Gutknecht Family Farms

2017 Field Notes

Looking back at 2017, many successes where had. With an early start, we were able to field cultivate and plant in dry conditions, giving us ideal seed bed. As the summer progressed the first scare came along 10 days before tassel in the form of a large rain storm with strong winds. I would venture to say 10% of our corn laid flat after the storm. The timing could not have been better though, whereas the crop was at a stage that it allowed it to stand back up before tassel. In July, August, and September, the rains were timely. Maybe even more importantly the days warmed up nicely, but cooled off at night. This allowed the ear to pollinate properly, while adding test weight to the kernel. The weather then continued to cooperate through harvest, allowing us to harvest in a timely fashion with few issues. I would have to say Mother Nature as a whole was good to us and helped set a positive a tone for all of the farm’s activities in the 2017 growing year.

- Bill G.

Early on in the growing season, we notice a poorly drained area in a field we had previously installed drainage tile. After reviewing our digital installation maps from 1997, we located multiple lines in the problem area, uncovered them, and found them full of tree roots. Nearly 300ft total of line was affected, and in fact the roots in some portions were packed so tight they were imprinted with the ribbed profile of the tile. Even more impressive, no trees were located within 100yrds of any of the lines. With the roots removed and new tile laid, the area was able to drain and be put back into production in the matter days.