they seem from the concrete when the years where we have a lot of 1980s and 1990s pivots that that's when the wells would have been dug as well.

[Yeager]  Go easy on saying the 80s and 90s or old Bryan, come on. Some of us still remember that era very well.

[Pippitt]  Yeah. Remember that?

[Yeager]  Tell me about your family. You said Grandpa, he's the one that kind of started this all or was there somebody before him? 

[Pippitt]  Yeah, well, he's gone now. He passed away just about three years ago now but there's me, my mom's dad. And so I started farming with a brother I farm with my brother, my dad he started but in 2013 My brother and I both were done with college, and we rented two or 40 acres My grandpa, that's how we got started. We had a full time job. But we started with that we split that. And so yeah, we're going on 12 years now of us farming. But in 2016 My grandpa supposed to be my mom's dad, my grandpa, my uncle, my mom's side, decide to retire. So that's kind of my brother and I stepped in and we kind of added some acres on what her dad was farming and, but it was still family ground, but is on the other side of the family. You know, the mom's side. So we really kind of started farming full time in 2016. And that's where a lot of irrigated ground came from.

[Yeager]  So 2016 you quit the town job, the off-farm job?

[Pippitt]  I worked the year up to '16. We started farming, several more acres that year, and I worked through that growing season then like the fall to 16 is when I started farming full time during harvest.

[Yeager]  What was the off farm job? I'm just curious. 

[Pippitt]  I started at John Deere in Wayne, I went to school in Norfolk, which is about 40 miles south southwest of us at Northeast Community College and went for diesel tech, I did an internship in Wayne, Nebraska at John Deere. And I worked there until from 2012 to 2016, or 2014, I guess. And we actually had a big tornado went through and wiped out the whole building and say we're starting over and we were farmers in the area were written out their shops, you know, for the employees to work in. And I met a guy and they have a custom silage cutting crew. And I started helping them and then I started farming. So I had a few jobs in between but kind of tried to do some custom work on the side until we just started farming full time in 2016.

[Yeager]  Are you more of a repair guy or a build guy when it comes to the machinery types of things?

[Pippitt]  When I was at John Deere, I was working on mostly tractors, tractor inspections, tractor repair, we used to have some new tractors at that time of year when the tractor come in, they call it pre delivered, we put the tires on duals on weights on check fluids, just put in monitors just kind of get them ready for the customer, whatever their list was, but mostly tractor work when I was there and kind of stuck to that. And there was an older gentleman there that kind of took me under his wing and yeah, kind of helped him he taught me some things. And yeah, it was a good experience.

[Yeager]  So 15 years ago, let's let's go back a little bit further, probably in your high school era was that when were you always thinking that this was the path you were gonna have to work off farm hope that you could acquire a little bit of ground and then eventually go full time in is that kind of what the past was?

[Pippitt]  In hindsight, I would say now, and I'd honestly say it's probably a little naive in high school, I just thought we'd be able to farm. I really didn't understand. I like driving equipment. And that's kind of where it stopped. I didn't really know the ins and outs of it, the business side of it. And my brother and I both showed interest in a way and we were only one year apart in school. So we knew there was enough to come back to you. And I guess it just made sense. He went to school for agronomy. And I went to school for diesel tech. And we each worked for a different place, I worked at John Deere. So we kind of had different things and started farming a little bit and then it just Yeah, we had an opportunity and kind of all happened at once and decided that's what we wanted to do. And now here we are.

[Yeager]  You sound like the perfect partnership with skills. 

[Pippitt]  Yeah. 

[Yeager]  Who does the marketing. You didn't mention that you mentioned agronomy, but not marketing.

[Pippitt]  We have that hired done. We actually work with a farm that does that for us. So yeah.

[Yeager] Smart enough to know to go to someone else?

[Pippitt]  Yeah. And my wife to get her involved. She was at the bank in town and Laurel, and they this marketing team and they're closely affiliated with the bank. So they got me stumped. And there's I think 2018 And they weren't close together. So it just kind of made sense. I went to a meeting did a presentation, tried it, like didn't stuck with it. So it's made things easier for my life. I mean, there's my brother just joined more recently than I did so I mean, he kind of I mean, it works both ways. But you have to have a plan especially now when things are small tiles they are it just it takes all the stress out of me and you kind of have planned and I know I'm at the bank knows that they know Matt and they all work together and it just seems like it's you got to pay for it. But it does seem like it helps for me.

[Yeager]  And you're not checking your text alerts throughout the day going. We'd lost a dime, we lost a quarter, we gained 50, sell.

[Pippitt]  Yes. It's protection and ease and peace of mind. And yeah, there's just many benefits to it for me. 

[Yeager]  On the repair side of things. Do you find those skills coming in handy? Or do you have new enough equipment that you're not allowed to touch it

[Pippitt]  We're kind of in between right now. But yeah, we're getting to a point where we try to do a lot of things that we can but we're getting to a point where there's some things that we still take down a John Deere and that we just out of our hands don't have the resources don't have the tools and don't have the technology side of it to make those repairs ourselves.

[Yeager]  What's that mean? What do you run here? Just straight grain? What do you what's your machinery usage for?

[Pippitt]  Well, okay, fine, too. Yeah, we were 100% green, worked at John Deere. But I Ah, yeah when my brother and I started making purchases we did dip our toes into different waters we we have a red tractor now um, we run two planters both John Deere planters have a corn planter being planter we actually have a red tractor it's on 13 case 290 we pull our beam planter with and our sprayers a Miller Nitro so CNH owns it but they're kind of their own brand but and I believe it's a 2014 So that's it everything else is green but we do have to red things in the lineup now I guess. 

[Yeager]  Before you could actually say the word Case you keep saying red but I did hear you actually say Case. 

[Pippitt]  Actually when I worked with the crew that does the custom signage cutting they had some red quadtrac or a quadric 4 wheel drive in the pile so I did have some experience with them. And I thought they were easy to drive I do like John Deere's on the technology side better I like the monitors. I liked the I liked that side better but just for running wise I do. I have no problem with the case tractor I guess and knock on wood. The Miller sprayer has been very reliable to this we have four season with it and we have no complaints so far.

[Yeager]  And you do a little bit of spraying on the side too. 

[Pippitt]  Yeah, So let's do some family stuff but we spray for him we don't do a lot of spraying but we have a wide drops for it. And so we go in late and do our nitrogen and we can fungicide late. So we do some custom work like that later in the season.

[Yeager]  What is the grain mix that you're planning for this year?

[Pippitt]  This year? Were 100% corn and soybeans pulling that's the one rotation this year.

[Yeager]  Is there anything around you that's not that?

[Pippitt]  There's a little bit of alfalfa for guys who have cattle two years ago there was a little bit of wheat in the area not much and that's very rare but when I was at to summer school we the prices kind of got up there a little bit and there was a little bit of dabbling in that but no we're it's pretty much strictly corn and soybeans around here except for the guys that feed cattle or have dairy cattle.

[Yeager]  You are in the area between I80 and I90 when it comes to the horizontal of the world so your ideal planting date for corn is?

[Pippitt]  That depends on who you ask. But generally we started the last week in April seems like I know some guys will say after May 10 that they could plant all their corner one day, which that's not realistic. But I know there's been years. I was actually on a team we were done by May 1. Everything corn and beans are done when they first last year we didn't plan anything till May 1. So it just it's hit or miss a lot of times - 22nd of April, we do something and we generally start with beans this year we did it this year we planted one cornfield. And that's all get done. But generally I would say the last week in April, somewhere is when we would like to get started. 

[Yeager]  And you do the you've dabbled in the corn or the beans before corn.

[Pippitt]  Yeah, since we bought a bean planter in 2017. We tried with the one corn planter the year we started farming the extra acres that we knew either had to upgrade or and then we actually just add a second planter, sometimes 17. We have probably done beans first before corn since 17. Except for this year, we get corn did one field of corn first just to try it. That was April 13. And it was 83 degrees that day. It was 80 on Sunday at something on Monday, so I had three days but then we got between three and four inches of rain yesterday. So right or wrong. We'll see how that turns out. But it was just too nice. That'd be something we thought and we just thought we try once. He was like that early. And so that's what we did.

[Yeager]  Go back to the irrigation will you irrigate the beans, too?

[Pippitt]  Yep, yep. Were heavier corn this year for our rotation I think. I'm not sure we're quite two thirds corn but we're definitely heavier corn. And for mine we is I think I'm with my dad, my brother but we all have our separate acres. We all work together separate farms. And I am 100% irrigated corn this year. And I'll have two fields of irrigated soybeans, the nuts and dryland soybeans. So for me I try to say like a two thirds probably corn on my whole farm acres. And I like to keep it on the pivot especially the corn on corn fields when I can.

[Yeager]  You like the corn on corn to be under a pivot when possible? Yes, when possible. Okay. How often is corn on corn for you? Is that a common thing?

[Pippitt]  It's getting to be especially with the prices, it just seems like it's easier more for us to raise a better corn crop had just maybe not disappointing is the right word. But we've had a little bit lower yields than normal the last two years and beans two years ago was real dry. Last year, we had an issue with white mold or beans, which was kind of new for us. And that was hard on some and that actually was worse in the irrigated beans last year from what we can tell, but something kind of new to us. So just as a general the been yields the last two years had been lower than what we're accustomed to. It just seems like corn we've been dry but we have the ability to water. We did get a few timely rains we did and just seemed like the corn is a lot more consistent, easier to count on than being. So it seems like the last couple of years, the way the markets have been. We've just kind of been planting a little more corn a little more corn in the last few years. I would say we have some corn on corn every year, but this year, I think it'd be like 400 acres of corn on corn probably.

[Yeager]  In is your decision made? Regardless, do you have any wiggle acres where you say, You know what, I think I'm gonna flip or is it pretty much just straight rotation for you?

[Pippitt]  Pretty much for me, it's trait rotation. We don't usually go more than two years of corn on corn. But we've kind of gotten in the habit the last couple of years have we like planting corn than corn on corn and then being so we're kind of on like a third year, at least under the pivots. Anyway, it seems that we've kind of seems like we can get that to work. It's more reliable. And that's just kind of where we've gotten comfortable the last few years.

[Yeager]  And neighbors around you are kind of in that same philosophy or mindset.

[Pippitt]  Yeah, there's some guys that will rotate no matter what corn soybeans every year, but it seems like some of the bigger guys and just other guys. It does seem like corn on corn is not uncommon. And some guys even go more than two years. But yeah, there's, I would I don't know what termite as if it'd be a lot or not, but there is quite a bit of corn on corn. It seems like in the area.

[Yeager]  I think this summer when we chat we'll have to be I'm not necessarily saying you have to be under a pivot. But we may have to be near that's something I'm not as familiar with. I follow along and read these tails of some things work. Some things don't I mean, that's that's the nature of anything. But I mean, what does the pivot provide for you on in your fields?

[Pippitt]  It's just a sense of, we just feel that we can push population, we, it just seems like that's our number one thing that we can't control is dry. I mean, we've had when we've had hail we've had things like that, but just seems like being able to irrigate. And it's more of a supplement than anything, rain does way more good than it seems like it's enough. More so in the corn but it's enough to get us by kind of live by and so you get a rain or you know, help in the meantime, but it just seems like it provides enough. And it's hard to tell I think last year, I was made like 12 circles with the payments. And a lot has you put on like three quarters of an inch kind of pens on the well and the size of pivot and how fast the pivot will run. But that's what we shoot for. That's it, we're probably we're not sure we're getting off to the ground. But that's what we're shooting for. But it just gives us kind of a you just more comfortable you can rely on it to produce. And obviously it's easier and better farms to but it just, it'd be a whole different game here. If we didn't have our parents we just kind of grown accustomed to them. And like I say that's kind of my was my grandpa's philosophies back then he could buy a car, buy a farm cheap enough and put a pivot on it. And then he wasn't worried about having crop insurance or hail insurance. And he just, I think the hybrids have come a long ways to that they dried down bitterness and more tolerant to drought. But that was just their game back then they would buy a farm for the pivot on it and water it and be comfortable that they are going to raise a crop to pay their note off. And it seemed like it worked. And we just kind of mean that's all I've ever know. We've been here again, since I was little I don't really know what it's like without it.

[Yeager]  The pivots are, you're saying there weren't a ton of them prior to like 1980? 

[Pippitt]  Yeah, there was some but a lot of the farms that my family purchased, they put the pivots on them. I'm not sure they bought a lot that already had a pivot on it. There was probably a couple but a lot of them they dug the well but the pivot on.

[Yeager]  In those years, were those off the farm. Start looking at you throwing all that water into the air and irrigating I mean, how loud are the drum beats around you about questioning your practices right now or using that water?

[Pippitt]  in 2012, which I assume was dry across the country, but it was extremely dry here. There was down my way. And I'll refer to that as 50 miles southwest and it's about a 6000 population town. But they did have some oil, some like domestic wells and there that lost water because we got so low. And there's an area down there that kind of had a water protection rights or something. You could see the signs on the intersections where the boundary was, but it seemed like that raised awareness. And I don't know there's a lot of a lot of anything going on right now. But I know we're still in an area from the last few years where we can't certain areas cannot dig new wells. You cannot add irrigated acres. If you removed an acreage you, you want to put your finger on it, you can't eat that. So I know we're still we have a farm, where's 280s We can irrigate 180 And there's no fence so they'll go around and do the other one. But we've been applying I've been rejected for the last several years. They're just not releasing new acres and they have a formula for determining soil types, farming practices and what we send an application every year and we keep getting denied so it's just whether that more normal year for rainfall will release some more or what just kind of depends on what district you're in and but yeah, so there is there's not a lot lot of conversation around where people are against what we're doing. But there is kind of some rules in place to keep it from getting digging wells, adding acres and just kind of stayed with what's already in the area now for now, anyway.

[Yeager]  And the decision maker on those releasing the acres, that's a district, that's a water district that does that, or is it a county? 

[Pippitt]  That's a water district because it doesn't, it kind of falls online. I'm not sure how those lines were developed. Ours is the Lower Elkhorn. So Norfolk, Nebraska, is where that NRD district the natural resources or something district in our natural NRCS, whatever they call, but there's a board like they're elected. And they're the ones that determine what interests get released and what doesn't.

[Yeager]  And let's talk about those 80s that are next to each other, the one that gets it the one that doesn't, how much of a financial? Well, your cost of production is a little different, but your cost of what you take off of there is different too?

[Pippitt]  Yeah, and last year, so the driving side actually produced pretty good. But I would say there's probably a 20 last year with corn, I would say they're probably 20 to 30 bushel difference from dryland side, irrigated side.

[Yeager]  So is that normal for a spread?

[Pippitt]  It can. That's a pretty good farm printing system farm and we farm it, you know, but that's also to your practice of farming too. But yeah, I was I was pretty normal. And I would say to be more two years ago, I want to say it was two years ago. So you know, like a pivot. If you have a score quarter, it's 160 acres, you really only irrigate like 130 of it. So you have about seven acres in each quarter doesn't get irrigated. And two years ago, on our yield maps, we were almost 100 bushel acre short in the corners versus the pivot, which granted, we weren't planting the corners, we vary. We vary the population, but it's still the hybrid, see, you know, the maturity for what you're playing under your uniform. So it's probably not exactly meant to go in a dry corner, but it's just the way it works. But yeah, it seemed like that's been the most drastic I've ever seen it. But we had very good irrigated corn that year. But our whole field averages didn't sound anything special, just because of the 25 to 30 acres in the corner was so far behind it kind of brought the whole field average down for what it actually seemed like when you were combining.

[Yeager]  A few poor performers bring down the whole average. Yeah, I hadn't thought about it in that context. 

[Pippitt]  Yep. Because we're, we're all center pivot for us. And we don't do any floodgate and none of that is all through the pivot.

[Yeager]  Around you, Okay, so you're saying you're going to be two thirds corn this year? Probably not quite, but it'll be close. And then a third of that two thirds is corn on corn? Did I get my math right?

[Pippitt]  No, I think we'll have about a little over 1600 acres of corn this year. And I think about 400 of that will be corn on corn. So the other 1200 acres will be just following soybean stubble.

[Yeager]  For and then you'll then yeah, you've soybeans on some of the others. And so So on a given week, given you've given them the grain marketing to someone else, how much do you watch on when you see prices? I mean, of course it affects you. It's not that it doesn't affect you, but how much do you angst over the movement of these markets on a week to week basis.

[Pippitt]  Um, I still watch every day, I still get the text every day. So I mean, I know what it's doing. But I guess we have things in place, and a lot of times on the board. So a lot of stuff I'm doing this time of year, I'm just setting a basis. I mean, it was sold earlier on before I was even raised. And so I guess now it seems like where we're at right now, which is every case for every year, but it seems like now the basis has been improving. So it's not stressful for me, I know the price overall don't sound that good. But for me, this, if this year, it's last year's crop. I mean, it's not I know where I'm at, I kind of have an idea where I'm going to be so it's not emotional wise, it's really not affecting me a whole lot right now. It's just kind of now you're looking kind of thing about next year already, and the outlook and where your breakevens are and what's gonna take and just kind of in the back of your mind.

[Yeager]  So you're done with 23? You've marketed all of that. 

[Pippitt]  Yes. And I shouldn't say that there were probably a one or 2% left over that we can't so you got a couple of gambling bushels left. Yeah, just because we got to sell it and like certain intervals. So I mean, I don't it doesn't always come out as an even number. So we'll get to the in the band. We'll clean it out. We'll have there'll be a little bit leftover. It's always hard to tell when the corn shrinks and just exactly what we're at. But yeah, I would say there's probably one or 2% That's not sold, or had anything done then

[Yeager]  How much of and you're kind of giving me the sense of maybe you've already sold a bunch of 24?

[Pippitt]  I wouldn't say a bunch, but yes, I have stuff done for '25 already. I actually have to cough I even actually have a small percent done for '25.

[Yeager]  Okay, yeah. You feeling good about that?

[Pippitt]  Yeah, I don't know. I guess I yeah, like I say I feel good about it. It's just, ya know, I'm gonna have I still gonna have machinery costs and certain expenses in 2025, too. So I guess it's just a matter of doing a little bit. I mean, it might be five or 10% but it's just the fact that there's a bit done because I know we have some costs and seems a little scary. But we have crop insurance. We have several irrigated acres. So I guess I'm not necessarily concerned about never, you know, having a complete disaster. I mean, I feel comfortable raising money, we'll raise something. So I guess I'm not afraid to sell them ahead of time and just have something in the works.

[Yeager]  Yeah. And helps you sleep at night, too. Yes. All right, Bryan, I appreciate it. Good luck this spring, hopefully the rains. Yeah, I know you'd like that three inch rain one inch per month would at least help and be more than what you've had or once a week would be fine, too.

[Pippitt]  Yes. Or even just get spaced out. It did come sort of fast party yesterday. And that was one of the problem. I think we could have held a lot of that if it wouldn't have come quite so fast. Because, I mean, we've had some nice transit spring like over in trains, which we were kind of needing because we had a one big snow event this winter. And that was it for precipitation. We were had difficulty we had a rain last fall. But we were dragged into harvest dry, come out of harvest and had some unseasonably weather in December. Nice. February is nice. March was nice. So yeah, we were ready for a rain. And like I say, if that rain would have come in twice that amount of time, probably could have taken a lot. But I think it's just we got at least a third of that or half of that very fast. And I think that's kind of where we ran into our problems. Too fast what we could handle.

[Yeager]  That's the one where you just shake your head and go seriously, we just come on. Yeah, I guess those downstream eventually in the Missouri in the Mississippi will appreciate it. 

[Pippitt]  It's been a long time. And I wouldn't say I wanted to stop but there was a point yesterday I kind of just wanted to stop raining for a little bit just to get caught up to say that yeah, it just Yeah, much loyalty fast,

[Yeager]  especially the last three years that you've had. So I Brian, thank you so much. We'll talk to you later this summer. 

[Pippitt]  Yep, I appreciate it. Thanks for having me.

[Yeager]  Thanks to Bryan. If you have feedback for the MToM Show podcast send it in an email to the show in general MarkettoMarket@IowaPBS.ORG. New episodes come out in video form on our YouTube page as well. In audio, we know many of you listen to this as well. The video component is just an offering. Thanks for taking part. We'll see you next time. Bye bye.