A day in the life of U.S. agriculture

<p><span style="color:black">Sun rising on rural America, Olton, Texas</span></p>

<p><em>Photo by Shelley Huguley, Southwest Farm Press</em></p>

<p><span style="color:black">First rain in two months on Georgia cotton.</span></p>

<p><em>Photo by Ron Smith, Farm Press</em></p>

<p><span style="background-color:white"><span style="color:#333333">Stephen Briggs, left,&nbsp;launch director for the North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative, and&nbsp;Geoffrey Bock, project manager for the North Carolina Plant Sciences Initiative, check out construction of the Plant Sciences Building on the Centennial Campus of North Carolina State University in Raleigh at 10 a.m., Tuesday Oct. 15.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="background-color:white"><span style="color:#333333">The 185,000 square foot building will be completed by the end of 2021 and will bring together plant scientists and scientists from other disciplines to collaboratively&nbsp;solve the global challenge of feeding&nbsp; 2 billion more people by 2050. When completed, it will be a unique facility, with nothing quite like it in the world.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="background-color:white"><span style="color:#333333">“This building will be the premier plant science research facility in the world where scientists will work together doing&nbsp;cutting edge research. The Plant Sciences Building will be unique not only because of the innovative research that will be conducted in plant sciences but in the work of educating the next generation of plant scientists to solve the global challenges of agriculture,” Briggs said.</span></span></p>

<p><em><span style="background-color:white"><span style="color:#333333">Photo by John Hart, Southeast Farm Press</span></span></em></p>

<p><span style="color:#333333">Farm shows are a great place for producers to learn about new tools. During a cool opening morning of the 2019 Sunbelt Ag Expo Bradley Sweetin, product specialist, talks planter performance at the Case IH exhibit.</span></p>

<p><em>Photo by Willie Vogt, Farm Progress</em></p>

<p><span style="color:black">The flood waters of the James River, running through Southeast South Dakota, have been receding in recent weeks. The James, which runs 710 miles from North Dakota, through South Dakota, and empties into the Missouri River near Yankton, S.D., drains more than 20,000 square miles. It isn't unusual for the James to move above flood stage, but this year, the river has run as high as ever, even closing U.S. Highway 81 at this site north of Yankton for four days in mid-September. As pictured here today, the James is lower than it was then, but the massive waters of the river, adjacent to corn fields that actually did get planted in the valley, are symptomatic of the flooding issues faced by Great Plains farmers throughout this growing season.&nbsp;</span></p>

<p><em>Photo by Curt Arens, Dakota Farmer, Nebraska Farmer</em></p>

<p><span style="color:black">A field of ripe soybeans is bordered by trees wearing their fall colors.</span></p>

<p><em><span style="color:black">Photo by Janet Kubat Willette, Farm Futures</span></em></p>

<p><span style="color:black">Gifford, Ill., farmer Frank Rademacher drills cereal rye into a recently harvested corn field as his family’s farm waits for moisture levels to come down in their white corn before continuing harvest.</span></p>

<p><em><span style="color:black">Photo by Austin Keating, Prairie Farmer</span></em></p>

<p><span style="color:black">Greg Hawes delivers freshly picked pumpkins to a vendor booth at the front of Historic Hawes Farms in Anderson, Calif. Historic Hawes Farms, a pumpkin patch and corn maze attraction, is operated by growers Greg and Nikola Hawes. Greg is a fifth-generation farmer whose family grows walnuts, melons, peaches, tomatoes, vegetables, wheat for hay, and cattle pasture. They also operate a farm supply store. Their October harvest-themed agritourism attraction draws between 30,000 and 40,000 visitors annually.</span></p>

<p><em><span style="color:black">Photo by Tim Hearden, Western Farm Press</span></em></p>

<p><span style="color:black">Cary Lightsey, Florida rancher and senior judge for the&nbsp;<span style="background-color:white">2019 Swisher Sweets/ Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year, holds the piece of paper with the name of this year’s winner Oct. 15 at 1:02 p.m. Eastern at the opening day luncheon of the Sunbelt Ag Expo. He’s on his way to the stage to hand it over to event organizers. They had to write the name on the ‘big check.’ (The winner was Virginia farmer Michael McDowell</span>.</span></p>

<p><em>Photo by Brad Haire, Southeast Farm Press</em></p>

<p>The weather was mid-October perfect for getting the 2020 hard red winter wheat crop in the ground and Bruce Nicholson, who farms near Maize took full advantage, was making good progress toward finishing up the 160 acres he plants every fall by early afternoon. He said he’s been using his vintage Allis-Chalmers 185 tractor to plant wheat every year for the last 40 years. “You might say I’m a subsistence farmer,” he said. “This is my only field and I only plant wheat. I’m not getting rich, but we get by.”</p>

<p><em>Photo by P.J. Griekspoor, Kansas Farmer</em></p>

<p>A soybean field awaits harvest on a chilly, wet, blustery day.</p>

<p><em>Photo by Jen Koukol, Farm Progress</em></p>

<p><span style="background-color:white"><span style="color:black">It takes all types of skills to survive as a farmer these days. One skill that becomes necessary is welding. This farmer welds on his grain dryer during a rehab project in eastern Ohio.</span></span></p>

<p><em><span style="background-color:white"><span style="color:black">Photo by Kristy Seachrist, Corn+Soybean Digest</span></span></em></p>

<p>A late spring with cold and wet weather lingering into June meant a lot of farmers who wanted to plant cotton never got the seed in the ground. And some of those who did saw flooding wash out field after field. Those combined problems have resulted in a cotton harvest several thousand acres less than farmers intended. But those who caught the right window of time at the right place were starting harvest by mid-October. Ty Miller was the first to begin harvest on this field near Bentley in south central Kansas. Miller is a partner in Pardu Farms with cotton pioneer, Duane Regier, but was custom harvesting this field for Steve Jacob and Ryan Speer, partners in Jacob Farm. Miller said his own cotton isn’t ready yet because he didn’t get seed in the ground until mid-June. “The gin told me I’m the first to call in bales this year,” he said.</p>

<p><em>Photo by P.J. Griekspoor, Kansas Farmer</em></p>

<p>Grain barges are being pushed up the Mississippi River near the Twin Cities in Minnesota. These will likely join the dozens of empty barges lining the banks about five miles north near Saint Paul, and wait to be filled with grain.</p>

<p><em>Photo by Jen Koukol, Farm Progress</em></p>

<p><span style="color:black">At the H. H. Leveck Animal Research Center (referred to as South Farm) on Mississippi State University campus, this little lady was disappointed when she realized I wasn't there to feed her.</span></p>

<p><em>Photo by Alaina Dismukes, Delta Farm Press</em></p>

<p>Chilis grown at Curry Farms in southern Arizona are produced primarily for their seed, which is sold to growers from California to Texas, including the trademarked chili program in New Mexico. Ed Curry not only grows the chilis, he processes some of them for various uses. Much of the chili is hand harvested, though Curry is experimenting with mechanical harvesters to reduce costs. He also experiments with different varieties to fit various market needs.</p>

<p><em>Todd Fitchette, Farm Press</em></p>

<p><span style="color:black">It’s a busy time on farms in south-central Pennsylvania with many farms making hay, including on this Amish farm just outside of Lititz, Pa.</span></p>

<p><em><span style="color:black">Photo by Chris Torres, American Agriculturist</span></em></p>

<p>A young fall calf near Holstein, Mo., is eager to see who is snapping photos from the rural roadside.</p>

<p><em>Photo by Mindy Ward, Missouri Ruralist</em></p>

<p><span style="color:black">Bob and Josh Hiemstra, who farm 785 owned and rented acres near Brandon</span><span style="color:black">, Wis., were thrilled to finish up making corn silage at their farm on Oct. 15. The father and son milk 175 Holstein cows and raise 150 heifers and 120 Holstein crossbred steers and heifers. Record wet weather is making silage making and other fieldwork a challenge this fall.</span></p>

<p><em><span style="color:black">Photo by Fran O’Leary, Wisconsin Agriculturist</span></em></p>

<p><span style="color:black">On the shoulder of a county highway, in the rain and mud following an October snowstorm, George Mattson tightens the straps on a semi load of straw bound for a Wisconsin dairy. Mattson, a driver for Schaefer Auto Inc., a freight company, was hauling the bales for Pacific Ag, &nbsp;a national firm with a office in Fargo, N.D., managed by farmers Tom and Stephanie Borgen. Pacific Ag/Fargo supplies dairies, biorefineries and other users throughout the U.S. and Canada with wheat straw and other residues from the Red River Valley.</span></p>

<p><em><span style="color:black">Photo by Lon Tonneson, Dakota Farmer</span></em></p>

<p><span style="color:black">Cattle eat a small amount of protein supplement spread under the electric fence to boost productivity as fall forage quality declines.</span></p>

<p><em>Photo by Alan Newport, Beef Producer</em></p>

<p><span style="color:black">Hay bales ready to load for the winter.</span></p>

<p><em>Photo by Slate Canon, Farm Press</em></p>

<p><span style="color:black">A lone Cypress tree in the middle of a cotton field with cotton bales in the background on a dreary October afternoon. </span></p>

<p><em><span style="color:black">Photo by Slate Canon, Farm Press</span></em></p>

<p>In an effort to beat the pending rain showers, Trent Edwards unloads another truck full of corn at Brakensiek Farm near Wright City, Mo. Running his hands through the grain, he is able to relax just for a minute before heading back to the field. With each load delivered to the farm, Edwards stops to test the corn moisture coming out of the field and into the grain facility.</p>

<p><em>Photo by Mindy Ward, Missouri Ruralist</em></p>

<p><span style="background-color:white"><span style="color:#212121">How about a side of green with that corn? At Purfeerst Farms in Faribault, Minn., they have a cover crop plot that is exploring 30-inch, 60-inch and 90-inch rows. They opened up the field earlier in the week and it’s clear they are going to have some happy cattle this fall.&nbsp;</span></span></p>

<p><em>Photo by Jamie Purfeerst, BEEF magazine</em></p>

<p>The construction of a new cheese processing plant is still one of the most exciting developments in Michigan agriculture. The project is on schedule to open in the fall of 2020. Glanbia is partnering with dairy cooperative Select Milk Producers Inc. and Dairy Farmers of America to form Spartan Michigan LLC to build this new cheese plant. It is in St. Johns and bringing with it great promise to improve the production, profitability and long-term prospects of Michigan’s dairy industry. &nbsp;The new cheese plant, and an adjacent plant that will manufacture whey permeate products, constitute a $550 million investment in this town with a population of 8,000 just 20 miles north of Lansing in Clinton County.</p>

<p><em>Photo by Jennifer Kiel, Michigan Farmer</em></p>

<p>Teaching and training never ends in agriculture, especially here as veteran operator Caleb&nbsp;Howerter&nbsp;helps Josh Grisham learn the ropes of working down ground. This was happening just as night began to fall in rural Fulton County, in western Illinois.</p>

<p><em>Photo by Holly Spangler, Prairie Farmer</em></p>