This week, the National Corn Growers Association continued its ninth season of Field Notes, a series that takes readers behind the farm gate to follow the year in the life of American farm families. While these growers come from diverse geographic areas and run unique operations, they share a common love for U.S. agriculture and the basic values that underpin life in farming communities.
Field Notes caught up with Lindsey Bowers, a farmer and grain merchandiser from southeastern Texas. In her area, some of the crop has reached tasseling despite difficult planting conditions.
“In our area, it is hit or miss. We have some corn that, honestly, looks great, and we have some corn where we saw uneven emergence with stands that I am unsure will be able to fully recover,” said Bowers. “Areas like those can take some substantial yield hits.
“Additionally, in our local area, corn acres are down about 15 to 20 percent. There wasn’t time to work the ground. Most of the acres here were worked just days before planting occurred and, in a lot of cases, the ground didn’t get worked at all.
“Further south of us, they may have planted a bit more corn than last year. With timely rains, their corn looks great.”
To listen to the full interview, including how planting decisions were impacted by tariffs in her area and how practices in southern Texas vary from the Midwest, click here.
Stay tuned over the coming weeks as Field Notes follows the growers who have opened their farms, families and communities up this year and meet the true faces of modern American agriculture.
