Root Systems

How Volunteer Corn, Lost Sleep, and Market Signs Tell Agriculture's Real Story

Volunteer corn in a soybean field not only looks like rubbish and reflects poorly on the farmer, but it also significantly reduces yield.

University studies on volunteer corn's impact on soybeans vary widely, so here’s a snippet from Cropwatch, a publication from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln:

Source: Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources Cropwatch - University of Nebraska - Lincoln

I wish I could remember what South Dakota’s Hefty Boys said about volunteer corn on their hit ag TV sitcom, AgPhD. I remember thinking how ridonkulous the yield loss they found from one plant every…ten square feet was. Maybe, I don't know. Okay, fine. I’ll go look it up.

Hold, please.

Before I leave, I just wanted to mention that I'm pleased that Substack has added the ability to edit and publish directly through the iPhone app. It tickles my fancy to quickly jot down my ideas on the rare occasion they flow from the faucet, like my hair in early 2016.

Almost looks like a young James May with a worse British accent

Damn, tangents…where was I?

Right, the Hefty boys and volunteer corn.

Here’s what they said about it back in 2020:

If you're still with me and not lost in an AgPhD binge, let me summarize:

According to the Hefty Boys, volunteer corn is the worst weed in a soybean field.

If you’ve ever dug up a corn plant, you know it has an extensive root system. These roots absorb precious nutrients earmarked for soybeans. Even if you manage to kill the volunteers, they won't decompose quickly enough to release those nutrients back into the soil in time for the soybeans to benefit this season.

It's baffling why any farmer or agronomist would ignore this issue. Skimping on herbicides might save a few bucks but often results in a much higher yield loss. It’s like saving six bucks to spend sixty…totally bass ackward.

With the plethora of corn traits available today, using the correct herbicide to control volunteers is challenging. It’s prudent to hire an agronomist who knows his seed trait technology, what herbicides antagonize others, and that spraying the proper herbicide’s maximum labeled rate before the corns get large is the best way to keep these volunteer vermin at bay.

I get it—times are tough. But there are better places to cut costs than letting your soybean field resemble a bison shedding its fur. This approach will decimate yield potential, attract pests like corn rootworms, and limit crop rotation options in future years.

In one field, a sea of volunteer corns escaped this year, and we are now in a pickle regarding future crop selection.

And why wouldn’t it be right next to the highway where I have a soybean variety test plot? If that doesn’t deserve a rousing gee cripes, I’m not sure what does.

Since planting corn on that ground next year is no longer an option due to this year’s crop of volunteer corn hosting a possible pest party, we may have to consider throwing in some of those chestnut trees that

Suzan Erem

at

Postcards from the Heartland

told me about a couple of weeks ago.

I drink your milkshake.

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A Farmer’s Wife

One aspect that often goes unnoticed is the challenges faced by women married to farmers, especially those who didn’t grow up in agriculture but later married into it.

Having grown up in Winnipeg's Canadian Concrete Jungle (WCCT), Sheri Oteri struggles during the busy seasons when I treat our house like a Holiday Inn Express, popping in for a power nap and a snack before heading back to the field.

It’s easy to overlook the impact we leave at home while we’re gone from sunup to sundown, sometimes for weeks on end.

To better illustrate this, I want to share a Facebook post from one of Sheri Oteri’s friends, who is trying to adapt to life as a young woman freshly married to a farmer:

I’m a farm wife. I often see posts online about being a farmer’s wife—how it “must be nice” (insinuating farmers roll in the dough). Although I wouldn’t trade this life for anything, there’s a side to this life many don’t see.

Many don’t see the empty spot in bed each night during the grind of spring work or the hustle of busting your ass to get your crop off during harvest.

You don’t see the dad sneaking into his babies’ room to kiss them goodnight because it’s been three days since they’ve seen their child.

You don’t see the look on their face when they have to miss an important event, knowing they want more than anything to be there but rain is coming and things need to be done.

You don’t see the late nights when the husband and wife stay up just to have a real conversation with their spouse face-to-face before the day is done.

You don’t see the worry and stress in their eyes when the prices drop or the weather might just turn a good year into bad.

You don’t feel the pit in your stomach when you read that the suicide rate for farmers continues to incline, and it shakes you deep, never truly knowing the extent of what’s on their plate.

You don’t see the smile on their wife’s face when come walking in, covered in dirt and grease, just happy they made it in time to share a meal.

I love being a farm wife and I couldn’t be more PROUD to say that my husband feeds the world… To those who work in acres not hours, thank you. 🤍

Shared by Sheri Oteri’s friend Emma Spina on the Book of Faces

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The Magazine Indicator

The search for commodity bottom (not to be confused with SpongeBob’s stomping grounds, Bikini Bottom) continues…

Created with TradingView

Trying to call a bottom in a stock, commodity, or currency is like trying to catch a falling knife. That’s why I try to find signals or signs elsewhere to find hints that the end of this bloodbath is near before slicing my palms into blood soup.

This week, I think I may have found it in what finance people refer to as the magazine indicator:

An example of the magazine indicator comes from 1979 when BusinessWeek magazine declared the death of equities, just before a two-decade bull market kicked off, sending the Dow Jones from 800 to over 11,000.

Some say it’s hokum, while others swear it’s gospel. I’m not here to debate the merits of the magazine indicator, but I hope that the article mentioned above is two years too late and that commodities turn the corner soon.

There I go, all hopped up on hopium again.

This bear market feels like death by a thousand cuts, and we’re ready to put it to bed.

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I appreciate you reading this week, kids.

As soon as the sun pops out, many in our area will begin harvesting spring wheat.

As my uncle says, the good lord giveth a bumper crop, no sense in rushing things and tossing grain out the ass end of the combine.

Have a safe and bountiful harvest. ✌️