Duane A. Lienemann,
UNL Extension Educator,
Webster County
April 1, 2011 Edition
It is so tempting to try to pull off a good April Fools’ joke via this column but more than likely I would end up being the fool --so I will instead concentrate on some issues that seem to come to the top of my mind this week.
Let’s start with wheat. Even though we don’t have the wheat acres that we used to, it is still and important crop for our part of the country. A couple of weeks ago we visited the wheat fields and looked at whether or not we should write of this year’s crop since it looked so spindly or even that it wasn’t even emerged. I suggested that we give it some time and utilized the old phrase that “wheat has nine lives”. That seems to have been a pretty good suggestion as wheat has definitely broken dormancy and is really starting to get some growth. I know, some of the wheat has a funny color yet, but it is a lot better than what we saw a couple of weeks ago. While we are still a little short on moisture, I have pretty good feeling that in a couple of more weeks we will wonder what we were worried about.
I have been asked about diseases in the wheat, and quite honestly at this point, I have not seen anything that is suspicious. I believe that the yellow or brown leaves that we are seeing is more a result of some freeze burn on some outside or bottom leaves. They really won’t contribute that much to the growing and particularly the maturing wheat so that is not a concern to me. I do not see any evidence of disease in those leaves that will eventually slough off. That is not to say there won’t be some diseases creeping in, as I know they are starting to find some evidence of virus and fungus south of us – where there is some wheat. The best thing you can do is just keep an eye on it and remember our main goal is to protect the flag leaves, which may involve being proactive in some cases. I would suggest monitoring your wheat and if you have computer access to check out http://www.cropwatch.unl.edu/ and monitor what is being reported in it.
In between the cold and damp spells, and even snows, a lot of farmers have been racing to get fertilizer on their fields and even getting their planters ready. I have even seen some planters in action – I think just to get them prepared, or more likely perhaps to make the neighbors nervous. During this time of year, just opening up the Quonset doors seems to garner a gut reaction.
No doubt, spring fever is hitting and it never hits anyone harder than farmers. In horse terms, we have a lot of producers “chomping at the bit.” There is of course a lot of talk about the record number of acres of corn that is projected to go in. Nebraska farmers are estimated to plant 9.5 million acres, which is the largest acreage since 1933. There are some troubling reports as far as diversity of crops is concerned. The planting intention report said that Nebraska farmers will decrease acreage devoted to soybeans, hay, sorghum, oats and wheat.
In Nebraska, soybeans look to be down 2 percent from 2010-- but still the second largest only to last year’s record high. While all wheat planted in the United States is up 8 percent from last year, winter wheat sown last fall in Nebraska was reported at only 1.5 million acres, down 6 percent from last year. This is the smallest winter wheat acreage planted in Nebraska since records began in 1909. This state used to be a leader in milo production. Even with restricted water use and the possibility of a La Nina drought this year, Nebraska sorghum growers expect to plant just 135,000 acres, down 20,000 acres or 13 percent from last year, and the smallest acreage since 1930. We used to see fields of oats, especially when we fed out our own animals, but this year’s planting intentions, at 85,000 acres, are down 5,000 acres from 2010 and the lowest in more than 100 years. Even hay acreage for harvest, at 2.6 million, is expected to be down 3 percent from last year. I guess this does prove that corn is king, even here in south central Nebraska.
We talked a couple of weeks ago about the new land values and rental rates document that UNL Ag Economics department put out. I think that a lot of people expected an increase with land value and rental rates. We are of course seeing increases in almost every input cost. Just think of the price of fuel, we all see that. The farmer is not immune to that. Throw in the cost of seed, machinery, chemicals, labor and you can see that the cost of farming has gone up considerably.
Budgets are being put together, especially for those with crop share agreements and there is little doubt that the costs of farming is the question on the minds of a lot of operators as they prepare to go to the field. The economic structure of agriculture has changed dramatically in the past 2 months. Unfortunately, this is the off-year to conduct the biennial Nebraska Custom Rates Survey. The UNL survey is done every other year, which for years was adequate. Well the survey was just conducted a year ago and those figures are outdated, and probably were so within 6 months of them coming out. By the time the next edition comes out we could be seriously outdated. Take for instance the big change in machinery costs in the past year, and particular the fuel costs. When the survey was completed last year, rates were based on a diesel fuel price of about $2.50 per gallon. Gosh that sounds cheap now! This year the farm delivered price could be a dollar higher, or an increase of 40 percent. Hold on to your seed corn hats as that will likely to see even higher prices on inputs as we progress through the season! How do we adjust for these higher costs to figure our budgets or custom rates? Cornhusker Economics has a new release that may help you.
Go on the web to http://agecon.unl.edu/cornhuskereconomics.com and go to the new document “Adjusting Farm Custom Rates and Grain Storage Rental Rates for 2011”. I think that you will find it very useful. As we enter planting season – Farm Safe!
The preceding information comes from the research and personal observations of the writer which may or may not reflect the views of UNL or UNL Extension. For more further information on these or other topics contact D. A. Lienemann, UNL Extension Educator for Webster County in Red Cloud, (402) 746-3417 or email to: dlienemann2@unl.edu or go to the website at: www.webster.unl.edu/home
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