Anderson and Johnson Farms 2009 - The Inaugural Season

Sure, this posting should have been listed before the Anderson and Johnson Farms 2010 story, but I didn't have the time to write year one until now.  Anyway, who cares!

As I wrote in the other story, Anderson and Johnson Farms began in 2009 with the business partnership of Dave Anderson and Mark Johnson.  Yes we are Americans with Scandahoovian roots.  Actually the partnership began way back in the 70's in St. Paul Minnesota - the city of our childhood.  Dave knew from the start that farming was the life for him. Now he's living the dream!  We played a lot of hockey together in the old days.  Ange still pulls hamstrings whenever he exerts too much energy. Always did so as a hockey goalie.  "Would have stopped that point blank slap shot had it not been for the pulled hamstring just before the shot".

Gumper!

With Dave's knowledge of farming and his vast store of machinery, we headed over to Parkers  Prairie in late May - happy birthday Annie!  Spring rains and my China trip delayed the planting.  Since this soil is a mixture of sandy loam and sand, we decided to no-till plant our first year in hopes of maintaining most of the  soil moisture.  Dave's neighbor Jerry loaned us his White  4X4 and no till planter  - thanks Jerry!  Now off to PP. 

White 4 X 4 diesel with no-till planter

The weather was perfect and we planted like crazy.  The beans in Dave's '53 Chevy grain truck were transferred into the no till planter - and off we'd go.  Spring weather is wonderful and the long daylight sure is nice! Quite a bit different from the cold, wet and dark fall we'd soon experience.

No the beans aren't already growing, those are weeds!

During the planting there is always running around to do. Go to town for fuel, parts, pizza and hydraulic fluid.  Keep the planter full and moving and, when Dave wasn't looking, run into the house for pie and coffee with Jim and Dee!  Of course I also had to scout the fields for varmints on my 200X using my trusty Ruger 10-22 . http://www.ruger.com   Farming is great!

Sweet Ride!

Eventually we had all five fields (about 200 acres total) planted and we headed back to Dave and Ann's farm and prayed for rain.  The rains came and so did the weeds.  Man did the weeds come fast and furious!!  We had a mishap on the first spray which didn't hurt the weeds. The mixture of glyphosate (Roundup) and other goodies wasn't right.  We lost valuable time arguing with the folks who applied the mixture.  Eventually we got it sorted out and resprayed.  We survived but our yield suffered.


Harvest 2009

Frustration and terror marked the harvest.  While transporting combines I ended up ramming the 20 ft bean head into a bridge guardrail as I was trying to avoid a moron who decided to force his way around Dave (on the 403) and me (on the 503).  God protected us though as the accident could have been much worse. Dave and Ann handled the situation with much grace and character.  I couldn't ask for a better business partner and friend. Please, please, please, give farmers lots of room on the road.

Start Seeing Farmers!

The weather turned nasty with plenty of rain and snow.  The beans were covered in both and all we could do was wait and pray.  I woke up many times wondering if we'd lose everything. Sure we had insurance, but what does that look like??  Man, was I worried.

Enough to make a grown man cry! 

God was merciful and the rains stopped and the snow melted. I appreciate Jim's continuous encouragement that this is farming and the weather will change.  It eventually changed and we started harvesting our soy beans in November. I deer hunted only 2 hours in '09.

Now it was late November with limited daylight.  We had to wait in the morning for the dew to burn off or the combine would plug.  Same in the evening - you could harvest only until the dew formed.  We kept on keeping on and finally got a few good days.

IH 403 harvesting beans and making money!

All was going well until we hit the north portion of the west field. Twenty acres of our beans were waterlogged and unable to harvest. We contacted our insurance company and they couldn't send their inspector for a week!  We took a sample of the beans to the elevator and were told the beans were poison and they wouldn't take them.  More heartache. We couldn't wait for the inspector since Dave's crops were still in the field. We left the field in disgust and moved to the north field.

Stress, Fatigue, Misery and Frustration.

The north field is bordered by a dirt road, the farmstead, the neighbor's turkey barns and the railroad.  The railroad adds a historic touch to the farm. During the depression, the hobos knew they could always get a meal along with encouragement and the Word of God from Mrs, Smith.  My grandpa Johnson used to work for Great Northern Railway.  Trains are cool!

Train, train, take me on out of this town, oh train, train.........

Double teaming the Ford

After a lot of hard work and help from Rad, Ann, Jim and Dee we finally got the crops out of the field (except for the 20 acres of ruined beans) and into the elevator.

This little piggy went to market............

It was a great year and soon the pain and suffering  faded.  The insurance company eventually settled with us and the 20 acres of beans were tilled into the ground in the spring of 2010. Thanks for your help Fred!!

Gracias Dios!

Victory!