View From the Cab

DECATUR, Ill. (DTN) -- This time of year, Ethan Zoerb can mostly be found in a corn or soybean field looking for the next challenge to the crop.

It's a hot and uncomfortable job, especially for the allergy-prone, such as Zoerb. But plant diseases such as southern rust don't respect boundaries and the Nebraska farmer isn't about to give ground to a manageable threat.

This tending of the crop is what farmers do. "They call us producers for a reason," said Zoerb, who farms near Litchfield. "We work to produce the best and most crop we can. I love doing it."

There's been some soul-searching this week, though. A big crop has been rumored all season, but USDA's 16.7-billion-bushel production estimate came as a surprise to many. Zoerb touches on the mental aspects of working hard when prices don't reflect the effort in this installment of View From the Cab. He and Stuart Sanderson, of Madison, Alabama, report how the season is progressing as part of this ongoing feature.

This week Sanderson has corn that is dry enough to harvest. Zoerb is trying to figure out what the heck his soybeans are doing. And the farmers provide some levity by talking about what advice they cling to when days get tough.

STUART SANDERSON: MADISON, ALABAMA

Stuart Sanderson's chore list put him in a sauna this week. Grain bin cleanout and fixing pivots in the Alabama heat can test your cool on a cool day. Lately, daytime temperatures have been reaching upwards of 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

Henderson Farms, of which Sanderson is a partner, got about 800 acres of dryland corn planted in early April. Tests on the morning of Aug. 14 found those fields running at 19% moisture.

"There are going to be people driving by and wondering why we're not combining it," said Sanderson. "I'm seeing heat and no rain in the forecast. If we let that corn drop another point or two in the field, we can put it in the bin, put air on it and avoid some drying cost." He expected combines to start rolling on Aug. 18.

DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick said prospects of rain are more likely later in the coming week when a front drops into the area. "It's going to be hot ahead of that front with daily highs in the mid-90s and overnight lows not breaking below 70. Relief will come behind that front, but only by a few degrees," Baranick noted.

Speaking of steamy, Sanderson wasn't sure what to think about the record corn yield of 188.8 bushels per acre projected this week by USDA.

(See the August Crop Production and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) reports at https://www.dtnpf.com/…)

"Several southern states have had more rainfall than normal and that could help averages. But I've also heard the rumors of pollination issues in some of the big corn-producing states," he noted.

The prices that come with those big numbers matter to everyone who grows corn. But Sanderson feels fortunate to be positioned in an area where chickens gobble up the bulk of the farm's corn production and afford a unique basis advantage. The farm also has the capacity to store all its production, which grants marketing flexibility.

"The agriculture industry is coming into this year with working capital at possibly the lowest it has been. We've seen nearly two years of extremely high input costs and high equipment costs," he noted.

"Now we've got a big crop and the question of what to do with it. Unfortunately, for many, it is probably going to mean that they give it away," he said.

That's tough to swallow, especially when the circumstances are out of a farmer's hands. "We want to produce a quality commodity on every acre of ground that we have. It doesn't matter if you are a corn grower, a rancher or a farmer who grows fruits or vegetables. It's in our DNA to produce," he said.

"This time of year, the pressure is felt more intensely because farmers are already planning for the next season before this crop is even harvested," he added.

"The challenge will be to make the bottom-line balance between now and next spring," Sanderson said. "The opportunity comes when we adapt and change to overcome the challenge."

That sounds easy and simplistic, and Sanderson knows it is not. He's a believer in self-care always, not just in times that try us. Exercise, nutrition, faith and taking personal time for things beyond the farm are things he falls back on every day to keep balance. Finding other farmers that don't just echo commonly held thoughts but can serve as mentors or peers is also important, he added.

There's a sense of responsibility and respect that comes with working a farm that's been around more than a century, he noted. His grandfather's old ledgers speak to hefty interest rates that Sanderson hopes he never experiences. Those double-digit rates also coincided with back-to-back droughts in times of no crop insurance.

"Those tough times carved out some tough people," he said.

That same grandfather shoveled out some advice that continues to provide perspective when days and circumstances aren't perfect. "He said: 'Son, whatever you do, enjoy what you're doing. Don't ever wake up and say you hate your job and that you don't want to go to work today. If you do, you're in the wrong line of work.'

"I have awakened feeling tired after working 18-hour shifts. I've been tired when I had to go to the field at midnight to fix a pivot and then, had to get up at 5 a.m. to start again," Sanderson said.

"But I've never, ever said I hate my job."

ETHAN ZOERB: LITCHFIELD, NEBRASKA

Ethan Zoerb takes a lot of pride in raising corn. But it was something a fellow farmer on a National Corn Grower action team said to him that he holds close to his heart these days.

"He told me my kids were the most important crop I'd ever raise. When I get worked up about the markets or weather or anything else, I remember my kids should be my focus. It brings me back to center," he said.

That doesn't mean that the current reports of a potential record corn crop and the prices that have come with it aren't giving Zoerb heartburn. It's one reason he stays active in commodity groups and takes time to travel to Washington to explain to policymakers what it takes to produce a crop.

The fact that other industries can raise prices when input costs rise and commodity farmers do not have a way to do that is a sore point with the young farmer. "Payments aren't a long-term fix to this issue," he said.

"We need markets for this corn. We need trade," he said.

Zoerb Farms went into the 2025 season excessively sort of moisture. While the farm is irrigated, that doesn't guarantee a whole crop and can make for a challenging sales scenario when production is uncertain.

The farm missed the violent weather that whipped through parts of Nebraska this past week. So far, hail and other wicked weather events have mostly left this portion of central Nebraska alone, but the Plains are never immune.

Southern rust has arrived instead. The disease does not overwinter in Nebraska but instead is dependent upon wind dispersal of spores from southern states in early to mid-July. Southern rust is more aggressive than common rust, which shows up nearly every year, Zoerb observed.

"We may need to look at treating some of our later-planted fields with fungicide again. Depending on severity, it could require aerial application since the pivots are slower to apply," he added. General recommendations include protecting the plant through R3 (milk) stage.

Rain showers have continued to limit irrigation needs on the farm this summer. DTN's Baranick said the Litchfield area should have a front drop in for a visit early this coming week to ease the heat experienced during the weekend (Aug. 16-17).

"Though we might see some sporadic showers after that, it is forecast to be dry until another front pushes through late in the week or more likely over the following weekend. That should produce a bigger drop in temperature and make it feel cool, almost fall-like," Baranick said.

DTN's Digital Yield Tour estimated Nebraska's corn yield at 187.8 bpa as of Aug. 1 (https://www.dtnpf.com/…). DTN estimated soybean production at 57.6 bpa on Aug. 1.

Zoerb feels squeamish about soybean yields this year. "They are starting to fill pods, but they just haven't looked as good this year. We were worried about nodulation earlier and that seems to have resolved itself. I think we've lost some pods at the top of the plant, but yield is always hard to judge," he said.

Putting your heart and soul into producing something valued below the cost of production is not fun, Zoerb stated. "Farming is a gamble, and I think most farmers realize every day is not supposed to be fun or easy.

"We've gotten really good at what we do. We just need to make it more profitable," he said.

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Editor's note: To see 2025 DTN Digital Yield Tour estimates for other states and what other farmers are saying about their crops this year, see https://www.dtnpf.com/….

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

Follow her on social media platform X @PamSmithDTN

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