This week Jared Hagert is still harvesting his soybean crop, with a little more than one thousand acres left to go. It’s been wet in North Dakota and he says it snowed one to two inches over the weekend. Luckily the sun came out, so the ground could dry. But that still left a moist start for the week.
Q: What are you doing in the fields this week?
A: In the last week we got back in the fields and started harvesting again. We got another 300-400 acres harvested. Yield has been pretty respectable – anywhere from mid-40s to mid-50s bushels per acre. We have been really pleased with the yields. We have also done some fall tillage behind the combine – trying to keep Mother Nature content with the weather pattern we’ve had.
Q: What are some challenges you’re experiencing?
A: The biggest challenge this week was dealing with the rain and snow we received over the weekend. We want to get back into the fields and wrap-up harvest.
Q: What’s one thing you want your customers to know?
A: We’re still producing a high-yielding, high quality crop here. Things are looking good, and it should be a good supply from this part of the region.
Q: How does this year’s crop compare to last year?
A: This year’s crop is a little bit better than last year – a little above average. On my farm, it’s better because of the different soil type the soybeans are in. The ground is a little bit better, but we have been really happy with what we have been seeing in yields.
Oct. 3, 2013
Soybean harvest is underway at his farm and he says yields look comparable to last year’s crop. Despite a couple rain showers during harvest, Hagert hopes to finish harvest by mid-October with a quality crop to provide customers.
Q: What are you doing in the fields this week?
A: We finally started harvesting, so it is nice to see that part of the lifecycle hit. Right now we are harvesting soybeans and edible beans, with a couple days left to go on the edible beans. Soybean yields in North Dakota look good – our state average is right around 32 bushels per acre. We hope to wrap up soybean harvest by October 20 if the weather cooperates.
Q: What are some challenges you’re experiencing?
A: We’re harvesting both soybeans and edible beans at the same time which has been a slight challenge this week. We have also received a couple nuisance rain showers which has made harvest a start and stop process.
Q: What’s one thing you want your customers to know?
A: It looks like our soybeans are in good condition and we should have a quality product to provide customers of U.S. soy. Our neighbors have reported that their yields are higher than they expected this growing season which is always good news for our export markets.
Q: How does this year’s crop compare to last year?
A: In our part of the world, yield will be comparable to last year. Since our region was a garden spot last growing season, we weren’t impacted by the extreme drought that occurred in the Midwest.
August 22, 2013
This week Jared shared with us how his beans are reaching maturity and he believes that North Dakota will have an average crop yield this year despite the weather-related challenges they have experienced.
Q: What have you been doing in the fields this week?
A: The soybeans have finally reached economic threshold level so we started spraying today for aphids. We have about 200 acres of soybeans we have to treat for the aphids.
Q: What’s one challenge you are faced with this week?
A: We’re waiting on rain to help the pods fill. It is not a huge problem yet, but the bean crop has almost reached maturity so rain would be great to help them finish maturing. The soybeans have podded up well considering the late start due to the wet weather earlier this year and look like they will have an average crop. The average yield for my state is 32 bushels of soybeans per acre and our crop looks like we will be right around there this year.
Q: What do you want your customers to know?
A: We are still doing our best to provide the best product we can for them. We have a great abundant supply of soybeans here in the United States and we are depending on the market to move them efficiently. Our supply is also very reliable for our customers and we will be adding to it here in a couple of weeks.
August 9, 2013
Jared is a farmer-director on the United Soybean Board and serves as the International Opportunities Target Area Lead. He shared with us some of the challenges he is experiencing with waiting on warmer weather to help his soybeans develop, but that he is continuing to try to produce the best quality crop for customers.
Q: What are you doing in your fields this week?
A: Right now we are monitoring our crop progress and checking for soybean aphids since they can appear at this time in the season.
Q: What are some challenges you are experiencing?
A: As we scout for soybean aphids, we are also looking for symptoms of other diseases like white mold. But our biggest challenge here lately is lack of heat units. We need some warmer weather like the usual hot and humid August weather for our soybeans to develop like they normally would this time of year.
Q: What do you want your customers to know?
A: We want them to know that despite our challenges, we are continuing to try to raise the best product we can for them. Our main goal is to provide them with what they need: a good quality crop.
July 26, 2013
Jared’s been traveling lately, and shared with us that cool weather followed him home. Despite some rain and an evening of cooler weather, he thinks the next ten days will offer perfect conditions for soybean development.
Q: What have you been doing in the fields this week?
A: We are finishing up weed control on the farm and scouting for insects – primarily aphids. Aphids are starting to show up here in spots, but haven’t reached economic threshold yet for us to consider applying an insecticide. We will continue to check and once we feel that the bugs have reached a threshold, we will start treating with insecticide.
Q: What’s one challenge you are faced with this week?
A: We did get some rain when I was traveling, and hail with it, but not enough to do much damage. Last Friday night, temperatures got down to 43 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s also the time of year for diseases like white mold to show up, and hopefully, we won’t see it anytime soon.
Q: What do you want your customers to know?
A: Farmers are always striving to produce the best product that we can for our customers. We ultimately have our customers in mind no matter what we do, and we work hard to bring forward the best product possible.
July 8, 2013
This week Jared Hagert, USB Director from Emerado, N.D., updated us on the early growing season and crop applications. He shared with us that the soybeans are starting to fill out in his area and that he is optimistic about a good soy crop.
Q: What are you doing in the fields this week?
A: Similar to last week. We’re finishing up our first round of weed control and checking for anything else we might need to control insect-wise. Soybeans are growing; they’ve come out of the ground and are really starting to fill out.
Q: What’s one challenge you’ve experienced this week?
A: Our biggest challenge right now while finishing the weed control is working with the weather. If it’s too windy or raining, we can’t go out there and finish it. So that’s our main hurdle this week, but we’re doing our best and we’ll go from there.
Q: What’s one thing you would like for your customers to know?
A: Same as always, we’re doing our best to produce the best product we can for them. And we’re looking forward to harvest and keeping the markets moving.
June 25, 2013
This week Jared shared with us some of the challenges he is experiencing this year with being behind in planting and how the weather is starting to turn around in North Dakota making able to produce a good quality crop for customers.
Q: What are you doing in the fields this week?
A: Well this week with the later planting we’re trying to catch up on some spraying that has been put off. We’re also working on getting the weeds under control in the fields.
Q: What is one challenge you’ve experienced?
A: There’s a lot of ground to cover and a small window of time to cover it in.
Q: What’s one thing you want your customers to know?
A: We have the soybean crop in the ground even though it is a little later than normal. But the crop seems to be popping right up out of the ground. We’ve gotten a little rain over the weekend, not in excess in our area so that’s good. We just want customers to know we’re working hard to grow a quality product for them and even though the crop is behind this year, they’re still looking like they will provide a good quality crop.
About Jared Hagert’s Farm: Jared raises soybeans, corn, wheat and edible beans on his farm with his wife Brandie.
