Crops look ‘very good’

BREMEN, Ind. — With just a couple months left until harvest, fields across the region are in the height of growing season.

Clay Geyer, a farmer in northern Indiana, shared the latest on his farm.

Q: Are you happy with how your wheat is growing this year?

A: The wheat crop has been harvested, and the straw has been baled. This past spring, I’d hoped more of my wheat acres would have survived Old Man Winter as it lay dormant, but as I rounded the end of corn planting in April, I decided to terminate half of the wheat crop as the wheat stand seemed a bit thin at the time.

To my surprise, the remaining wheat crop did better than I imagined, as it averaged 92.35 bushel to the acre.

Q: How did the wheat harvest go?

A: Our wheat harvest began and ended in the same week, between July 6 and 11. As a proud combine owner every harvest cannot go without a hiccup of one thing or another.

It feels like harvest is always a race against time. But, thankfully, GreenMark Equipment had us up and going the next day, so we could beat the next pop-up thunderstorm.

Q: What’s the next big job you have coming up on the farm?

A: Cutting and baling third-cutting alfalfa and grass hay is next on the agenda. Just like every other cutting, though, we hope to bale it all up dry and in small squares to fill the existing orders we already have.

Making hay seems like an easier task than blowing off all the dust and wheat residue from the combine, but as soon as the weather allows, we will be cleaning the combine up by vacuuming out all the remaining kernels of wheat from every nook and cranny on the machine, plus washing and waxing of the combine will take place before we put it away in the shed for storage until fall harvest.

We will set the combine up for soybean harvest, with hopes and prayers we will not encounter any major repairs ahead of ourselves this fall.

Q: What does your typical day on the farm look like this time of the year?

A: This time of the year is no different than any other day during the summer months. I always try to take a cutting of hay every 28 to 30 days, if possible, so there is rarely any downtime for any of us.

Since the wheat harvest is now behind us, I can focus on helping my brother and our hired hand with numerous construction jobs that he already has on the books this year.

We have a group of heifers we are also raising for another dairy farmer, so there is always manure to haul, cattle to feed and water, plus maintenance to keep in check around the farm.

I try to make time to spend my 7-year-old nephew, too. So, we will visit some fairs, the zoo, the beach and countless playgrounds and parks to ride bikes before he returns to school in August.

Q: What kind of tools equipment are you using the most this month?

A: If the humidity continues and the rain becomes a bit more widespread, we will probably be using the lawnmower every other day.

Corn and soybeans are too tall to make any more passes with my pull-type sprayer. So, to keep soybean fields clean and free of broadleaves and volunteer corn, we will have to keep those unwanted plants hooked out so they remain perfect from roadside view.

During the month of July, we will be using or have used a combine, gravity wagons, tractors, skid loader, discbine, hay wagons and manure spreader to haul manure and apply to freshly cut wheat stubbles. And possibly a moldboard plow if we prepare a new alfalfa seeding to be planted at a later date.

Q: Have you tried anything new this season that’s working well?

A: We don’t always have the opportunity, but I believe with the amazing weather we had this spring, it allowed us to get in the fields early to for tillage and plant crops.

I believe our crops look very good, considering we had most of our planting done before May 1, so the plants could capture the timely rains to establish a firm foundation for the roots on both corn and soybeans to draw up the moisture and the nutrients during the dry periods when we were seeing the best growing degree days.

Q: How’s the drone spraying going? Do you like it better than planes?

A: Whether it is a drone, or a crop-dusting helicopter or plane, I believe they all have their place. I chose the drone on my wheat acres due to the nature of the field layout and the obstacles that would have been less productive if sprayed by plane.

A drone allows the operator to be more versatile and extremely precise allowing them to hone in on difficult areas where power lines, point rows and overgrown fence lines could play a role.

Agriflite Services will be covering all of my corn acres with a pass of fungicide and possibly insecticide toward the end of July. These fields are wide open and easy to cover without any hidden obstacles.

I do not have enough acres to justify owning a drone, but if I did it would make scouting fields above the crop much easier than scouting by foot throughout the tangled crops.

Q: Have you gotten enough rain lately?

A: Many of my neighbors and friends have expressed concern over the lack of rain and the desperation for more rainfall. I honestly think we are sitting fairly well. The crops appear to be healthy and holding their own very well with limited stress.

But if I had planted after the first of May or even later, the corn plants would most likely be shriveled up and the beans will be struggling to canopy. We could use some rain, but I’d hate to ask for too much rain.

My heart goes out to the families and the victims of Texas and the areas that just can’t catch a break with the extensive amount of rainfall in such a short time frame.

Q: What’s been your favorite part of this summer on the farm so far?

A: Every day is an adventure with my nephew, Grant. I enjoy his questions and his enthusiasm to learn about crops, equipment, animals and more. He brings me the most joy out of each day that we get to spend together.

He will be a well-rounded individual that will rock the teachers back in their chairs this fall when he returns to school.

I am shocked by the words he has learned from the educational kids’ activities on PBS, and he uses his words correctly. He’s a very smart young man with a great determination to teach himself or do things at his own pace without outside help.

Q: What do you enjoy most about being part of the corn-husking community?

A: Being involved in the Indiana Corn Husking Association has opened a number of doors for not only me, but our organization, as well, through networking with other individuals, organizations and businesses.

The discussions of corn husking and journalism combined has helped advertise what we do as an organization and has allowed me to connect with a vast number of individuals of all ages across the state of Indiana promoting the importance of not just corn, but culture, in general, too.

Q: Anything else you’d like to mention?

A: The Power From the Past was canceled at the Fulton County Barn museum in June. It has been rescheduled to a later date in September.