What a hell of a question to be asking of another farmer at this time of the year and particularly this year. It seems everybody is undergoing a fair bit of stress in this cropping year, mainly because of lack of moisture. Down here in the southeast we didn't fare very well last year, and this year is not much better in some areas, albeit , there are some rather patchy districts with crops that are not too bad. A good look around you though, will confirm that there is a lack of moisture over a pretty good chunk of the province. Grass is a good indicator, and most cattlemen are grazing on hay land, or poor crop in an attempt to "hold on" and see if they can get their livestock to the fall, and then opt for some straw maintenance ration.
Direct seeding areas, on the other hand, really stands out this year. You can tell from 100 clicks an hour who took the time to seed at the proper depth, and who went too fast or just right and those that "got most of it right", including the right speed to place the seed to the moisture with the fertilizer either side banded, or in my case, mid row between the paired row seed. I know we had a low chance for good emergence for a number of reasons: not much snow cover after a pretty dry fall, and a very dry summer of '97; some hail (not enough) and the cost of Pre Harvest Roundup. But what we didn't have was the 10 days of hot spring weather with 70 km winds that really took a toll on the cropping areas. If 1997 stands out at all, it will be for that reason alone. I may not have farmed for as many years as some of you readers, but I don't recall ever having seen the land dry out so fast as last year. This year, in our neck of the woods, it looks a lot better. Maybe we have a chance at this year being "that ever elusive Next Year". We are hoping.
I get laughed at some time by my professional counterparts in this association, by having a machine that features paired row seeding with rubber faced packers. Quite a number of them have said in the past, "it doesn't work." Sometimes I reply "it didn't work as well as I would have liked , but hoping that "Next Year" I would make it work and have pictures to prove it. Guess what....... this year I got it, and have the pictures to prove it. You see, I guess I believe what I preach, in that one system is not the best for every single situation, right across this fantastic province, or into neighboring provinces. The system you choose has to work on your farm, under your conditions, and with your rotation. I rather think every farmer has to do some degree of homework to discover the system or machine that is right for you, and then learn how to make that machine work even better. The bigger challenge is not in selecting the company that has the most bells and whistles, even though some of those things are appealing to us, but what actually works. Then the learning process starts all over again, because you then have to "become friends " with your new machine and find out what it can do and what it can't do.
So many farmers these days are taking the track that more is better and are desperately trying to increase their acreage in the hopes of being more sustainable. It hasn't always worked. Some farmers will continue to expand, some will continue to buy all the new toys, and some will go out of business. I heard an American economist say recently that 70 % of USA farm land will change hands in the next 20 years. (big deal - where have you been sir? It happens all the time in Canada when we change generations). The bigger worry should be the fact that 25% of all farmers will be out of business in the next 5 years. Rail line abandonment, cost of inputs, uncertain commodity prices, corporate mergers are all going to give us much more to think about in the very near future. In fact, if you haven't been asked to fill out a credit application by your supplier this year, you may be pretty sure you might have to do one before next year. Some companies are asking for a new one each and every year, regardless of your past experience.
I think what I am getting at is that much has changed in the recent past in the farming industry. It has not come to full realization yet that we can and are becoming more efficient in our farming methods . Direct seeding so far has stood the test of time and has become the sought after method of choice by many farmers, both inside this country and out. How you afford it, has also become somewhat of a challenge for some producers. But we know it does work, it can work even better and this Association will certainly strive to do all it can to improve on that thought. Now, if we could just convince Allan Rock that our 22 is needed, and we promise not to introduce Hep C into farming, maybe he would have some influence in letting farmers share some of that bank profit picture. I digress. How are your crops anyway?