As an agronomist turned custom strip-tiller, Donnellson, Iowa, farmer Mark Dobson is on the road quite a bit and visits a lot of farms in different regions. The biggest takeaway from his 2024 travels as harvest season reaches a crescendo? The earlier the planting date, the higher the yield.

“It was eye-opening to see how interesting the weather was in 2024, with some areas getting pounded by rain and others not so much,” Dobson says. “Where we’re located, the guys who planted early are raising as good of a crop as they’ve ever combined. As you move the planting date back, we had some dry weather finally in September, some of those later crops died faster than they should’ve. In my region, the big takeaway is the importance of having your fields ready and being able to plant early was crucial.”

Meanwhile, about 200 miles northeast of Dobson in Amboy, Ill., farmers are also enjoying “incredible yields,” according to Dave Thompson, precision farming specialist for Case IH dealer Johnson Tractor. I met up with Thompson for a “Day in the Cab” feature on Oct. 18 and was surprised to find out that harvest season was already over for most of his customers.

“Things are way ahead of schedule,” says Thompson, who can now shift from service to sales mode with the extra time on his hands. “We have customers that are done already and it’s not even November yet. I’ve yet to talk to anybody that’s not happy with their yields. But of course, they’re not happy with market prices. We had a fairly dry summer here, so it’s kind of surprising that the yields are where they are." 

About 215 miles south of Amboy, veteran strip-tiller John Werries was also way ahead of schedule on his Chapin, Ill., farm. He wrapped up his 60th harvest on Oct. 6 according to his post on X.

“Great farm crew. No waiting on trucks. No mud. Second best corn and best beans ever. I can’t begin to describe my gratitude. Thank you, Lord,” Werries said.

How are things looking in your neck of the woods? And what kind of challenges did you face this growing season? Let me know at Nnewman@LessiterMedia.com.

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