Gutknecht Family Farms
8226 Ranchero Rd.
Cedar Falls, IA 50613
Bill Gutknecht
319 - 404 - 5081
2015 Field Notes
Late Winter/Early Spring Notes
Some people feel that farmers hibernate for the winter. That is not the case on our farm. We just finished making plans for what hybrids we are going to plant on what fields. This is not an easy task given the different soil types, previous crop, previous hybrid, and your best prediction of what the weather is going to due. Then when you just thought you have got it figured out the seed salesman calls and says the variety you wanted did not germ well, “please make another selection”.
On a different note, the decision has been made to up-grade our drying system. We will be doubling our drying capacity with a new tower dryer. This type of dryer is a more energy efficient while producing a better quality kernel when dried. Hopefully it lives up to our expectations. This project is going to take a lot of our time this summer.
- Bill G.
Spring Notes
The snow has left and we are off and running. The comment was made to me “most people grow corn and beans, but on your farm, you seem to be growing steel.” And we have! The bin crew arrived early, and installed the leg and the dryer before we even hit the fields. In fact we got to the fields 3 to 4 days late due to helping with the new dryer project. Once we got up and running, spring went fast allowing us to get planting done in a little over a week.
- Bill G.
Summer Notes
Mid August, things from the road look pretty good, but however I am cautious. Early summer was wet pushing us to switch our fertilization program. Instead of knifing the fertilizer into the ground next to the roots, we were forced to apply it in droplet form with the sprayer. This wasn’t our first choice but it does work given the correct conditions. Crop Specialists in the area are calling for a record crop in our area. Hope they are right. We’ll just have to wait and see.
- Bill G.
Fall Notes
Fall is finally here! Hayden and Heather are both back to school and Kane is growing more and more everyday. There is never a dull moment between getting the new dryer up and running to wrenching on equipment getting everything ready for fall. Before you know it winter will be here.
- Jared G.
Late Fall Notes
Though I’ve seen numerous examples of it before, it is still amazing see the power of Mother Nature. Mid-summer when I was dripping 32% nitrogen with the sprayer, I dissatisfied with plant health and the overall condition of the crop. Wet weather in late spring was cause for great concern, and I was uncertain what harvest would bring. Then shortly after, the weather cleared up becoming almost ideal, and it was remarkable to watch the crop respond and rebound. In the end, this year’s corn crop was one of the best I have ever seen.
The new corn dryer was also great. Over the summer, we replaced our module dryer with a tower dryer and improved our grain handling system. The dryer’s improved capacity was impressive, but its enhanced uptime was even more greatly appreciated. This is the first dryer I’ve owned that has worked exceedingly well and relatively trouble free. Everyone at the farm for harvest was very pleased with its performance.
As I look back it look, it really was a successful fall with favorable weather, a good harvest, and great help.
- Bill G.