View From the Cab

DECATUR, Ill. (DTN) -- Cloudy days have Ethan Zoerb concerned. While it feels good to have temperatures more moderate, his crop could use sunshine to keep building.

"I've been doing yield checks this week and the crop seems to be in a holding pattern. Corn milk line is sitting about one-quarter and doesn't seem to be excited to move. Soybeans look decent, but upper pods need to fill. We've had so many overcast days this year and I think it is hurting yield potential," said Zoerb, who farms in Sherman and Custer counties near Litchfield.

On the flip side, harvest is well underway in north central Alabama on Henderson Farms, where Stuart Sanderson is a partner. The farm, located near Madison, was deluged with rain early in the season, but drought arrived in late July and extended through August to hurry corn along.

Sanderson and Zoerb have been reporting in this season as part of DTN's View from the Cab series. This is the 20th feature for the 2025 crop year.

This week, the farmers talk about current crop conditions and expectations. They urge caution for both farmers and drivers as harvest gears up and machines move to and from fields. And they reflect on attending farm shows and a corn harvest challenge that gives new meaning to pushing the envelope.

STUART SANDERSON: MADISON, ALABAMA

While Sanderson has some doubts that the size of the nation's corn crop will match USDA early estimates, he and his farming partners were eyeing a different kind of challenge on Sept. 4. Cooperating with Claas, they set out to see how much corn they could harvest with one machine in 10 hours.

At the end of the test, the 16-row Lexion 8600TT harvested a whopping 57,299.34 bushels of corn from an irrigated field. "What these machines can do is really something," said Sanderson. "You can bet I was watching to make sure they weren't throwing bushels out the back, too."

Yields so far are running ahead of the farm's actual production history (APH). Grain moisture this week on irrigated corn was averaging around 15.4% and that's after the area finally received some light rainfall.

He's already pulled new-crop corn out of the bin to take advantage of some local shortages. The farm benefits from having poultry producers and other manufacturers nearby. That corn was testing 14.5% to 15.2% moisture and averaging up to 62 pounds per bushel.

Soybean yields are far less certain. "We lost a lot of potential in those six weeks when we went without rainfall," Sanderson said. "Irrigated wheat beans look really good, and we'll see some double-crop soybeans in the 70-bushel range.

"But dryland soybeans suffered without a rain in August. I would hope they can make 25 (bushels per acre), but you just never know until you know," he said.

Some scattered showers found their way into the area earlier this week and the farm was receiving rain on Sept. 6. The U.S. Drought Monitor had the region yellow (D0) and some spots were indicated as abnormally dry (D1) drought.

DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick said weather has been unpredictable and models have been struggling to predict both temperature and precipitation.

"It looks like Madison, Alabama, will stay on the drier side next week with rising temperatures and probably lots of sunshine. We could see highs closing in on 90 (Fahrenheit) again by the end of the week," Baranick said.

That means full throttle for harvest, Sanderson said, although they aren't likely to be pulling more non-stop 10-hour work shifts. Beyond harvest, they are starting to stir up harvested stalks with a John Deere vertical tillage tool in preparation for wheat and winter canola seeding.

Winter canola is a new experience for the farm. It is contracted acreage and part of a joint project between Bunge, Chevron and Corteva Agriscience aiming to expand the crop into southern regions. With 1,600 acres of prevented planting on the farm this year, they have available acres at the ready.

As with anything new, there's a learning curve. Sanderson said winter canola needs to be planted a smidge earlier than wheat in this region. They plan to get it in the ground near the end of September. Since the seed is small, it requires only 5 to 7 pounds of seed per acre. "We want to put it into a good seedbed because every seed counts," he said.

Another first for Sanderson was attending the Farm Progress Show in Illinois. "Meeting and talking to farmers from different states is always a learning experience," he said. "But the talk of disease pressure, particularly southern rust, and late-season drought was a common theme and left me thinking we lost top end yield potential over the past month."

Sanderson said discussions during the farm show revealed machinery deals can be had in this tough farm economy. However, he's a believer in keeping a tight rein on finances and avoiding temptation for the sake of a "deal."

The farm's sprayers are all three years old. Tractors are at least 10 years old, he said. The farm partners carefully evaluating next steps and equipment purchases, but Sanderson said they won't be borrowing to upgrade.

"I'm not saying that to be boastful. We've worked hard over the last decade to build to this position by using marketing tools at our disposal and being careful.

"Access to storage and the ability to market this crop is going to be more critical than it's ever been in the coming year," Sanderson said. "I think we've strategically set ourselves up to endure by understanding not every year in farming will be profitable. But that also means being careful to keep focus and critically evaluate if opportunities are truly opportunities or just adding on."

One thing is certain -- the need to safely negotiate the dangers of farming is real. Sanderson ranks moving equipment along roadways as a constant risk. They farm as far as 25 miles away from the operation hub. Most of their land lies within a 5-mile radius, but the area is congested and increasingly urban.

"We pick and choose the best times to move and put a truck with flashing lights in the lead and behind," he said.

ETHAN ZOERB: LITCHFIELD, NEBRASKA

Zoerb farms in sparsely populated farm country, so it is easy to assume that drivers are more accustomed to machinery on the road. That would be a dangerous assumption, Zoerb said.

Slow moving vehicle signs and flashing hazard lights help, but the farm also uses a convoy arrangement when distance is involved. The furthest Zoerb Farms field is more than an hour drive from the main farm.

"We have radios in the equipment so we can talk back and forth to alert all drivers as to what is coming," Zoerb said. "Our biggest problem is people come up from behind and try to pass as you are meeting someone.

"We've got nice highways with good shoulders, but taking the ditch so three vehicles can fit across the highway is not cool," he said. "I just wish everyone would slow down and understand 10 seconds of patience is often all it takes to make everything safer for everyone."

Trailers that move harvesting heads have always been a worry as they tend to sit low and are more difficult to give visibility, Zoerb noted. "This year we went with folding corn heads and I think that will help. We will still have bean heads, but we don't have as many soybean acres, so aren't moving them as much," he said.

This week Zoerb took a few moments away from the field to do a local radio spot about an upcoming plot tour for the Custer County Corn Growers Association to be hosted on the farm.

This year will be a good one to point out genetic differences in susceptibility to diseases such as southern rust and tar spot, which have been problematic in the region. Zoerb had some late-planted fields that received a second protective application of fungicide.

Plot tours are a good way to see products and reconnect with local farmers, he said. Eight different companies participated this year with hybrids ranging from 109- to 115-day relative maturity.

Zoerb pulled yield estimates on his crop this week and came back disappointed. "I'm not seeing the crop we've had the last couple of years. Those cloudy days during grain fill hurt us. Milk line shows we are still several weeks to a month to go before harvest.

"I'm not one to usually talk about an early frost, but it has crossed my mind," he said. "At this rate we'll be lucky to be harvesting by October."

DTN's Baranick sees an uncertain forecast, but one that is warm in the short-term.

"There are chances for rain during the middle of the week, but they're not great," Baranick said. "Temperatures should be rising here, too, and we could see some rather warm temperatures by the end of the week. Some models suggest close to 90 degrees as well, while others are still holding back a bit in the lower 80s."

Zoerb said soybeans would also benefit from some extra pod fill time. Beans have yet to start changing colors, let alone drop leaves in his area. "Lower pod fill looks good, but those in the upper third of the plant need a bit more time to fill," he said.

Spotty rains have kept soil moisture profiles in decent shape. An inch of rain over most of the farm helped things considerably, he noted.

Zoerb said he and his father, Dale, considered doing one turn of irrigation this week, but evapotranspiration (ET) or crop water use was so limited, they decided against it.

The Husker Harvest Days farm show is just around the corner, both geographically and on the calendar. Zoerb said the entire farm crew takes a day to explore the show -- a working vacation before harvest kicks into gear.

"We find it useful to talk to reps from companies and see what is coming in their pipelines. Our grain bag unloader is showing some wear, so we might look at those. A farm show is a good place to find items in one place and compare, while you're consuming a big bag of kettle corn," he said.

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Editor's Note:

For more on road safety, see "Farm Equipment Road Safety Tips," https://www.dtnpf.com/…

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

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