Corn Report
September 14th, 2006 by Northern FarmerFinally, done! Done with this year’s crop, Amen! God is Good! Even in this drought we were able to get a good enough crop to make it. I thank the Lord for giving me the wisdom to plant these corns. And also thank Jim V for finding me all the seed sources for open pollinated, northern variety field corns.
The varieties planted were Minnesota 13, an 87 day strain. And another strain of Minnesota 13, this time a 102 day corn. In reality the 87 day out preformed the 102 day corn by a wide margin. Also planted was some of our own seed that we saved from last year’s crop, that variety is called Krugs which is a strain of Reid’s Yellow Dent. It held up well and makes the tractor grunt with those tall stalks, huge ears and thick, thick stalks. But the biggest surprise was a variety called Wapsie Valley. An old Indian corn. As near as I can figure about one in twenty cobs is a beautiful big red cob. That’ll make the corn cribs more colorful! In the old days at corn shuckings it was tradition for a young man to be able to kiss the girl of his choice if he found a red cob while shucking, well, with all them red cobs it would turn into a free for all! An extremely high protein corn and it sure did produce considering the terrible conditions it went through.
I’m more than satisfied with the results and am looking forward to a crop on what’s called a normal year, whatever that is. If it keeps up like these last few years the strain we come up with on our family farm should make it in Death Valley, so there’s hope, eh.
Now to start getting caught up around here doing odd jobs. Thank you Lord for getting us thru again!
September 14th, 2006 at 9:28 pm
glad you got it done, the Lord is mighty good in deed!
have a great weekend!
September 14th, 2006 at 11:24 pm
Rejoicing with you here too!
September 14th, 2006 at 11:50 pm
Tom, where did you find the Wapsie Valley corn seed? Was it available organic? Also what population did you plant at? As long as I’m asking, how about getting some of it tested and posting the results? And a photo too. Sorry, but your enthusiasm is catching!
September 15th, 2006 at 5:28 am
87 day OP corn?? Hmmmm that will get ya thinking. We probably couldn’t use it around here, but my wife and I recently were talking about making a go of it on the old family farm in Michigan and I was wondering about OP varieties there. Is there anywhere I can get more information on Min 13 87??
If we did do the move, we’d probably have to switch to angora goats just so they stay warm enough
Have a GREAT day!
Brad
September 15th, 2006 at 5:31 am
Jan,
The Lord is mighty Good indeed! Yee Haw!
Have a Blessed weekend down there!
Christina,
Ah, it sure will feel good to get life back to normal around here now. I must have 20 or 30 jobs today, but they’re the no pressure kind. I hope it’s going good down your way with the construction! God is Good!
Brent,
The feed guy already took a sample this past Monday, so I’ll be getting the results any moment and will let you know. Also this weekend I’ll have daughter Rachel take some photos of the Wapsie Valley cobs that we picked for decorative purposes, I don’t know how to run the camera, kinda a hillbilly you know, but a happy hillbilly. Oh, almost forgot, population, 18000 an acre. What part of Wisconsin are you located at, because I know the farmer that raises the seed corn and you could just call him up and pick it up yourself.
Yup, it’s available in organic, in fact that’s what I planted. I’ll dig around tonight and find all the info on where to get seed and let you know here. Right now it’s not what I’d like to attempt at 5:30 in the morning. Kinda a mess here
Well, it’ll be tight this winter, but now I know for sure where we stand and it ain’t half bad, Praising Jesus!
God Bless!
September 15th, 2006 at 5:38 am
Morning Brad,
I’ll find the info this evening and post it. I think they even have a 75 day OP corn which is handy depending on climate in some parts of the north. But I’m assuming the farm is in Lower Mich. so the 87 day stuff would do just fine.
You slipped that one in while I was typing
The MN 13 did so well where there was a trace of moister I plugged up the chopper yesterday, you know the blower and pipe, sheeesh, was I ever singing praises during that time to stay out of divine trouble
Take Care and God Bless you all!
September 15th, 2006 at 12:08 pm
Tom,
Glad to hear that the corn did so well in spite of the drought. Maybe you and John M. should give a presentation on OP corn at the Acres USA conference in St. Paul this coming December?
Jim
September 15th, 2006 at 5:09 pm
Jim,
Well, I’m sure John could handle the task at ACRES USA, but you’d better leave me out of it. I don’t speak publicly unless I they’ll let me have an alter call
I have a project that’ll be keeping me busy later this fall and all through the winter and it might even compete for blogging time, but we’ll see.
And again thank you for all the info this past year, your help has been huge here and has proven the lies of big ag. Yup, there’s allot of hope for the family farm!
And here’s one place a person can get Wapsi Valley and MN 13 from:
Green Haven Open Pollinated Seed Group
8225 Wessels Road
Avoca, NY 14809
607-566-9253
September 16th, 2006 at 8:57 am
Tom,
Will the test you are running on the Op corn provide a trace mineral analysis? Seems that I read somewhere that hybrid corn doesn’t do a good job of picking up trace minerals.
On an unrelated note - here is a good artcile on NAIS: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51996
Looks like getting rid of NAIS is possible if we all keep pushing against it.
Jim
September 16th, 2006 at 4:46 pm
Jim,
I’m not sure, I don’t pay so much attention but will give it a good look when I recieve it any day now. It’ll be interesting!
Thanks for the link! I’ll add a bit from an R-CALF e-mail I recieved yesterday, it’s long but interesting. I’ve supported R-CALF for years as a member and commend their efforts. In reality R-CALF is one of the main reasons for M-ID to be faltering. Cattlemen are some good folks!
———————————————————————————-
“We need to accomplish four goals,†explained Bullard. “One: we must maintain the separate identity of the U.S. cattle industry by differentiating our product with a USA Country-of-Origin Label. Two: we must end the use of captive supplies. Three: we must include safeguards in trade agreements that recognize the supply sensitivity of our industry. And four: we must maintain the highest health and safety standards in the world – our gold standard of assurance to our customers.â€
He noted that the U.S. needs to identify all imported cattle with a mark of origin, which he said can be accomplished by removing cattle from the list of commodities presently exempted from import markings, known as the J-List.
Bullard said R-CALF USA supports the proposal by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, to reauthorize the Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting Act because it would improve price transparency in today’s market, and it supports the proposal by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Sen. Herbert Kohl, D-Wis., to allow state-inspected meat packing plants to sell their products across state lines.
Kiker presented photographs from his recent fact-finding trip to Australia to observe the live cattle and beef industries, which featured a variety of expensive readers, technology, and large equipment that now is necessary to administer the country’s mandatory National Livestock Identification System.
“In Australia, they have never done an audit to see if it works,†said Kiker. “They have nearly twice as many cattle in the database as they do in the country.
“The people who developed the Australian Animal ID system are the ones who are selling it,†Kiker explained, as he noted that in an effort to gain support for an Australian Animal ID system, Australian cattle producers had been told the United States already had an Animal ID system in place.
“They’ve watched us reopen the Japanese export market without an Animal ID system and were humiliated,†he commented.
“R-CALF went to USDA and said nobody in the country wants a mandatory animal identification system,†Kiker emphasized. “We stopped mandatory animal identification in its tracks. We got USDA to start looking at systems already in place and incorporate them into the ID system, and now, everyone is using the word ‘voluntary’ when describing NAIS. NAIS was developed because animal health officials needed a system to identify animals for disease control. R-CALF has worked to bring the focus on NAIS back to animal health, and we are working with animal health officials to come up with viable solutions that work for everyone in the cattle industry.
“Do you know what other segments of the industry hate more than anything,†Kiker asked the crowd. “Knowledge – and that’s why R-CALF has become so strong. We make sure producers know the truth about issues and the ways cattle prices are sometimes manipulated. By being honest and straightforward, R-CALF has gained a tremendous amount of credibility, and that’s why they listen to us in Washington. We finally have a voice for cattle producers.â€
Thornsberry spoke about USDA’s proposed National Animal Identification System (NAIS). He said the only two places where electronic Animal ID is mandatory are Australia and New Zealand.
“USDA says the reason we need this system is for disease traceback,†Thornsberry said. “Every event in the life of every animal that is tagged needs to be recorded in the database, including birth, death, and movement. USDA doesn’t say that every time you enter one of these events into the system that you will be charged 25 or 30 cents per head. There’s never been a cost-benefit analysis by USDA to demonstrate what the program would cost. It’s been estimated by some groups that it could be as much as 25-30 cents per database entry, whether that entry is just one cow or a group of animals.
“I would advise producers who do not want the system to become mandatory to abstain from obtaining a Premise Identification Number,†he continued. “The whole basis of the system involves a key number to operate off of. USDA has conflicting answers about premise identification such as adjoining farms, and how many premise identification numbers you need if you have cattle in different areas. Right now, USDA says that any time cattle are moved back and forth, you will need to make the agency aware of that movement.
Speaking about problems with some of the tag readers being tested in the marketplace, Thornsberry said, “They don’t read properly, read only part of the number, may only read some of the numbers, or read them backward. If you’re going to manipulate the data electronically, you will need tags, a reader, a computer, software and an Internet connection, and the databases will take a significant level of expertise to operate.â€
Thornsberry concluded by saying that the NAIS is not a law, not legislation, not an Act, but a system proposed by USDA, which the agency claims it has the authority to implement. At the same time, USDA has fought against the implementation of Mandatory Country-of-Origin Labeling (M-COOL), which was made law in the 2002 Farm Bill.
“It is an irony that USDA has refused to implement M-COOL, but yet, wants you to electronically identify every head of cattle that you own,†Thornsberry concluded.
# # #
R-CALF USA (Ranchers-Cattlemen Action Legal Fund, United Stockgrowers of America) is a national, non-profit organization and is dedicated to ensuring the continued profitability and viability of the U.S. cattle industry. R-CALF USA represents thousands of U.S. cattle producers on both domestic and international trade and marketing issues. Members are located across 47 states and are primarily cow/calf operators, cattle backgrounders, and/or feedlot owners. R-CALF USA has more than 60 affiliate organizations and various main-street businesses are associate members. For more information, visit http://www.r-calfusa.com or, call 406-252-2516.
April 24th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
I am very intrested in MN 13 Open Pollinated Seed Corn for this planting season. Can you advise me as to where to get this? Sons email address is
gods_peace_4_u@yahoo.com
April 25th, 2007 at 9:21 am
Gary,
Albert Lea Seed (www.alseed.com) sells MN 13 seed corn. You can also try Rich Holman in Baldwin, WI (715) 684-2488. He has an 85 day MN 13, while the MN 13 that Albert Lea Seed sells is a 102 day variety.
Tom may have other sources as well.
Jim V
April 25th, 2007 at 9:42 am
Jim,
Ooops! I e-mailed Gary a few minutes after he commented, I guess I should have posted something here also. Oh well, eh! He lives a hour or so of Baldwin so he’ll be getting in contact with Rich. I try to steer folks towards Rich’s strain of MN 13 because it is superior to anything else I’ve tried.
This is so far back in the archives that it’s almost like a private conversation anyhow
I’ll be getting in contact with you in the next couple of days by e-mail.
Tom
April 25th, 2007 at 11:05 am
Tom,
I guess I should have waited. I thought you might be experiencing the crush of spring work. The MN 13 from Albert Lea Seed is probably geared to the big ag “pour lots of nitrogen on” approach.
Jim
April 25th, 2007 at 11:39 am
Jim,
Yup, busy here, but a bit to wet to do any field work. Just checked this morning and I’d get stuck for sure. But I’m able to haul manure and there’s plenty of that! There’s a crush, that’s for sure, in fact when I can get out and do field work it’ll be like a vacation! Just stepped in for a bite to eat now. I think your right on the Albert Lea MN 13. It’s like Rich’s strain and Albert Lea’s are two entirely different corns.
Tom