LINDEN, Mo. (DTN) -- Some things on the farm never change -- like planting in the spring and harvesting in the fall. And like the seasons and weather on David Brandt's Carroll, Ohio, farm where it's still raining -- much the same as it has all year long.

David saw two rains last week totaling 1 1/2 inches. Thanks to that, soil moisture is good for planting the crop that is the exception to the spring-planting rules: fall-seeded winter wheat. David has his seed wheat and grain drill ready and waiting, just like the combine waits for dry weather and maturity to begin soybean harvest. Besides continued rain that slows crop dry down, clouds and fog last every morning until 9 or 10. "We're 10 days away from harvest if it quits raining," David said.

One harvest the weather hasn't slowed has been the consumer crops the Brandts raise and sell in a couple of suburban farmers markets. The last of the potatoes and onions have been dug. They'll be sold from storage through most of October as local markets close down for the winter. Other than zucchini, acorn and summer squash, David's other vegetable crops have stopped producing in response to shorter days.

Halloween decorations are a hot item right now as families visit Saturday markets in search of crops like gourds, pumpkins and fodder shocks. But it's not just people who demand his crops. David's pumpkin production has been nicked by hungry squirrels and deer that gnaw on them in the field.

An underlying benefit from wet weather is improved health of cover crops. Legumes like winter peas, soybeans, sun hemp and cow peas are 2- to 3-feet tall and nodulating like crazy. That's good news for next year's nitrogen-hungry grain crops.

Meanwhile, just outside of Minneapolis, Kan., where corn harvest is on hold, Tom Tibbits has been moving ahead with sunflower harvest, albeit slowly. "We had two combines running on Saturday. Both broke down within about an hour of each other," he said. By Sunday, one was up and running while the other waited for row-crop head parts.

Yields are good with the first field making about 1,600 pounds per acre. Flower seeds are dry enough to bin with only natural aeration from some big fans in spite of about 0.30 inch of rain on Wednesday.

Tom hasn't started soybean harvest, but a few neighbors have tried. While the beans are reported at near 13%, green leaves and stems make tough going in the field. He thinks the big harvest push is still a couple of weeks off as dry-down continues in the fields.

Thanks to recent rains, volunteer wheat and weeds have germinated in continuous winter wheat fields prior to planting. That gives Tom and his neighbors a chance to kill them easily before a new wheat crop is seeded.

A hallmark of U.S. agriculture has always been a "git 'er done" attitude, while some other nations of the world struggle to feed themselves. A recent article appearing on DTN highlighted problems in Africa where many of the world's hungry reside. DTN asked Tom and David their takes on farming in Africa.

 

Neither Tom nor David has been to the continent, but both have unique insights into the problem. David gained his as a U.S. Marine in Vietnam where he was awarded two purple hearts. Being one of very few Americans with real farming experience, he was given the assignment of teaching Vietnamese farmers modern methods of rice and sweet potato production. For the most part, his job was to train them in the use of small tractors intended to replace beasts of burden as the main power source.

 

"From what little I've read about it, I think mechanization might help, but it's important that people understand you're trying to help them," he said. "When I was in Vietnam they (the U.S. government) took over some Ford tractors. I helped the Vietnamese learn to use them instead of water buffalo. We had to leave for a while, but when we came back, the tractors were gone. When I asked what happened to them, the chief said they were in the river. In order to get them to change their methods, we had to get them to change their philosophy."

 

Tom has listened to speakers describe problems in Africa. One problem he's aware of is the adoption of newer crop varieties to replace the old. The development of new public varieties, a mainstay to U.S. agriculture for generations, lags in places such as Africa. Like David, he sees technology as a plus to any production system even though adoption can be a problem. "I might go over with the right people (to help)," Tom said. "I've worked with a gentleman from South Africa. I recently read a group of farmers is going to Zimbabwe from South America to grow soybeans because climate and fertility challenges are very similar with low soil PH and organic matter."

 

Both Tom and David see soil quality and management as crucial to crop production. "A lot of times in Africa they graze crop residues down, so there's not much left for tropical soils that need them," Tom said.

 

David sees a correlation closer to home because of his philosophy on crop production practices and farmers' reluctance to accept no-till and cover crops.

 

"Sometimes I feel the same way about American farmers when I talk to them," he said. "The gain -- or liability -- is to your soil."

(AG\\CZ)

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