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Cab Conversations: Get Growing No. 7

This week in Get Growing, Meghan Grebner, Indiana Farm Director, talks with farmers from Texas, South Dakota and Michigan about their planting progress, weather conditions, crop insurance and the Avian flu.

Keith Alverson, Chester, South Dakota
Matt Hinderer, Chelsea, Michigan
Darrell Glaser, Rogers, Texas

Show Notes: 
The Conversation, Mother Nature and “working in windows”

Meghan Grebner: Asks Darrell about the changes in the water patterns in Texas.
Darrell Glaser: Says they have had lots of rain and that it has been the wettest it has been for the past 10-15 years. He also says it has made an impact and all their lakes are full again, but many people are ready for it to start drying out a bit.
Meghan Grebner: Asks Darrell how is the weather affecting his hay crop this year.
Darrell Glaser: He says they were lucky and got their first batch of hay rolled right before the three weeks of rain, but now he finished his second cutting and it is on the ground now.
Meghan Grebner: Asks Keith how the crops look in South Dakota and how his planting season finished up.
Keith Alverson: He says planting finished up slowly because of frequent small rain showers and it was just cool enough to keep them out of the field. He says it is now supposed to be warming up and the crops are going to take off. He finished up side dressing last week so he could take a break before spraying.
Meghan Grebner: Asks Matt how the crops in Michigan are looking.
Matt Hinderer: He says it is pretty saturated in his area and but they had a good run of planting before the rain. They are about 95% planted in his area and now it is just a matter of crossing the finish line.
Meghan Grebner: Asks Matt how he works around Mother Nature and how does he make sure he is still able to get his crop in and tend to his farm in all situations?
Matt Hinderer: Says that he just does what he can do and unfortunately sometimes he has to fall back on crop insurance at some point. If there is standing water, he says there is nothing he can do. He jokes that crop insurance is a good investment this year.
Meghan Grebner: Asks Matt more about his crop insurance and what his final planting date is.
Matt Hinderer: He says his final plant date is June 5. He says he can take his cut from crop insurance because when he is standing, looking at his crop under water on June 8, that it is over for his corn. His soybean cutoff date is the 15th and it is typically never a problem to meet the cutoff date, but this year it’ll prove to be a challenge.
Meghan Grebner: Asks Keith about the management and treatment of his crops and how he reacts to the obstacles he runs into.
Keith Alverson: He says that he really has to work in windows. Usually, he gets time in 2-4 day stretches so being able to manage his time in those windows is something he has focused on.
Meghan Grebner: Asks Darrell for an update on the Avian flu and if has affected his marketing and other things on the back end.
Darrell Glaser: He says that it hasn’t affected anyone in his area and hasn’t heard of any recent big news on the subject. He operates on the turkey side, but on the chicken side it is relatively easy to get back into normal production with new birds but the most important part is waiting and getting the buildings clean. He says the waterfowl are the ones who carry the disease, so being careful this fall on the next set of birds will be very important.
Meghan Grebner: Meghan opens it up to ask each other questions.
Darrell Glaser: Asks the group about programs that are available that track rainfall and send the precipitation information to email accounts.
Matt Hinderer: Says they have used Climate Corp some and are looking into Encirca as well. He is just testing the waters with a few of them right now.
Keith Alverson: He has used Climate Corp for the past couple years with varying degrees of success of accuracy as far as the rainfall. He says some days it is right on with the gauge he has in the farm yard and other days it is a little ways off.  He says it gives him a good generality of how much rain falls in different fields.