About This Episode
Chris Barron opens a series of short crop updates with Drew Wendlandt, who farms with his family in central Alabama about an hour west of Montgomery. A warm stretch around March 10 pushed days into the 80s and dried fields enough to plant, but Wendlandt held off on part of his acres and is glad he did. The morning of the recording it was 31 degrees with the sun shining, after weeks of cool temperatures and rain that kept planters out of the field.
He started planting March 15 and has taken about 12 inches of rain since. The corn planted roughly three weeks earlier all has to be redone, which knocks his corn progress from about 50 percent back to 40 percent, and he intends to be back in the field the following Monday. The crop plan this year is close to 50 percent cotton, 30 percent corn and 20 percent soybeans, with beans going in behind some small grains he still needs to harvest.
Wendlandt added soybeans back after several years away because beans were one of the first crops to run last fall and he booked contracts then. Watching where corn and cotton have gone since, he says he would grow just those two if he could do it over and have one less crop to manage. He expects more bean acres in his area, likely coming out of corn. His insurance cutoff is the end of April, but he wants corn in by April 15 because earlier planting catches more timely rains ahead of a dry late summer.
“The earlier we plant down here, the more timely our rains seem to be. We tend to have a really dry late summer.”
— Drew Wendlandt
Key Takeaways
About 12 inches of rain since March 15 forces a replant, dropping corn progress from roughly 50 percent back to 40 percent.
It was 31 degrees the morning of the recording, after 80-degree days around March 10 that first opened the planting window.
The crop plan is about 50 percent cotton, 30 percent corn and 20 percent soybeans, with beans following small grains on some acres.
Beans came back into the rotation because they rallied first last fall and contracts were booked; with corn and cotton where they are now, he would rather manage two crops.
The crop insurance cutoff runs to the end of April, but he targets April 15 for corn so rains land timely before a dry late summer.
Full Transcript
Chris
Barron: Welcome everybody to another episode of the Ag View Pitch, and this is a short conversation here on just crop updates. We're going to be doing a series of these, Shay and I will be, with regard to bringing everybody some perspective from clients that we work with across the U.S. and just kind of give an update on where everybody's at with planting and kind of some things that they're seeing with field conditions in their area. And so the guinea pig I have, or the first person that I have here today is Drew Wendlandt, and he is in Alabama, Autaugaville, Alabama. Drew, welcome. How's it going today?
Drew
Wendlandt: We're doing good. How are you?
Chris
Barron: Well, I'm hanging in there. So tell everybody exactly where you're at in Alabama.
Drew
Wendlandt: So, uh, my family and I farm in the center part of the state, just about an hour west of Montgomery.
Chris
Barron: Okay, and so, uh, talking to you offline there for a minute, it sounds like you guys got some planters rolling down there. Tell us a little bit how you're doing with, uh, field conditions and planting progress to this point.
Drew
Wendlandt: Um, we got off to a good start around the, um, around the 10th of March. We, we had a really good warm-up. We were seeing days 80 degrees and, uh, we were starting to get dry enough to plant. Usually we're waiting on the winter rains to ease up some so we can put our corn planters in the field. And we kind of held off at that point and are pretty glad we did because this morning temperatures here are actually 31 degrees. The sun is shining, but we've been struggling with some some cool temperatures and then also a lot of rain. I didn't actually start planting until March 15th, and I've gotten about 12 inches of rain since then. So some fields I'll be replanting, hopefully starting Monday.
Chris
Barron: Okay.
Drew
Wendlandt: Yes, I do have— I got some planted, you know, about, I guess, going on 3 weeks ago and some planted going on 2 weeks ago. And everything that we got about 3 weeks ago, we're going to have to redo.
Chris
Barron: Wow. So how— what percent are you done planting with corn then?
Drew
Wendlandt: Well, we're 50— we were 50% or kind of knocked about 10% off of that. We'll go back down to— well, yeah, yeah, that should knock us back down to about 40% or so.
Chris
Barron: Okay, so that's on corn. Have you guys done any, any soybeans or anything yet? And tell the listeners what crops you plant this year, what you're planting.
Drew
Wendlandt: Um, in my crop plan, I have corn, soybeans, and cotton this summer. Um, yeah, I do have some small grains that I'm looking to get out, and I'll be putting soybeans behind them. But, um, we're probably going to be 50% cotton on our acreage, um, about, about 30% corn and 20% beans.
Chris
Barron: Okay. Did you guys, um, add beans to the mix this year?
Drew
Wendlandt: Right. I did actually. I had taken several years off and, you know, in the fall, um, I think soybeans were one of the first crops to really to really make a run, and we got some contracts booked then. So we pretty, we pretty well committed ourselves to growing a few beans at least. But, um, now if I could, if I could do it over again, I think I would just go with cotton and corn because the prices on both of those look good, and I could have one less thing to manage.
Chris
Barron: Yeah, for sure. Uh, do you see more soybeans in your area? That's one of the questions I think for the, uh, guys in the north and the central part of the U.S., you know, where, where are we going to get enough bean acres? And, and do you see more bean acres getting switched from cotton, or, you know, cotton acres being switched back to bean acres in your area across the board, or not?
Drew
Wendlandt: Um, you know, I haven't— it's kind of hard to say with all the different runs that these crops have made. I feel like my, my crop plan has been pretty fluid, and I'll wake up tomorrow and think it's one thing, and the next day and think another, right? But, um, I think we will see more bean acreage here. I'm not sure. I'm thinking it's probably going to come from corn acres because we had had a lot of corn in the past 2 years, and, uh, had everybody had kind of been going easy on the beans around here anyway.
Chris
Barron: Gotcha. Okay, and then kind of the last question. So your crop conditions, you think you're going to be able to get everything planted in time? And obviously it sounds like you got some replant, but with it being so wet as it was, looks like the forecast is good moving here forward the next week or two, does it for you?
Drew
Wendlandt: Yeah, um, you know, our insurance cutoff is not till the end of April, so I've got a full month by their calendar But we would really like to see all of our corn planted by April 15th. The earlier we plant down here, the more timely our rains seem to be. We tend to have a really dry late summer. So we're trying to get everything in as fast as we can. The sun's shining, the wind's blowing, so my fields have really been drying out, and I fully intend to be back in the field on Monday, and hopefully we can hit the ground running with that.
Chris
Barron: Okay, hey, uh, really appreciate the update. And so we're going to be doing more of these, um, and getting, uh, people to kind of give us a little quick crop update with clients that we work with, and that way everybody kind of has a perspective of what's going on in certain parts of the country. Drew, appreciate your update. Thank you very much.
Drew
Wendlandt: Yes, sir. Thank you.
Chris
Barron: You bet. And so again, that was Drew Wendlandt, and he is in central Alabama, right in the middle of the state. And we will be back with some more of these. If you're interested in participating, also give me a text either to Shea or I, and we'll hook up with you and try to get some information out and just kind of updates of what's going on in certain parts of the country, just for some good perspective as we're all trying to get planters rolling in the field this spring. Be safe out there, and we'll talk to you again next time on the Ag View Pitch.