FROM THE FIELDS
Wet weather has slowed planting down for farmers throughout Illinois, including in southern Illinois. Nick Harre, district director for the Illinois Soybean Association, said he and his family have their full-season soybeans all in the ground and are about half done with corn planting. They also raise double-crop soybeans following their wheat crop.
Weather, mechanical issues delay planting By Jeannine Otto
AGRINEWS PUBLICATIONS
NASHVILLE, Ill. — Nick Harre is a doctor, having earned his Ph.D. from Purdue University in 2017. But he’s also a carpenter, electrician, dairy cow breeder and heifer barn herdsman. But when it’s time to plant or harvest the crops that go to feed the farm’s dairy herd, his job description expands. “We all have certain things that are our specialty, but when it’s go time, all bets are off and anybody can do anything,” he said. Harre farms with his family in Washington County, in rural Nashville. Wilra Farms is a combination 400-cow dairy and grain farm that currently is operated by two generations of Harres. Nick and his brother, Clint; their cousins, Lucas and Matt; Nick and Clint’s father, Doug; and Doug’s brother, Curt; and their three farm employees operate the farm. Nick, Clint, Lucas and Matt are the fifth generation 16 Summer 2022
throughout Illinois, Harre and his family have faced weather challenges in getting corn and full-season soybeans This spring has been a chalplanted. They were further lenge. We’re probably halfway delayed by mechanical issues there on corn planting. Full that made them turn to a new season soybeans, those are all in planting style. the ground. Typically everything “We have one planter, so would be in the ground and out convention has typically been We got the hay put up. We were of the ground by this time of to get the corn in the ground able to get all the manure knifed year. We are definitely several first, especially with having in, so we have manure storage weeks behind. the cows. We need to make now for the summer. You just sure we get the corn silage Thankfully, we’ve been able to planted early. Our main tillget stuff that’s absolutely neces- have to roll with the punches. age tractor went down and Nick Harre sary done. You’d like to have all it was more than we could NASHVILLE, ILL. the corn planted by now, but at repair. It looked like we weren’t going to have that tractor at all this spring, so delicate balance, especially as of the family to farm. The after about half of the corn the family gets extended. My farm raises corn, soybeans, was in, we decided to switch wheat, alfalfa and other silage generation is me, my brother to beans and no-till beans crops and they currently milk and cousins. We’re all having this year, which we don’t norkids, too, so you start looking 460 Holstein cows, sending mally do. But we decided to at what the next generation is the milk to Prairie Farms for try to no-till the beans in and going to be like,” he said. processing. use the other tractor to put Harre and his wife, Andrea, on anhydrous, then, when it Harre said each member of who teaches seventh grade the team has their own spewas done with anhydrous, math at Franklin Park Middle make it the tillage tractor,” cialty area of focus. “Each person has kind of School in Salem, have a son, Harre said. their own niche. When you Declan, 2, and they are exHaving a lot of hungry get a lot of family involved, I pecting their second child in Holstein mouths to feed think that’s probably the best right on the farm means that November. way to make it work. It’s a putting up feed to keep the Like many farmers
Roll with the punches
least we got enough corn in the ground that we know we’re going to have feed for the coming year.
