When that first seed drops into that shallow groove, the life of a grain farmer — and family — changes from calm to chaos in the blink of an eye.
“There are times when it feels like it’s an amusement park ride. On occasion, I’ll say, ‘Stop this thing. I want to get off,’” says Jan Layman, a 5,000-acre Kenton, Ohio, corn and soybean no-till farmer.
As spring planting looms, much of the corn belt is already behind the weather eight-ball as cold and wet weather continue. And no matter how spring planting starts, it’s bound to feel like a wild ride. So how do you stay timely, organized and efficient, despite weather, illness and equipment breakdowns? We asked readers to share advice on how to make spring planting feel less like a roller coaster and more like a Sunday drive.
Plan for change
“The goal is to have a plan and expect it to change, because that’s farming,” says Oregon, Ill., farmer Dan Luepkes, who grows corn and soybeans with son David. “You have to adapt to everything that the planting season can and will throw at you. It could be weather or equipment, which is why we have some tillage equipment on hand just in case no-till doesn’t seem to work in a given field.
New tech can save time during planting. That was the goal when Illinois farmers David and Dan Luepkes set up this high-speed 33-foot disk. “It was new to us, so it takes a fair amount of time to get the depth set properly,” Dan says. Credit: Mike Wilson
“In farming, how many times does it actually ever go exactly according to plan? Not often,” he adds.
Even so, a plan does offer the best chance at success. Before planting, Layman reviews seed purchases and creates a color-coded variety plan that includes farm ID, number of acres in each field, and hybrid or variety. His wife, Cindy, who manages business operations with daughter Genny, laminates several copies of the plan for each tractor.
Seed beans make a planting plan trickier for Rodney Rulon of Rulon Enterprises, a fourth-generation operation, which includes Ken, Roy, Nick and Neal Rulon. They grow just over 7,000 acres of no-till corn and soybeans (nearly all for seed) near Arcadia, Ind. About nine people help plant the Rulon crops.
“Our planting plan is designed for a perfect weather scenario to make the shortest geographic moves and distances without changing varieties,” Rulon says. “Choices are geographically specific. Once we make the planting plan, we don’t change the variety that goes on that field. The seed company has a say in the acres they give us for each variety, and we tell them which fields we want them on.”
A good start
One tip for success stated repeatedly is to make sure everyone knows what they’re doing, and that the right people are doing the right thing.
“I’ve got good people who I trust,” Layman says.
Before planting, Ohio farmer Jan Layman reviews seed purchases and creates a color-coded variety plan, which includes farm ID, number of acres in each field, and hybrid or variety. Credit: Mike Wilson
Once no-till farms are ready, his team hits the fields with two corn planters, two bean planters and two sprayers — “all at once if we can,” he adds. “Sometimes we end up starting to plant beans before we start to plant corn if one farm is fit and another isn’t.
“In the past, our first order of business was to try to get soybean burndown finished and wait seven days, but with Enlist beans, there’s no waiting. That’s a big, big deal.”
On the other hand, impatience can backfire on you, Rulon notes.
“The biggest challenge we have in spring is throttling ourselves back,” he says. “People get in a big hurry and get out there when it’s too wet. It’s not always best to plant early if the conditions aren’t right.”
Minimize downtime
The Laymans buy corn in 50-unit pro boxes and try to make fields fit to the seed in each box, so they’re not running out at awkward times. Along with six drivers for the planters and sprayer, the Laymans have part- and full-time employees. One drives a semi with a water tank so chemicals can be mixed in the field. Liquid fertilizer is applied 2 by 2 by 2 at planting.
“The planter guy takes the planter to the field, and we get him a ride to come take the nurse trailer with liquid fertilizer so he’s got everything he needs for the day,” Layman says. “The nurse trailers are a big timesaver, so we’re not running back to the farm with a 1,000-gallon wagon to get more liquid fertilizer.”
A laminated copy of Layman Farm's seed plan goes in every tractor. Credit: Mike Wilson
In addition, Layman has a vast inventory of parts, as his nearest Deere dealer is over 30 miles away.
There’s also no waiting for a local dealer to apply products. Ten years ago, the Laymans decided they could do a cheaper, timelier job of applying fertilizer and lime, so they shifted from sole proprietorship and added a limited liability company for daughter Genny and son-in-law Matt. They now manage spreading the applications for the farm.
Executing the plan
During planting season, “farmers have little time to think about what must be done,” says Kenton, Ohio, farmer Brian Watkins. “You’re just going full bore.”
Watkins farms with his brother, nephew and seven full-time employees. He is founder of equipment management software Cropzilla and uses it for work planning.
“Typically, work orders are how you manage people, but we didn’t feel it fit us,” he says. “But we do have an overall plan, where we have in writing and on an app on the phone what’s going to be planted in every field, herbicide and the fertilizer program. It’s in every vehicle and in everybody’s phone, so everyone knows. We have pretty clear lines of responsibility.
“We’re not saying, ‘You go here, and when you’re done, we’ll tell you what to do next.’ We’re saying here’s the big picture, everyone has their area of responsibility and hierarchy, and this has worked well for us,” he says. “That’s how you keep people moving.”
Rulon executes the farm’s planting plan through cloud-based software. Five years ago, his farm’s Ag Leader monitors were tied into one digital platform called AgFiniti, which automatically maps, stores prescriptions, reports and analyzes information on the go.
“Everybody has a copy of the spreadsheet, with a list of fields by variety and the order we expect to plant them,” Rulon says. “With AgFiniti, any of us can pull up a field on our phone and see if it’s been finished, because as we plant or spray, the information goes into the cloud. It keeps records on seed production, billing, crop share, yields, landlords — it’s all automatic. So when we get that rainy day and someone wants a report on where we’re at in planting or spraying, I can tell them within five minutes.”
“One of the best time management tricks is to have tiled fields, because it means you have twice as big a window to plant compared to untiled,” says Indiana farmer Rodney Rulon. Credit: Mike Wilson
Keeping everyone informed
High-speed equipment and sensor technology keep planters humming. However, it also takes human skills, such as delegating, multitasking and communicating clearly — not just with your farm team but also your family.