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Articles by Mike Brosnan
Taking advantage of mild fall weather
The past two weeks have been spent working at projects that need to be completed before winter sets in. We like to go somewhere warm in the winter for a vacation, but how boring it would become if you lived in an area that didn’t have four distinct seasons. This fall has been wonderful with the temperatures and not a lot of wind. But every day you wake up and look at the weather forecast to see when things will change.
Mud challenges harvest work in central South Dakota
I have almost completely finished my own harvest. This past week has been spent helping Derik with his corn. The reason I say almost finished is a few days ago I drove by one of my fields I thought was done, but there were about six rows 100-feet long on the end of the field. I guess we all left out the other side that day. Oh well, the deer and pheasants will get a little extra food. We have applied Valor on all the fields that will go back to corn and beans in 2024.
Good help makes quick work of fall harvest
It seems rain is always news in these reports. Well, this time it is the big news. Anywhere from 3-5 inches fell in our area. That brought everything to a halt. Fortunately we are done with harvesting our soybeans and probably half done with corn. Our corn yield is really up and down. We have areas in our fields that are hard to get planted most years that produced solid 200-bushel corn, but where the ground didn’t hold the moisture it would yield 135 bushels.
Rain causes harvest delays, spotty yields in eastern South Dakota
We’ve had about 2 inches of rain in the past two weeks. Most if it came last Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 23 and 24. Then again on Friday, Sept. 29, another shower came through, leaving about a third of an inch of rain. With all the rain, our bean harvest didn’t advance at all until this Saturday, Sept. 30. We had a really good day and got almost 400 acres done. It looks like we should get a couple more days before rain comes again.
First corn, bean harvest reveals disappointing yields
The weather in the past two weeks has been a little cooler, which is a great relief. We have picked up only about a half inch of rain, though. With the lack of rain we were able to finish our fourth crop of alfalfa. It turned out really nice with a very high feed value test, too. I have already sold and delivered some of it. We were able to get going on Derik’s corn. His yield is better than expected. I did a little of mine in four different fields just to get an idea of what the yield may be.
Corn harvest begins in eastern South Dakota
It has been hot-hot-hot. This is not what we ordered for the end of the growing season, but this type of weather really moved the corn along. Derik has corn contracted to be delivered by Sept. 15 to Poet in Mitchell. With that looming, we need to start drying corn by Sept. 9 to get it delivered on time. That means starting to combine before the end of this week. Once we start, we usually just keep going and dry the corn until beans are ready to go. After that, we go back to corn and not as much drying.
Hot, dry weather a concern for newly planted alfalfa
Our area is getting prepared for the South Dakota State Fair Aug. 31 through Sept. 4. We always look forward to that event. The food at the fair and the amount of people in Huron is great. My wife and I started being volunteer ushers for the grandstand performances. It’s fun doing something so different for a few days. I have replanted 200 acres of alfalfa. A day later we received 0.45 of an inch of rain. When you only plant it about a half inch deep you need a couple of rains to keep it going.
Rain will help corn kernels fill
It seems this summer we have always been watching the skies (actually, the radar) looking for rain. As I write this Saturday morning, Aug. 5, we have had some showers but not much. But the weather-man says it is coming. If we could pick up the inch or 2 of rain that is forecasted, I believe our corn will fill nicely. The hot, dry weather didn’t seem to hurt the pollination of the corn. Apparently we had enough moisture in the ground and it got cool enough at night for that to go well.
New combine? Why not drive it home?
Since our last report we have had about 1 ½ inches of rain. Most of it has come in small amounts. The spotty rains seem to continue, but how crops looked early compared to now is hard to believe. If we would get just a little more timely rains we could have one of our biggest corn and bean yields. If not, it will still be fun to combine 8- to 10-foot corn after the last couple years of very poor crops. All of the additional fertilizer has been applied to our corn.
Farming comes with big decisions
By Mike Brosnan and Jackie Kleinsasser of Woonsocket, SD Things have changed in our region since the last report. The rains continue to be very erratic, but most of our fields received 3 to 4 more inches of rain. It took our entire crop from looking okay to looking fantastic. I never thought the corn could get 7-8 feet tall on the 4th of July. We have an agronomist from Alpena, South Dakota who monitors our crops as well as nutrient management.
Farming comes with big decisions
Things have changed in our area since the last report. The rains continue to be very spotty, but most of our fields have had 3-4 more inches of rain. That has moved all of our crop from looking just OK to looking fantastic. I would never have thought the corn could be 7-8 feet tall by July 4. We have an agronomist from Alpena, South Dakota, that keeps an eye on our crops, along with the nutrient management.
Farm life comes with unexpected ups and downs
A couple weeks ago if you had told us that today we would be looking at our crops pleased with how they look and hopeful our pastures may indeed have enough grass to support our cattle herd if we continue to catch more rain I’m not sure we would have believed you. But, I have learned over the years that is just how farm life is. Circumstances can change in an instant, and we just hang on for the ride. Two years ago Derik did not “hang on” and had an ATV accident while chasing pairs in for breeding.
Best hay cutting ever put up at Brosnan farm
The past couple of weeks we have completed a lot. It’s the first time ever that our alfalfa cutting was finished in the month of May. Our baling was done by June 3. Normally, we are starting by May 25, and due to some rain delays we don’t usually finish until the middle of June. The hot, dry and windy weather allowed the alfalfa to cure quickly with no bleaching in the windrow. That has given us the nicest first crop we have ever put up. But the crop is about half of normal as far as tonnage.
Spring brings first alfalfa cutting, rhubarb, gnats
The alfalfa cutting began May 23. Now we can’t decide if we want rain or we want it to hold off for two weeks, which is about how long our first crop usually takes. We normally cut about 200 acres a day, but to get started we cut nearly 800 acres in two days. Now we will probably cut less each day. There sure doesn’t seem to be much of a chance for rain as of today. The rain May 22 is the last rain we have had. That sure made it easy to finish our corn and bean planting.
Farmers make adjustments planting in dry conditions
Spring in South Dakota with late snow hanging on has a way of making you feel that you are three weeks behind when you haven’t even started. By the second week of April we were able to decide maybe it really was done snowing and plant 200 acres of oats as a nurse crop for alfalfa. This ground is highly erodible, sandy ground and with the lack of moisture there was a concern for blowing.
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