Field Notes Talks Crop Progress with Kansas Farmer Neitzel

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 Lowell Neitzel, who farms near Lawrence, Kansas, earlier this week. The USDA report earlier in the week indicated 97 percent of corn acres in his state had reached emergence, and he sees that number being accurate so far as the progress he has heard from fellow farmers.

“I talked to some friends in western Kansas, and their corn has all emerged,” said Neitzel. “Everything around here is fairly well along. Some of the corn that I saw in my travels today is actually starting to tassel, and some is about six inches tall. There is a wide variety in term of progress in this area. It should be an interesting harvest this fall.

Despite continued progress, he believes that a good amount of damage has already been done in terms of the overall crop this year.

To listen to the full interview, 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.