View From the Cab

DECATUR, Ill. (DTN) -- Harvest kicks off next week for Stuart Sanderson and his partners at Henderson Farms. It is early for the northern Alabama farm, but the crop is ready and so are the bins.

"We probably could have gone this week, but once you start, it's nonstop and intense until harvest is done," said Sanderson.

Ethan Zoerb figures he is still a month or more away from harvest on the earliest of his west central Nebraska crop. But this week he was working towards it by mowing field edges to clear a path for combines and semis that will be used when the gathering starts.

"I think more than anything I'm stirring up pollen," said Zoerb, who struggles with allergies. "But it helps to clean out little saplings that may have come up and to find any holes that might cause problems with bigger machines."

Zoerb and Sanderson are participating in DTN's View From the Cab series this season. The farmers volunteer their comments on current crop conditions and other top-of-mind topics. This is the 21st year for the View From the Cab feature and the 17th article in the 2025 series.

While both farmers were finding it hard to believe the summer has already turned to August, the farm doesn't wait for stragglers. This week, Sanderson attended an auction and was already thinking ahead to next year's equipment needs. Zoerb Farms was delivering a few added nutrients to developing beans.

For fun, we asked about bucket-list places the farmers would like to visit. Let the road trips begin when harvest is done!

ETHAN ZOERB: LITCHFIELD, NEBRASKA

A skid loader with a front-mounted mower is Zoerb's preferred way to tackle those wooly field edges. This is the time of year to check off chores that need done before harvest gears up.

It's going to be a little bit before combines open his fields. The corn is through pollination. Zoerb said his crop ranges from blister to late milk stages. Stress can still abort kernels at these stages, but so far, grain fill seems to be progressing nicely, Zoerb said.

"Some of the beans are starting to fill pods, but I'm still a bit worried about what is or isn't happening in beans. Nodulation was a concern early but maybe is not as bad as I thought early. They just don't seem happy," he said.

This week an application of potassium and a few other micronutrients were applied through the pivots to address low levels showing up in tissue samples with hopes it will encourage the soybeans to perk up.

Irrigation duty is usually a time-consuming chore this time of year, but not so much this year. Zoerb Farms went into the season extremely dry. The crop had to be "watered up." Steady rains have brough a near miraculous change, though. Even the National Drought Monitor is showing normal conditions for this farming area of Custer and Sherman counties.

"We're a tad dry right now and we're starting to turn the water back on to give the crop a drink and supply these added nutrients," he said.

DTN Meteorologist Teresa Wells noted that conditions stayed mostly dry in the Litchfield area this week, as thunderstorms stayed in eastern Nebraska. Temperatures also trended higher, especially during the second half of this week as high temperatures reached the upper 80s and upper 90s Fahrenheit.

"Through the upcoming weekend, a pattern change may be in store as a cold front slowly sweeps through the Central Plains. Rainfall throughout the weekend will likely remain below 0.5 inches and the best chances for rain favor Friday night into Saturday morning across central Nebraska. Behind this weekend's cold front, temperatures are expected to cool off with highs dropping back down to the upper 70s or lower 80s," she said.

Zoerb shouldn't get too comfortable though. High temperatures return to the upper 80s and lower 90s towards the middle to end of next week. Early next week, a cold front is expected to shift south into Kansas and that will mark the return of largely dry conditions for central Nebraska going through the rest of the week. While showers are still expected to tag the Central Plains next week, they will be very hit or miss, according to Wells.

Roadsides and yards are surprisingly green for this time of year, Zoerb said. Corn plant health looks on point. Western bean cutworm populations were controlled in a timely fashion. Scouting has revealed some southern rust and tar spot, which he's monitoring closely. Some hybrids are extremely tall this year, he noted.

"I think it's too early to call our crop. We did have some of the tassel wrap that was a concern during pollination, but those hybrids seemed to grow out it and I think there was also plenty of pollen to compensate. We've had some hail and wind, but nothing compared to most years," he said.

"I do follow various yield tours and think those efforts can provide some early clues to crop size, but there's a lot going on inside each field. This year, I figure all the rainfall we've had and the green of the crop could make those models measure high.

"When it comes to soybeans, I don't know a single person that can call a bean yield that will be within 2 bushels (per acre) of being right. They are too unpredictable," Zoerb said.

As to bucket-list travel dreams, he enjoys exploring different aspects of agriculture. The struggle is young children keep him grounded these days.

In July, Zoerb traveled to Washington, D.C. as part of a Nebraska delegation attending the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) Corn Congress meetings to advocate for key agricultural issues and priorities. It's a trip he's made at least nine times, he figured.

"One of these times I want to stay longer and travel to the Delmarva peninsula. I've heard so much about this region and the environmental challenges they face. I'd like to see it for myself," Zoerb said. This eastern shore of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia and its flat, coastal plains and strong ties to the water would be a contrast to the broad expanse of the Great Plains of Nebraska.

STUART SANDERSON: MADISON, ALABAMA

A farm auction isn't exactly a bucket list destination for everyone, but it was a one-day diversion for Sanderson this week. Winning bids on a seed tender and a small sprayer for use in on-farm test plots sweetened the experience.

As for wishes of bigger getaways, Sanderson has never been to New York. The Big Apple may not be a farm tour, but a lot of customers live there. "I figure I should see it at least once," said Sanderson. New Zealand is on his wish list. Next year he's making a return trip to Scotland. It's a golf outing, but it takes him past enough pastoral settings that he counts as a rural experience.

Harvest is all he'll have time for in coming weeks. This is the earliest harvest start Sanderson can remember for the farm -- at least the earliest when it wasn't a severe drought year.

"We had plenty of rainfall. We had the sunshine, and we had the heat we needed. The crop just matured quicker," he said. "It hasn't hurt us on yield. The ears are well-filled out and they are heavy."

For example, in a high population plot (48,000 plants per acre), he pulled ears of good kernel depth that were 18 to 20 kernel rows around. "It's got 350 (bpa) written all over it," he said.

On average, he estimated the farm's 3,500 acres of corn will average between 240 to 250 bpa (dry).

"Our soybeans are gorgeous, but I have a hard time judging them. I know what 50-bushel beans look like, but it's hard for me to tell what 70-bushel or better beans look like. What I know is we've got some irrigated beans that look really good," he said.

Most of the farm's double-crop soybeans are under irrigation this year. That's been a blessing, because rainfall has been scarce during the past few weeks.

Constant rainfall was the story early in the planting season. The farm took prevented planting on approximately 1,600 acres after rain delays exceeded insurance dates.

Other parts of the Southeast U.S. dealt with overly wet conditions this week as a stalled front parked itself in the region before slowly drifting near the coast late in the week.

But Sanderson missed out on most of that. The good news is the extra cloud cover kept temperatures slightly on the lower side. DTN's Wells said the area will continue to remain mostly dry this weekend. More isolated showers and storms are scheduled to return Sunday during the afternoon and early evening.

"A very typical summer weather pattern will set up across the Southeast U.S. next week with daytime-driven showers and storm chances returning each day of the week. Rainfall Monday through Friday next week could approach at least 0.5 inches if showers and storms manage to tag the Madison area, but it doesn't take much for a stronger storm to produce locally higher amounts near 1-2 inches within 24 hours. Temperatures next week will also be hovering right around average, with highs in the upper 80s and lower 90s," she added.

Beyond nosing combines into corn fields, Sanderson said they will likely start desiccating early planted soybeans next week. "Otherwise, those 3.8 to 4.2 (RM) beans start popping out," he noted. "Full season soybeans will hang in the pod longer." Combines are also outfitted with draper heads that reduce shattering losses, he added.

The farm is also gearing up to plant winter canola for the first time this fall as part of a joint project between Bunge, Chevron and Corteva Agriscience.

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

Follow her on social platform X @PamSmithDTN

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