Cooperating Farmer Fred Lukens reports the AdFarm pinto beans received a timely rain on Friday, August 7.

Neighbor Rodney Frederick lives next to the AdFarm pinto bean field. Rodney had 1.75 inches of rain on August 7. Down the road on the Lukens farmstead, the rain gauge read ¾ inch.

The AdFarm pinto beans are flowering. Ample soil moisture at the flowering stage is critical for optimum yield.

The National Weather Service is predicting warm weather and more rain the week of August 10 in the Aneta area.

Follow the AdFarm crop at: http://griggsdakota.blogspot.com

Fifty four employee shareholders, clients, and media friends filled the bus in Fargo and headed for the country to learn about the state of the 2009 AdFarm North Dakota crop. The day, July 28, began with a 9 a.m. presentation on long-range weather forecasting by Jed Lafferty of Planalytics.

A hog farm tour

After leaving Fargo, the group first stopped at North Dakota Sow Cooperative Farm in Larimore with a presentation and tour from Todd Erickson, Production Manager. He shared information on how technology investments have allowed the Cooperative to streamline its processes and improved its manure management sustainability. He also noted the efficiencies of the pork industry’s investment in genetics to provide more consistent products for consumers. He specifically explained the current economics of the industry along with his positive outlook on the future of pork production.

The group then arrived at the Huso-Lukens farm in Aneta at 1:30 p.m. and heard in-field presentations from Al Slater of Busch Ag (malting barley), Bob Joerger of Monsanto (corn and soybeans), Blake Vander Vorst, Ducks Unlimited (winter wheat), Mark Haugland, Jordan Varberg and Kyle Rollness of Bayer Crop Science (InVigor canola and winter wheat) and Mike Hallingstad of Sharon Bean (pinto beans).

Rain or not?

AdFarm employee shareholders were particularly interested in the AdFarm pinto bean field. With less than 2.5 inches of rain in the Aneta area since mid-May, the AdFarm pinto beans would benefit from a nice rain event. Mike Hallingstad told the group: “These beans are just beginning to flower. With good conditions, first flowering will normally produce about 1,000 pounds of beans per acre. These beans will need rain to support a second or third flowering. Achieving a high yield on pinto beans requires adequate moisture during the entire flowering period.”

On the contrary, Al Slater told the group, “ I know some of these other crops need rain. That’s not the case with the barley we’re looking at today. We’ll harvest the best this barley can offer if we get no rain in the next three weeks.”

Pinto bean price outlook

Mike Hallingstad told the group: “We have a relatively small pinto bean carryover with reduced planted acres this year.” He expects new crop pinto beans at harvest to be “in the low 30’s and could get into the 40’s if the crop gets smaller.” AdFarm North Dakota Cooperating Farmer Fred Lukens said that rain in the next two weeks is the number one issue now facing the AdFarm pinto beans.

Everyone learned

Farm Boss Les Kahl found this year’s farm tour especially valuable. He said: “I thought the entire day was great. From the initial presentation by Jed, my mind was racing to try and think of ways to use his service to help our clients. Things just steamrolled from there. All of the speakers either on the way to the farm or at the farm were engaging and informative. Thanks to everyone involved in helping make this happen. The entire day made me proud to be an Ad Farmer. “

AdFarm ND Farm Marketing Committee Member Sheridyn Lukasik Greenwalt added: “I appreciated the diverse presentations on more than agronomics, including hearing Al Slater discuss the importance of grain quality, marketing and how the crop impacts Busch product quality. It was also valuable to discuss the unique partnership between DU and Bayer and how it makes sense for producers, DU and Bayer’s commitment to help farmers.”

To learn more about the farm tour and the pinto bean crop, go to http://griggsdakota.blogspot.com

Aneta, ND – With the late start on the 2009 growing season, all subsequent field operations are also a little later than normal. Cooperating Farmer Fred Lukens reports than the first pass of pinto bean spraying was completed on the AdFarm North Dakota pinto bean field on Friday, July 3. It was a busy week of spraying on the Lukens farm. In addition to pinto beans, Lukens had spray recommendations for first pass herbicide on soybeans, insecticide spray for barley thrips, and fungicide spray on winter wheat and canola. “We sprayed close to 3,500 acres in one week,” he says.

“We sprayed the pinto beans with one of our smaller older sprayers, and we used our second small sprayer on the soybeans. The big sprayer covered the barley, winter wheat and canola,” Fred explains.

After the pinto beans are sprayed the first time, agronomists recommend waiting at least three days before beginning cultivating operations. This is to allow weeds to completely absorb the herbicide. Cultivating on the AdFarm pinto beans began on July 8, was interrupted for day by a small ¼” rain event, and completed on Friday, July 10.

Weather permitting, Lukens expects a second pass of pinto bean spraying to be completed by July 18 with second pass cultivation the week of July 20.

How’s the rain?

After a very wet spring, the Aneta area has had four or five small rain events that have provided approximately 1.5 inches of rain since the AdFarm pinto beans were seeded on June 3. “Our rainfall for June and the first half of July is below average,” Fred says. “Fortunately the temperatures have been cool and our overall soil moisture is still good. As always, we’ll need timely rain to see this crop reach its potential.”

Farm Tour set for July 28

AdFarm North Dakota Farm shareholders are invited to attend the Farm Tour on July 28th. More information to follow in a Crazy About Farming post.

Follow the crop at http://griggsdakota.blogspot.com

The five members of the 2009 AdFarm North Dakota farm marketing committee have begun their responsibilities, representing the interests of the 130 shareholders.

This year’s committee members are: Sheridyn Lukasik Greenwalt and Jason Laqua, both based in the Kansas City AdFarm office, Laura Sieger of Westmorelandflint/AdFarm in Duluth, Minn., Carina Emil and Erin Jarolimek, both based in the Fargo AdFarm office. Erin chairs the group, which meets periodically with AdFarm North Dakota Cooperating Farmer Fred Lukens.

“Our goal is to sell our Pinto bean crop for more than the approximately $390/acre that it will cost to produce the crop,” Sheridyn explains. “We have a 70-acre field, so breakeven is $27,300.”

Laura adds: “Another goal is to learn about the process of crop marketing. I’ve already learned a few things. As I understand it, our keys to making a profit for our shareholders are yield, timely rains, weed control, no early frost, little or no rain during harvest and no hail to wipe out our crops.”

The marketing committee has contracted for a portion of the crop, but will not sell any more until it’s harvested. Erin explains: “Meanwhile, we’ll pay close attention to supply and demand for our Pinto beans. We learned that demand is fairly static, and the key variable affecting price is supply.”

“Right now, our crops look healthy and high-quality, and USDA projections are favorable for us,” Carina says. “Our group has adopted a ‘realistically conservative’ approach, which is a good fit for our investors.”

The committee anticipates its next meeting will be in early September to evaluate expected yield and cash price for harvest delivery.

Follow the crop at http://griggsdakota.blogspot.com

The spring of 2009 is memorable already: Flooding, road damage, late planting, prevented planting and getting stuck in the mud.

After several attempts to get through the AdFarm North Dakota field, Cooperating Farmer Fred Lukens reports that the AdFarm 70 acres are now planted.

He says: “Like many fields in this area, we had trouble getting this field to dry down. We had to stop fertilizing the AdFarm field on Friday, May 29, as a result of a significant wet spot. We finished fertilizing this field on June 3 with the 8950 Case IH tractor pulling the deep banding fertilizer rig, getting stuck trying to get the final round finished. It’s the fifth time that outfit has been stuck this spring.”

Lukens reports that daughter Kirsti, a college senior majoring in communications and art, has started a Lukens farm blog. If you’d like to see the AdFarm pinto beans treated, the field being harrowed, fertilized and planted–complete with the stuck tractor–go to http://griggsdakota.blogspot.com

Lukens feels fortunate to have the AdFarm field planted. “We still have 120 acres of pinto beans and 70 acres of soybeans on the farm to plant. Both are fields that have been wetter than the AdFarm field,” he continues.

With the late spring, all field operations have been compressed. “It’s a struggle and probably will continue to be for the next few weeks,” he says.

The good news is that the AdFarm pinto beans are in the ground, a little later than normal, but still within the range of an acceptable planting date for east central North Dakota.