South Dakota Farm & Ranch December 2019

CORN HARVEST DRAGS INTO WINTER 4

SD SOYBEAN PRODUCTION EXPECTED TO SEE A SIGNIFICANT

DECLINE THIS YEAR, USDA OFFICAL SAYS

6

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE On the cover

Corn Harvest drags into winter

4

Features

SD soybean production expected to see

a significant decline this year,

USDA official says 6 No one turned off the tap:

2019 wettest on record 8 De Smet, Gregory couples reflect

on participation in Farmers

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Publisher JO N I H A R M S Editor L U K E H AG EN Advertising Director LO R I E H A N S EN Layout Design JA M I E H OY EM South Dakota Farm & Ranch is a monthly agricultural publication dedicated to informing South Dakota area farmers and ranchers about current topics, news and the future of agriculture. This publication fits the niche of our unique farmers and ranchers of South Dakota, and the diverseness we have in our state. Although the Missouri River divides our state, we are all South Dakotans and thank the land for supporting us each and every day.

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Matt Gade / Republic A corn field is harvested in McCook County this fall.

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By Jake Shama harvesting in October, but some FULL of 600 S Burr, Mitchell FULL SERVICE 605-996-5683 800-753-5508 For South Dakota Farm & Ranch iversonauto.com his neighbors still have corn in the FULL SERVICE TRAILER WE DO WORK ON ALL TRAILERS: DEALER 800-753-5508 TRAILER DEALER TRAILER TRAILER DEALER DEALER 605-996-5683 ground.

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one area farmer hopes he’s just experienced the worst year of his career. “Everybody says, ‘Hopefully this will be the one we’re talking about when we’re retired or telling our grandkids about,’ � said Jordan Reimnitz, who farms east of Corsica.

At 36 years old, Reimnitz said this has been the most challenging year he’s experienced farming. “If next year is a disaster like this year, that’s going to put the hurt on a little bit,� Reimnitz said.

Thanks to a well-documented wet spring, Reimnitz only planted about 10 percent of his typical acreage this year. And with wind and hail damaging what little crop he did plant, Reimnitz said his corn yield was “pitiful, to say the least.�

With fewer-than-usual acres planted, Reimnitz was able to finish

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more planted this spring than I did just because of how it was going to be to deal with this fall,� Reimnitz said.

Thanks to ongoing wet conditions, many South Dakota farmers are waiting until December or later to finish harvesting.

By Dec. 1, 80 percent of South Dakota corn was harvested, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service. That’s far lower than last year’s total of 94 percent and the five-year average of 98 percent.

Wet soil conditions have been well documented throughout the year, and NASS confirmed it yet again.

As of Dec. 1, no topsoil across the state rated short or very short of moisture, while only 1 percent of subsoil moisture rated short.

4 SOUTH DAKOTA FARM & RANCH DECEMBER 2019

Continued on page 5

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Matt Gade / Republic Corn about ready to be harvested from a field in Hanson County in late October.

Continued from page 4 Higher-than-usual moisture levels have caused South Dakota’s crop production to take a noticeable hit. NASS forecasted 592 million total bushels in corn production, a drop of 24 percent from last year.

Nationwide, corn production is forecast at 13.7 billion bushels, down 5 percent. South Dakota production makes up about 4.3 percent of the nationwide total.

According to NASS, South Dakota farmers are expected to harvest 3.92 million acres of corn this year, nearly 1 million acres fewer than in 2018.

NASS also reported yield per acre of 151 bushels as of Nov. 1, down from 160 last year. The U.S. yield is 167 bushels.

When asked about corn production this year, South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture Kim Vanneman cited the importance of corn to the state’s ethanol and livestock feed industry.

“Processing corn into ethanol and feed for livestock is a great way to add value to our corn production in the state,” Vanneman said in a written statement.

Vanneman said this tough year has negative impacts on the state’s $32.5 billion ag industry, a number that she said is “a direct result of livestock development.”

Vanneman said her department will “continue to work with the administration to connect producers with resources to assist them,”

and she said farmers impacted may get help from presidential disaster declarations, USDA programs and the Avera Farm and Rural Stress Hotline.

Waiting through winter

Given the wet conditions and cost to dry grain, many farmers have chosen to leave corn in the field to dry on its own. Ruth Beck, SDSU Extension Agronomy Field Specialist in Pierre, expects some of that corn to remain standing all winter.

“There’s probably going to be some crops out all winter out here,” Beck said. “Corn, maybe some sunflowers as well.”

But many farmers who have harvested in central and western South Dakota have been blessed with high yields. Beck cited yields of up to 200 bushels per acre in an SDSU research field east of Pierre and yields of 150 bushels per acre near Wall, which Beck called “exceptional” in traditionally hotter, drier parts of the state.

“It wasn’t all doom and gloom.

There were some good things that happened, but I think everybody is different this year,” Beck said.

Another Corsica farmer, Darrell DeBoer, is one of the producers who hasn’t finished harvesting yet after planting about 90 percent of his acres in June.

DeBoer said some fields are still too wet to drive on, but he’s still planning on harvesting the rest of his crop this year, unlike one year

in the 1980s when he let about 50 acres of corn sit in the field until the following July.

“I’m old enough I’ve seen this cycle before. We’ll just deal with it as it comes,” DeBoer said.

Last year, DeBoer enjoyed some of the best corn and soybean yields of his career, which helps offset a difficult season. Now he’s waiting for a freeze so he can drive through his fields without sinking, but he doesn’t regret planting so much corn, despite some of his neighbors relying heavily on prevented planting payments.

“I guess I’m kind of old school. I like to grow my crop,” DeBoer said.

“Besides that, when you don’t plant, you still have to take care of the ground, and that’s costly, too.”

Unfortunately, the water problems may not be over. Dependent on winter

weather, Beck thinks next year could be another tough season for some waterlogged farmers. Reimnitz said the same thing, but he’s trying to be “optimistically realistic.”

“Most fields are too wet right now going into winter. Usually spring’s a wet time of year, so right now, realistically, it’s looking a little bleak next spring,” Reimnitz said. “If we get some good weather next spring and a decent winter, a lot can change in a month or two.”

Despite the struggles and unpredictable nature of the job, Reimnitz said he still hasn’t lost his passion for working the land.

“Oh, it makes you question why you’re doing what you’re doing,” Reimnitz said. “But if you’ve got a passion for something, it’s pretty hard to give up on it.”

Republic file photo A corn field is harvested in McCook County this fall.

DECEMBER 2019 SOUTH DAKOTA FARM & RANCH 5

SD SOYBEAN PRODUCTION EXPECTED TO SEE A SIGNIFICANT DECLINE THIS YEAR, USDA OFFICIAL SAYS

T

By Sam Fosness The Daily Republic

his year’s historic wet weather has put a damper on soybean farming across the state, and the recent snowstorm has only made things worse.

While the heavy moisture spanning

from the past winter into the spring, summer and fall has hampered farmers from planting the amount of intended soybeans this year, the forecast for soybean yields aren’t too grim. According to Nicholas Streff, Northern Plains regional director with the U.S. Department

of Agriculture, the soybean yield forecast is 43 bushels per acre as of Nov. 1. That’s down two bushels per acre compared to 2018.

“We know South Dakota had some of the most preventative planting this year, so we know we’re down in acres this year compared to the previous

year but all the planting numbers are still being totaled,” Streff said.

Plants per acre, soybean pods per plant, seeds per pod and seeds per pound are some of the variables that Streff said get factored in to estimate soybean yield forecasts.

Continued on page 7

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Continued from page 6 “We are actually going out and counting pods and weighing pods, and we do a harvest sample and send them to a lab so we can get an objective yield measurement,” Streff said, noting the process also includes talking with soybean farmers.

The soybean production forecast is where the lack of planting and harvesting due to weather woes will be felt most, as estimated production forecasts are looking dismal, according to Streff’s figures.

While the USDA is in the process of figuring how many acres of soybean crops were planted in the state this year, Streff said soybean production is forecast to see a rough estimate of 153 million bushels, down 39% compared to the previous year. According to the USDA’s statistics, there were a total of 251,100,000 bushels of soybeans that were produced in 2018.

In addition, the estimated area of harvested soybean crop throughout the state is significantly less at 3.56 million acres, down 36% from 2018.

Despite the weather challenges, South Dakota soybean farmers were able to get 95% of their crops harvested as of Nov. 17, Streff said.

The recent snowstorm and fall precipitation have also complicated corn harvesting this year.

“At the state level, corn harvest is lagging behind from where we typically are, as we’re at 80% complete,” Streff said.

At this time last year, Streff said South Dakota saw 94% of its corn harvested and the five-year average is 98% for the beginning of December.

As of Nov. 1, Streff said the average corn yield forecast for the entire state is 151 bushels per acre, down nine bushels from the previous year.

Todd Yeaton, a farmer and manager of Gavilon Grain in Kimball, said he hopes to never see a farming year like 2019 again. From experiencing lower soybean yields to seeing a significant less amount of soybeans being hauled into the grain elevator, Yeaton has witnessed how much damage the weather has done to crops 30 to 45 miles west of Mitchell.

Yeaton said the average yields in the Kimball area have been roughly seven bushels less than the previous year, hovering around 40 bushels per acre. The price per bushel fluctuates near $8, similar to other parts of the state as of recent.

“Some of the beans were exceptional, but there were plenty that were disappointing,” Yeaton said. “We just didn’t have the acres planted this year, and our bushels are lower on every crop out in this part of the country.”

Considering the harvest season was pushed back this year due to sporadic rainfall, Yeaton said there are some crops that have yet to be harvested.

With a recent coat of roughly six to 10 inches of snowfall settling into the crop soil, Yeaton said there would need to be a consistent warm and

dry pattern of weather to allow the remaining crops to be harvested.

“The thing they’ve been waiting for is the ground to get firm enough to get out into the fields they haven’t been able to get to,” Yeaton said.

“But with the snow we just got, that will put a hindrance on being able to get out there with over five to seven inches of snow in some fields. That will stop any progress we can make until it melts off, and it could be spring until it does melt.”

Roughly 30 miles east of Mitchell in Salem, Tim Donelan, Central Farmers Co-op elevator staff member, said

he’s seen much less soybean and corn at the elevators this year. Donelan estimates around 300,000 bushels of soybeans have been brought to the elevators.

For the Salem area, Donelan estimates that only 25% of soybeans were able to be planted this year.

“We have seen a large drop in soybeans like many other elevators have as well, and we usually see about 1.2 million of bushels here at the elevator in a given year,” Donelan said. “It’s just been one of those years, and the moisture keeps coming in waves.”

Republic file photo Soybeans in a field west of Letcher.

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DECEMBER 2019 SOUTH DAKOTA FARM & RANCH 7

NO ONE TURNED OFF THE TAP: 2019 WETTEST ON RECORD

B

By Lura Roti South Dakota Farmers Union

ased on 125 years of South Dakota weather data, 2019 is the wettest on record, says SDSU Extension State Climatologist Laura Edwards.

“This season tells the story of a long-term climate trend we are seeing of wetter weather. It has created many challenges for our farmers,” Edwards says. “Throughout the growing season I heard farmers say they would rather have a drought than a flood because a flood does more damage to the land and equipment.

Flooding creates so much more work and managing a farm through an excessively wet year requires much more labor.”

Groton farmer, Chad Johnson would agree with the farmers Edwards visited with. He can easily compare the two extremes because in 2018 his area was under a severe drought. And beginning with an April 2019 blizzard, just in time for calving season, excess moisture has challenged every aspect of his farming operation.

“The heavens opened up and it rained, rained and rained. No one

ever shut off the tap,” explains the fourth-generation farmer.

The 32-plus inches of rain his farm received led to a few deaths at calving and limited the number of acres Johnson was able to plant. This fall, standing water and muddy soil created by frequent rain and snow events make getting combines into corn and soybean fields challenging to say the least. “My friends and I think we tried too hard this spring to plant because now we can’t get the crop harvested. I have gotten the grain cart stuck a couple times.

I know people who have gotten their combine stuck,” explains Johnson, 47.

As of December 2, he has 450-acres of corn left to harvest. Now, the crop is under 15-plus inches of snow.

“I typically look forward to harvest.

It’s when I get to see what that new hybrid I planted did. It’s when I receive the fruits of my labor. Not harvest 2019. This fall, farmers in our area began referring to the season as Hellvest.”

Continued on page 9

Photo courtesy SDFU “My friends and I think we tried too hard this spring to plant because now we can’t get the crop harvested.

I have gotten the grain cart stuck a couple times. I know people who have gotten their combine stuck,” explains Groton farmer, Chad Johnson, 47.

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Continued from page 8 Johnson’s story is not unique.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, due to excess moisture, South Dakota producers were unable to plant 4 million acres. The greatest number of prevent plant acres of any state.

“It’s certainly a year for the history books and I’m afraid the impacts will be seen into the future,” says S.D. Secretary of Agriculture, Kim Vanneman.

Impacts like soil compaction, explains Anthony Bly, SDSU Extension Soils Field Specialist. Caused by heavy equipment tracking on excessively wet soil, soil compaction decreases the soil’s ability to store water and transport nutrients, it also makes it difficult for plant’s roots to penetrate the soil because “it takes the pores out of the soil,” Bly says.

Like so many farmers this season, Bly, a fourth-generation Garretson farmer, had to make some tough management decisions which led to soil compaction. “Farmers, like me, did what we had to do. We needed to harvest on wet soils because the crop was ready and if we waited, we didn’t know what the weather would do.”

Compaction isn’t the only longterm side effect of 2019 weather.

When farmers are unable to plant or harvest their crops, the entire state feels the impact, Vanneman explains.

“Agriculture is the backbone of South Dakota and when agriculture

is impacted, there are ripple effects across the state. Producers have fewer dollars to spend in town which has negative impacts on Main Street, in small communities like Winner and large ones, like Sioux Falls.”

Disaster relief

But what about the disaster relief programs and crop insurance? “These programs may help us cover our rental or land payments and input expenses, but there is no possibility of income. These payments don’t cover living expenses. Most farmers will just be happy if they can break even,” says Beresford farmer, Larry Birgen, 58.

Due to standing water and mud, Birgen was only able to plant 30 percent of his corn and soybean acres. Which means he didn’t use all the inputs he pre-paid for at his local cooperative. Although he hopes the 2020 crop uses up the pre-paid inputs and then some, Birgen says with so many farmers in a similar situation, it makes it tough for cooperatives and privately-owned seed, agronomy and grain businesses.

“This is really hurting our cooperative,” says Birgen who sits on the board of directors for Southeast Farmers Coop. “Drive by their bunkers and they are only a quarter full, and typically by this time of year they would be clear full.”

Continued on page 13

Photo courtesy SDFU Caused by heavy equipment tracking on excessively wet soil, soil compaction decreases the soil’s ability to store water and transport nutrients, it also makes it difficult for plant’s roots to penetrate the soil because “it takes the pores out of the soil,” explains Anthony Bly, SDSU Extension Soils Field Specialist.

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DECEMBER 2019 SOUTH DAKOTA FARM & RANCH 9

DE SMET, GREGORY COUPLES REFLECT ON PARTICIPATION IN FARMERS UNION ENTERPRISE COUPLES LEADERSHIP PROGRAM

H

URON — Throughout her career as a nurse, Darcie Lee has participated in professional development trainings which included personality tests and discussions on how to effectively work with colleagues. Even though she gained a lot from the experience, she says it’s completely different when you take the training with your spouse and the focus is your family’s farm.

“When we took the training together, we were able to learn from each other,” explains Darcie of the seminar she and her husband, Rob, participated in as part of a recent Farmers Union Enterprise Couples Leadership Program seminar in Montana. Rob and Darcie farm with Rob’s parents and siblings, raising crops, cattle and recently a small herd of alpaca. The couple have two young

children, Everett, 4, and Rosene, 1.

Rob, who also works off the farm as a crop insurance adjuster, agrees.

“If Darcie were to come home from a training and try and explain to me what she learned, it would mean nothing.”

He explains that because they took the training together, they not only learned about themselves and their own communication style, but they were also able to understand how their spouse’s style may be different and how they can communicate more effectively.

Effective communication is valuable on a family farming operation where family members not only live together but work together. “With family, there can be emotional baggage.

Continued on page 11

Photo courtesy of SDFU. George & Shelly Kenzy, pictured here with their three children, talk about what they learned from the year they spent representing SDFU as participants in the Farmers Union Enterprise Couples Leadership Experience.

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Continued from page 10 By understanding communication styles, it helps take the emotion out of things because you can take a step back and understand why someone is acting the way that they are,” Darcie says.

Providing couples with leadership training is among the many focuses of Farmers Union Enterprise Couples Leadership Program which was developed to substantiate and empower future leaders for rural America and Farmers Union through leadership, citizenship and policy development training. Rob and Darcie represent South Dakota in the one-year program that hosts a farm or ranch couple from each of the following five states: North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Montana.

Gregory cattle producers, George and Shelly Kenzy can relate to the Lees’ experiences. The couple participated in the program in 2018.

As they reflect on the experience, they say what they’ve learned about the organization and themselves has made the time invested priceless.

“We are grateful for the exposure to the people and leadership of Farmers Union, in South Dakota, across the region and at the national level,” explains George, who together with his brother, Brett, operate a 3,100-head capacity feedyard and run a 300-head cow/calf herd. The brothers background their own

calves, purchase local cattle to feed and custom background for other producers. The fourth-generation ranchers also raise most of their forage needs.

“FUE has given us a lot of different learning experiences,” Shelly adds, explaining that throughout the oneyear experience the couple had the opportunity to attend another state Farmers Union convention, National Farmers Union Convention, tour a variety of agriculture enterprises including a robotic dairy, cranberry bog and community-supported agriculture vegetable operation as well as a coal mine, electricity generating plant, brewery and winery. “Along with learning policies and politics of agribusiness, Farmers Union invested greatly in us giving the opportunity to network with people and to have some experiences away from our little circle that we’re usually wrapped up in.”

They also had the opportunity to strengthen their personal and professional leadership skills. “We were encouraged to build upon our strengths and address our weaknesses,” George says. “The experience expanded the way we think. So often we assume others think the same as we do. We learned how to speak up for ourselves and bring understanding of agriculture to the rest of the world.”

Continued on page 14

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Continued from page 9 Serving Union, Clay, Lincoln, Turner and Yankton Counties, many of the farmer members Southeast Farmers Coop serves have experienced challenges related to excess moisture going on three years now. The challenges extend beyond input sales, explains Don Truhe, General Manager of Southeast Farmers Coop.

“If farmers can’t get into their fields, not only does it impact sales of seed and fertilizer, but we don’t get paid to apply the fertilizer or spray the fields.”

And the 40-plus full time employees who count on overtime during planting and harvest also took a financial hit, which impacts the many rural communities they call home. Annually, Southeastern Farmers Coop pays more than $3 million in salaries. “Because we didn’t have the busy season we typically do, it impacts what our employees earn and their ability to spend,” Truhe says. “We spent a lot of years strengthening our balance sheet just for this type of season. We will be OK. But other cooperatives or private businesses may not be.”

We’re in this together

With his combine parked in the shop, Johnson prays for warm weather to melt the recent snowfall.

Then, he hopes for freezing temps so he can get back into his corn fields.

“What we need is some poor man’s concrete. If the snow melts and the ground freezes just enough, we can get this harvest wrapped up. I’m so over 2019. It’s been one heck of a year for our family and friends.”

Earlier this year, his family experienced a loss when a young farmer committed suicide. “This weather is taking a toll. We talk about the mental health aspect of it all the time. That’s why, if there are young farmers out there who are hurting, please ask for help. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Vanneman echoes his thoughts.

“Like everyone in the industry, we’ve watched with growing concern the impact this year has had on the mental health of producers and others in the ag industry,” she says.

Vanneman reminds South Dakotans of the resources available to farmers, ranchers, their family and friends, like the 24/7 Avera Farm and Rural

Stress Hotline:1-800-691-4336.

She adds that in addition to Presidential disaster declarations, requested by Governor Noem to provide assistance to communities and counties impacted by weather, there are also programs available through U.S. Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency.

In addition to resources, Johnson

says when he needs motivation, he looks to his family and friends who are farming. “We are in this together.

It’s a tough deal. Farmers are going bankrupt. But we are resilient. I think about the fact that my dad and uncle made it through tough times. I think about my son, Porter, who will be the fifth generation to farm, and I keep pecking away.

Photo courtesy SDFU A view of standing water in a corn field from Groton farmer, Chad Johnson’s combine.

Photo courtesy SDFU Groton farmer, Chad Johnson talks about the challenges 32-plus inches of moisture brought to growing season 2019.

DECEMBER 2019 SOUTH DAKOTA FARM & RANCH 13

Daniel Acker / Bloomberg Three-month-old pigs stand in a pen in Walcott, Iowa.

BIGGEST PIG HERD SINCE WWII KEEPS U.S. FARMERS FROM CASHING IN ON DEMAND

T

By Lydia Mulvany and Michael Hirtzer Bloomberg

he biggest U.S. hog herd since World War II is keeping liveanimal prices muted even as a record number of pigs are being slaughtered to meet booming global demand.

After a deadly disease decimated pigs in top consumer China as well as other parts of Asia, American hog farmers were expected to benefit from rising exports to fill a protein shortfall. However, while slaughter estimates in the U.S. touched a daily record on Monday, prices for live animals are at the lowest ever for

Continued from page 11 And to get more involved in their community. “Many of the classes encouraged us to be productive citizens in our small communities to help keep them alive,” Shelly says.

George says the FUE experience motivated him to accept the

the season in government data going back to 2003.

Producers aren’t able to capitalize on the increase in demand because of ample supply in the U.S. Earlier this decade, American hog farmers responded to more imports by China, higher prices, new meat packing plants and low animal feed costs by expanding their herds. That yearslong drive has now left them with the most number of pigs since 1943.

“The fact of the matter is we have a lot of up-front supply,” said Ted Seifried, chief marketing strategist at Zaner Ag Hedge Group. “It’s just a ton of product to move. We really want to buy into this bullish story but the fact of the matter is that the

bullish story is not saving us from our supply issues.”

The U.S. hog herd totaled 77.678 million head on Sept. 1, according to data from the U.S. Agriculture Department. The agency is due to update that estimate on Dec. 23.

Live-animal prices are at just 43.57 cents a pound, down 9% from a year ago, government data showed Monday. Hog slaughter estimates touched 497,000 head.

While China is purchasing record amounts of the meat because the African Swine Fever disease obliterated its herds, American pig producers are concerned by the uncertainty surrounding the trade war between Washington and Beijing.

The long-running dispute has disrupted purchases of U.S. products by consumers in the prized Asian market.

“We’re optimistic that we will get a trade deal, but it keeps getting kicked down the road,” Don Roose, president of Iowa-based brokerage U.S. Commodities Inc., said by phone.

“They are buying pork, but it’s not enough.”

There are some winners. Booming exports along with cheap, plentiful animals is proving a perfect recipe for processors. Pork packers have been seeing record margins, and thus have the incentive to process every animal they can.

invitation to join a board of directors he had previously turned down.

“FUE motivated me and prepared me by giving me confidence in understanding how meetings are run, and how to speak up for my thoughts and the things I believe in — not to be afraid to say what I’m thinking because sometimes that

gets results.”

The couple had an opportunity to put their advocacy training to work when they participated in the 2019 National Farmers Union D.C. Fly-In this September. “I could tell a difference between this Fly-In and the Fly-In we participated in a few years ago. We were both more

confident,” Shelly says.

The couple say they also gained a lot from the close network of friends they developed with the other family farmers and ranchers who participated in the leadership seminar from Montana, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

14 SOUTH DAKOTA FARM & RANCH DECEMBER 2019

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