August 9th...

The summer is quickly coming to a close and soon the school buses will be out and about. This summer has flown by and within the next four weeks we will begin harvesting our crops. June was one of the wettest on record, while July was hot and dry. This was almost the perfect recipe to challenge our corn crop. As you can see from the pictures we took with our drone below, we have numerous drowned out and stunted spots spread across most of our farms; with exception of the pattern-tiled farms which have shown great resilience against all the rain. The soybeans have weathered all the moisture quite well and are actually in need of a good soaking August rain. Rains in August almost always ensure a decent soybean crop. We have been busy cleaning out the last of the grain bins, mowing waterways and roadsides, attending meetings, and taking family vacations. We have started to get out the harvest equipment and will focus on ensuring things are ready go once our first planted corn gets to 28% moisture. 

After decades, it was time to clean out the ditch on our University of Illinois farm.

Good looking soybeans on our Williamsville farm. Just recently sprayed with fungicide.

Aerial shot of one of our fields outside Ashland. As you can see from the photo, there are numerous drowned out spots from all the June rains.

We are the field in the lower right-hand corner.
This is what the neighborhood looks like Northwest of Elkhart.

We have numerous holes in fields that look like this...

Owen & Max touring Chicago on summer vacation