View From the Cab

DECATUR, Ill. (DTN) -- Ethan Zoerb doesn't need a time-traveling automobile or perhaps more accurately, a tractor, to get back to the future. The Litchfield, Nebraska, farmer's yesterday looks very much like his today and hopefully, his tomorrows.

As a kid, Ethan used to don flannel shirts and bib overalls trying to look just like his dad, Dale. He remembers that he couldn't wait to start running the grain cart or do anything that would mean he was 'farming' with Dad.

"At the end of the school day, for example, I'd have the school bus drop me at the field, rather than home," he recalled. "I'd even change bus routes so they could take me to the field where we were working at the time."

Now 33 and with children of his own, the thrill hasn't grown old for Ethan. This week as part of DTN's View From the Cab feature, he talks about working with "his childhood hero" every day and the importance tending the relationship.

Stuart Sanderson, of Madison, Alabama, is also reporting in on crop conditions and other farming topics this season. He also has strong memories of earlier days when he yearned to be like his farming grandfather and uncle.

"I remember my cousin and I spraying ourselves with water and rolling around in the dirt because we wanted to look 'dirty' like these hardworking men we admired," he revealed.

"We'd do the same thing to ballcaps -- making them look sweaty and worn. I made Mom buy me the same brand of boots that they wore. I wanted to be a part of it all," he said.

He still carries a yellow handled Barlow knife because that's what his grandfather favored. Now his own son, Spencer, is charting a career path in agriculture.

This week Sanderson and Zoerb have both been hustling to complete field operations compressed by wonky spring weather. Read on to learn what's forecast for their area and more about their thoughts on what it takes to farm with family.

STUART SANDERSON: MADISON, ALABAMA

In the rare moments when Sanderson has had time to close his eyes during the past two weeks, he still sees wheat. With more rain in the forecast, the entire farm crew was hammering hard to get the remainder of the crop harvested on June 13. Soybean planters were following close behind the combines.

"Our wheat yields are off by 15 to 20 bushels (per acre)," Sanderson said. "Test weights are running 57 to 58 (pounds per bushel. We expected this because of all the rain we've had, but it is still disappointing. This wheat that remains sure does not need another rain."

Corn, on the other hand, will continue to need rain as it becomes lazy when it doesn't have to root down to moisture. Double crop soybeans are in a similar scenario.

"If this was June 1, we'd wait to plant these beans. The soil is 'heavy' with all the rain we've had," he said. "The Egyptians taught us that straw and mud makes bricks. We now need it to keep raining to keep the soil loosened up for emergence.

"The first wheat beans planted are already up and looking good. They went in the ground and immediately came up," he added.

DTN Weather Risk Communicator Teresa Wells said a fairly wet pattern is on tap for the region this weekend (June 14-15) with around 0.5-1 inch of rain expected through Saturday and Sunday. The heaviest rain was expected Saturday with multiple rounds possible throughout the day and Sunday's showers and storms would be more isolated. High temperatures were forecast to be in the lower 80s, which is about 5 degrees Fahrenheit below average.

"Next week could feature daily chances for isolated to scattered rain showers and thunderstorms that would mainly favor the afternoon into early evening hours as they would be driven by daytime heating. This is a typical pattern for the summertime in the Southeast," said Wells.

"Rainfall amounts from Monday to Friday next week will likely exceed 0.5 inch, but there's higher uncertainty whether amounts will reach closer to 1 inch. The rainfall next week will be heavily dependent on whether the scattered showers and thunderstorms move directly over the area."

Long days and weather complications can make for raw nerves in the best of partnerships. "There's not a family farm that exists that doesn't have tension at times," Sanderson said.

At Henderson Farms, the three partners have distinct job responsibilities split between production and financial sides of the business. "We will make day-to-day decisions within our respective responsibilities. But the big stuff -- such as purchasing a piece of equipment or planting intentions -- requires that we all agree. Not just two of us, but all three of us," he said.

Many of those discussions take place leaning on the truck end gate. But there are times when spreadsheets need to come out and the discussion goes behind closed doors to sort out the pros and cons. Mutual respect and having a working business structure in place is the key to mediating differences of opinion, he said.

Sanderson's father worked for NASA. "He wasn't a farmer, but how he approached life shaped a lot of my business acuity," Sanderson said. "And, growing up around the farm, my grandfather and uncle became like extended fathers."

He sums up the moral lessons learned from being surrounded by many fatherly influencers like this: "Adversity doesn't build character. Character is what you've got. Adversity just exposes what's already in you."

These days he's watching his own son live up to this code. Spencer, a senior majoring in agribusiness at Mississippi State University, recently received first place in the 2025 George Hopper Excellence in Undergraduate Research Award.

"Spencer has walked right beside me and been part of everything here on the farm. I enjoyed explaining in detail everything we do here and how it relates to our profitability, our cash flow and working capital. I've never held anything back from him.

"This hands-on experience and real-world knowledge are pushing him forward to do great things," Sanderson said. "Ultimately, those things may not involve coming back to the farm. Sometimes you get called on in life to do certain things at certain times because you are the right fit for it.

"I've got what I want for Father's Day. The Bible says there's no greater responsibility for a father than to raise the next generation. I've had a hand in a lot of the things Spencer has done, but he's using his own initiative to take it to the next level. That's the best gift a dad can ever get," he said.

ETHAN ZOERB: LITCHFIELD, NEBRASKA

Higher temperatures lit a fire under corn in west central Nebraska this week, reported Zoerb. The farm team was racing to get postemergence sprays applied before heat units push corn past labeled cut-off restrictions.

"Keeping ahead of Palmer (amaranth) is key for us," Zoerb said. "It's not just the height of the corn we're focused on. We want to catch that Palmer before it gets any size to it."

They've also been targeting some up some errant patches of rye, which appeared to be a cover crop that has just shown up after failing to germinate last fall in dry conditions. "With the recent rain and heat, we've had some flushes of weeds starting to come in and we want to stay ahead of them," he said.

His father, Dale, holds the keys to the sprayer and likes herbicides to have at least one full day to dry before putting other machines in the field. The weather was friendlier this week -- allowing the time and proper conditions to space operations.

Zoerb has been busy side dressing corn with 20 to 30 gallons of nitrogen (actual) through Y-Drops.

The weather forecast for the upcoming weekend is calling for low temperatures in the mid to upper 60s F with high temperatures near 90 F on Saturday and the mid 80s by Sunday. Precipitation chances will be on the lower side as a warm front tries to work through the Central Plains, DTN's Wells said.

"Showers and storms are expected to develop in western Nebraska on Saturday afternoon and will push east into the evening, however, it's uncertain if they will hold together by the time they get to Litchfield. A similar pattern could be in store for Sunday as well. If storms can hold together to make it through central Nebraska, it's possible to see at least 0.25 inch of rain," she said.

"Looking ahead to next week, model guidance is having a tough time agreeing on rainfall potential through the middle of the week. The pattern could favor larger thunderstorm complexes moving through and these could lead to swaths of 1-2 inches or more of rain in the Plains," she said.

"However, models are notorious for struggling to pinpoint these thunderstorm complexes until they are within 24 hours of occurring. The Central Plains will have to be on the lookout for these systems early next week as they can also bring a risk for damaging wind gusts. By the second half of the week, conditions may trend drier," Wells said.

Farming on the Plains can be humbling. But if Zoerb ever had a time when he considered doing something other than farm, it was a fleeting period during his late teens.

Still, despite growing up wanting to be like Dad, he's also keenly aware that they have different personalities. "I like to study and contemplate and can be slower to act. Dad is more direct. He always runs at full throttle and is ready to get things done," he noted.

The long-ago photo of father and son playfully butting heads on Zoerb's 5th birthday that accompanies this article is a favorite. "We have occasional differences of opinion," he admitted. "But while we work together, we're not together all the time. We can go to our separate cabs and think through things that might have been said and come back later to talk things through. We've learned it isn't a good idea to let things simmer."

Over the past few years, Zoerb has watched friends lose their farming fathers and grieve the lack of guidance. "It's a reminder to not let small things become big," he said.

He has also heard the stories of farmers who never got a chance to call the shots because Dad wouldn't let go.

"I'm fortunate because I feel Dad looks for my input. Now, he might tell me it is a stupid idea, but he's always willing to listen and consider it," he said.

It was Zoerb who pushed to move to a central-fill planter for soybeans several years ago to introduce planting efficiencies. This year he lobbied to add a spray drone to explore what it can do for the farm.

"Dad has never been complacent, and I believe that is key to our working relationship. He always wants to produce the best yields and be as profitable as possible. For example, we were among the early adopters of GPS (global positioning system) and ExactApply spray technology.

"I think a big reason I like to do research, and experiment with new practices is because he has always been willing to try new things. When I needed a research project in college, he was excited as I was to try different tillage methods and compare them in the trial we set up. He wanted to know the results too. That makes him super fun and cool to work with," he said.

While it may sound simple, Zoerb said facing the fact everything is not going to go smoothly 100% of the time may be the biggest hurdle people face when working with family. Being realistic about expectations and finding a way to address those tougher times is critical.

"Expressing goals and ambitions is important, even if the conversation isn't always comfortable," he said. "Make sure those conversations happen at a time and in a place where everyone is listening. Cultivating communication skills is work and just as important -- or maybe more important -- than tending the crops."

Pamela Smith can be reached at pamela.smith@dtn.com

Follow her on social platform X @PamSmithDTN

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