Week of Monday September 25th
Harvest is complete! After over 600 harvest meals made and delivered, another successful season is in the books.
Each season is never the same and the 2023 season is no different.
The season started out with great promise – and ended on a successful note. The time in between was more stressful with the lack of rain from mid June until August.
We had excellent emergence after seeding, the soil moisture profile was full, and the warmer than normal temperatures were advancing the crop at quicker than normal rate. Herbicide spraying was done a week and a half earlier than normal and the crop looked excellent. As we started into fungicide spraying the lack of rain was starting to show in the crop – but the subsoil reserves kept the plants going. As the season progressed you could start to see the moisture stress in the fields. Plants were short and they dropped some of their tillers. They didn’t look good but the head size still surprisingly looked decent. The cool weather in July (some days the high temperature was only 15C) must have had more of a beneficial impact than we expected.
Once the combines hit the field we were surprised by the yields. Overall this will be an average crop – but we were expecting a below average crop. Some of our land had less rain in 2023 than it did in 2021 – where we had 1/3 of a normal crop due to drought.
The south had more rain and yields were higher, the north was still respectable.
One cannot say enough about the positive impact a great team can have on the overall outcome of the season. We have been fortunate to have great teams and this season is no different. The energy and positive attitude at the most difficult times is what pulls you through and allows you to succeed at a high level.
We have some big projects to work on yet this fall and also equipment cleanup and repairs for winter – looks like the weather should be favorable for a while yet. Then it would be nice to have a 50-75mm rain to recharge the soil before freeze up!
An amazing team, in no particular order:
Mike Hamilton
Ken Brinkman
Mark Silzer
Greg Puetz
Pam Bell Possberg
Erica Bell-Hamilton
Taryn Hamilton
Kerneels Lombard
Alexandr Bulah
Christo van Tonder
Danny Maguire
Spencer Possberg
Bjoern Lessmann
Simon Schmidt
Marten Purwins
Joe Schweighardt
Sam Hamilton
From spring crew:
Jim Sarauer
Jamie Zaluski
And honorable mentions to the legacy hall of fame members:
Chubby Wassermann
Alvin Puetz
And myself
Kenton Possberg
Note: big thanks to our dealer network that support us and help us to be successful. All that we do business with have been top notch, these two in particular deserve to me mentioned:
– Pattison Agricultre (specifically Wade, Jim, Jason all the parts people, Bryan, Calvin, Katelyn, Cara and all the mechanics that are too numerous to mention)
– Hergott Farm Equipment (specifically Paul, Owen, Nick, Curtis and all the other mechanics and parts people)
