Here are my previous letters in case there are new subscribers or posts that were lost in transmission. Dean
#1post
Hello, the purpose of this blog is to encourage support of Foods Resource Bank (a multidenominational program to stop hunger), inform readers of the local program’s progress through the eyes of a farm partner, and promote a better understanding of agriculture. I pledge to keep facts simple and update twice a month. Dean (a FRB farm partner)
Foods Resource Bank (FRB) is a worldwide organization with many local projects. The Somonauk Area Project has 21 farm partners that are working in combination with 15 rural and urban churches, Salem being one. Each farm partner supports the program by providing their skills, land, equipment, and supplies to grow a crop. Each church partner has members donating money to cover land or growing expenses.
The money raised locally supports a sweet potato project in Zambia Mongu , Africa.
As I look out my window on Feb.19th there is snow on the ground and a forecast of 8-12 inches more to come, spring has not arrived but just as churches in the project are planning to renew their commitment for another year, all of the farm partners are working to renew their spirits and prepare for another year. 2009 had provided us with many challenges starting with a delayed spring and an even greater delay in fall activities. With almost all crops harvested farmers are looking forward to a glorious 2010 with the grace of God.
On my farm seeds have been ordered, paid for and will be delivered next week. Fertilizers needed to provide nutrients for the crops have been 80% applied last fall in preparation for the next crop. Rent on land will be due March 1st. Equipment is getting a good going over to make sure things run well. My plan is to begin planting corn by April 19th and finish soybeans by May 10th.
I am looking forward to another successful growing project as last year the local FRB project raised $33,680.00 to fight hunger. Please do what you are able to help this cause. To find out more visit
http://www.foodsresourcebank.org/
Foods Resource Bank
Blog #2 March 4, 2010
A Farmer Prospective
Hello again: I had the pleasure to talk to Joe Belt about my last post. Joe is a cooperating member of one of the urban churches involved in our local project, the Christian Church of Arlington Heights. I bring this up because other than fighting World Hunger together through FRB and our local project (Somonauk Area Project) we are also bringing urban Christians, small town Christians, and local farm Christians together blind to our specific church affiliations but with 20/20 vision that we all need to do more for people that have not been as blessed as us.
The local farm partners produce mainly corn and soybeans. Our overseas project in Zambia is supporting the increased production of Sweet Potatoes and Cassava. Sweet Potatoes have the ability to produce 3-4 times the food energy per acre as corn with more tolerance to drought and poorer soil; however it takes much more labor. Our partners in Zambia have a dense population compared to resources available. Those farmers need to produce as much as possible with as little resources as possible other than labor. If you compare them to our local farmer the size of our farms require us to limit labor hours per acre. It is possible with modern equipment for a farmer to plant 100 to 640 acres of corn in a day. 640 acres is one square mile or the approximate of 10 city blocks by 10 city blocks. Cassava is a perennial, meaning it grows each year without replanting. Sweet potatoes are planted with hand labor by our overseas partners. The combination of the two crops work well because the cassava root, tapioca, keeps well and can be harvested when other sources of food are unavailable. Our local farms that grow corn and soybeans are able to store them easily for months until they are then sold for processing or feed.
To learn more about our local project go to http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/2010/02/28/25549312/index.xml or join us to St. John’s Lutheran Church in Somonauk Il. March 27 from 9:00 to 3:00
Dean
FOODS RESOURCE BANK
BLOG #3 March 21, 2010
Hello we had some snow yesterday and it’s a little chilly outside. Looks like it will not be an early spring so let’s hope it is a normal one. I had some ponds in my fields but the last several days the ground has thawed to allow the low spots in the field to let water soak down to the tiles (underground pipes that channel excess water into creeks). The gravel roads have not benefited as well with the thaw and ruts 6-8” deep can be found on many local roads, our local road district cannot afford to have all roads blacktopped as are found in the more urban areas so we will get by with the inconvenience of soft roadways for several weeks each spring but this year is worse than normal.
There was a consignment auction put on by the Leland Lions Club Saturday. I was able to sell my corn head (an attachment that removes the ear of corn from the plant when harvesting as it goes into the Combine) that I had purchased used in 1996. I will upgrade to a newer corn head built in 1998 this make me glad that John Deere equipment is able to be rebuilt and I will be doing that to the one I buy this summer. The newer one is made of plastic parts that allow corn to slide into the machinery easier among other improvements. My wife does the combining on our farm and I’m sure she will appreciate not getting out unplugging things. The interesting thing about these consignment sales is that there is a farmer just as glad to buy my used equipment because it is an upgrade for him and the local Lions Club raises money for great work also.
The challenges of last year keep on growing, because of the lack of maturity of the corn when it was harvested many cases of corn in storage beginning to spoil have been reported. This becomes an economic loss for the farmer and worse it becomes a hazard when unloading. There was a worker that died from being trapped in a corn storage facility so let’s continue to pray for the safety of everyone. Dean
For more info see http://www.foodsresourcebank.org/
FOODS RESOURCE BANK
BLOG #4 May 2, 2010
Dear friends, how things change. The last time my letter talked about the cold weather and no field activity. Well that turned into unseasonable warm weather. Most farmers have now nearly completed planting and 10% of the corn is visibly out of the ground. My corn acres are planted and I just finished planting my soybeans. I was pleased with the ½ inch of rain we just got overnight. The warm weather and strong winds were drying the top of the soil out and the seeds need sufficient moisture to grow. This is the earliest I have ever planted soybeans (April 27 and 28). I decided to plant early because the soil temps were high enough and the possibilities of frost that would kill the bean seedlings were low according to the weather forecasts. It takes about 10 days for the beans to completely emerge so a frost after May 8th will have to be assessed for damage. If I had waited another week to plant there would be no guarantee that the soil would be too dry to let the seeds grow or too wet to do field operations. Right now I’m glad to have my beans planted and will have to wait to see if that was the right decision.
Your farm partners are in a good mood this spring and for me this has been the earliest to finish planting in 25 years. If you remember the wet spring of last year this has been a welcome relief in terms of days suitable for field operations.
My next jobs are to apply a spray of nitrogen and herbicide to my corn to prevent weeds from competing for nutrients with the corn seedlings, apply a fungicide to some soybean acres to control white mold (we had severe infestations of this last year and am trying 1/3 of my acres with a control), and I have a contract with Delmonte foods for 40 acres of peas to plant next week.
Serving Together
Dean Lundeen
FOODS RESOURCE BANK #5
MAY 14, 2010
My soybeans that were planted April 27th are emerging from the ground and missed the frost that occurred over the weekend. I have included a picture of them and also of my field, see attachment. We just received 2.5 inches of rainfall overnight and this has caused significant ponding in some fields as shown in the picture. My bean field has 10% of it under water and I am thinking the seedlings may survive 4 days because the temperatures are cool. Some replanting will take place later in both corn and bean fields because of the water damage. We will know the full amount of damage when the water recedes.
Most farmers are planting their soybeans into residue of last year’s corn stalks, some with no tillage. My field shows residue after fall chisel plowing and spring disking. Improvements in equipment planting the seeds and herbicides to control weeds have allowed us to leave more residue which reduces erosion of the soil and also uses less fuel per acre.
I was to start planting the pea field for DelMonte but the rain has held that back, hopefully I will be able to get that done before they decide it would be too late. The factory where they can peas also does lima beans and sweet corn and at some point they stop planting peas and go to sweet corn and limas.
The corn is looking good and several days of sunshine and warmer temps will make it greener and grow faster. The rains prior to last night have been just right to get all of the seeds germinated and emerged at the same time. My counts of plants per acre are right at 30,000 to 32,000 which was what I was trying to get. All of my fertilizer is on and so is a light rate of herbicide. I have been using ½ of the labeled rate for my corn herbicide and if there is some escape of weed control I spray roundup later. I will explain more about this later and how GMO products reduce chemical uses in my next post.
Serving Together
Dean Lundeen
FOODS RESOURCE BANK
Blog #7 June 6, 2010
Dear FRB partners:
The past week has been events of very isolated and heavy rain showers. Although I have received 2 inches total without much damage to my crop many in the area have received two to three times as much causing some problems. The corn plants are beginning to develop the tissues that make up the ear size. Stress factors such as too much or too little rain, hot or cold (temps between 70-90 degrees are optimal); weed pressures, insect feeding, and fertility available to the plant will determine the final harvest this fall. Rain events that cause ponding of water shut off oxygen to the plants root system and limit their ability to provide nourishment to the plant and possible death of the plant if conditions don’t improve within 1-3 days.
Grain prices have been in a slump as the market has seen very good crop progress from planting to emergence. Livestock prices that have been extremely low for the last 2 years are recovering to encourage able levels due to reduced numbers and some stability coming back in the export markets. I encourage you to continue to pray for both the grain and livestock producers as we try to provide food for the world and a living for our families.
Have a wonderful summer and as you drive past the fields thank God for the resources he has provided that enable your farm partners to produce such bounty.
Serving together
Dean
FOODS RESOURCE BANK
BLOG #8 June 23, 2010
Dear FRB partners:
I don’t want to sound like a repeat of the last letter but again some areas have received excess rainfall over the last several weeks on top of already saturated soils. Delmonte has been behind in their growers planting schedule. I was planning on planting my lima beans this afternoon but just received ½ inch of rain and counting. Your farm partners in this area have seen difficulties in all field operations; spraying, applications of nitrogen, and planting or replanting. If you have taken a drive south of route 34 and east of route 23 the problems this is causing to the corn and beans are evident with yellowing of the leaves and standing water. My farm has been more fortunate with not as much rain but the days suitable for field operations is more like hours suitable for field operations. My wheat is about 12 days from harvest so I am looking for a dryer week ahead.
As FRB partners you can continue to pray for favorable weather and as farm partners we can also thank God for our blessings and remember that much of the world’s population receives little or no rainfall for crops and daily living, what we consider bad weather would be praised in other lands.
Serving together
Dean
FOODS RESOURCE BANK
BLOG #9 July 11, 2010 Farmers letter
Dear FRB partners:
The corn fields are looking better in the majority of the fields. The areas that were severely stunted by water will not amount to much but the fields that were better drained or received less rainfall are getting sunlight and warm days to make healthy plants. So far I have not had temperatures near 100 degrees. My corn will be pollinating these next 10 days and pollen from the top of the corn plants needs to fall down to the silk on the ears to produce grain. If the temperatures exceed 100 degrees this process is less effective as neither the pollen or the silk remains viable as long.
I planted my lima beans July 2nd and harvested my wheat July 7th. The wheat yielded about 80% of last year. This area did not have as much growth last fall after seeding so the spring stands were slightly less and rains also probably limited the yield. One of my neighbors is going to bale the straw and sell it for horse bedding.
Farmers in the area just finished planting the last fields of soybeans as they received a break in the weather and fields dried out enough. Some soybeans also were planted after the harvest of peas or wheat as a second crop this year. Airplanes will be applying spray to certain fields to control insects or plant diseases.
The following is a link to YouTube about Foods Resource Bank. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shKLvf5f3SM
Serving together
Dean Lundeen
FOODS RESOURCE BANK
BLOG #10 AUGUST 3, 2010
Dear FRB friends:
My corn has very good pollination and kernel set. We also are ahead of normal in maturity of our crops. My soybeans that are pledged to the local growing project are setting pods and only need to fill them for good yields. My lima beans look as good as I have ever seen. If we get favorable weather in August and September the plants that were not stressed by the spring rains will make up for the weakened plants.
There are vast areas in southern Iowa and south western Illinois that have continued to get excess rains and they will not get the yields they had planned for. You should continue to pray for those farmers that have invested so much into the land and need a good income.
My granddaughter has inspected the bean field and the new phrase id head high by the 4th of August. (See attached picture)
Serving together
Dean
ps. I either lost #6 or numbered incorrectly. Dean
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