Our Kryptonite

Being surrounded by Amish farmers, we are reminded daily of the advantages technology and change have brought to agriculture. 

Yet, progress often comes at a price.

One casualty of the trend towards multi-thousand acre, data driven farming operations, where employees do most of the work and owners focus on managing the business, is a lost personal connection to the land.

Gaining awareness of an individual farm's personality and developing a system to manage it as unique, while maintaining the benefits that come with scale is our biggest challenge.   

When Great Grandfather Chrysandt performed every task from fence repair, to pulling weeds by hand, to harvesting the crop in the daylight hours between livestock chores, he possessed an intimate and comprehensive familiarity with his farm.  

One of my early hero farmers, a member of the Meyer church community, provided a good life for his family of ten on 160 acres. He was able to glean the highest possible yield from the land he cultivated by understanding the idiosyncrasies of each acre, meticulously performing every field operation, fine-tuned for the nuances of the various soils.  

Having recognized this correlation early on, maintaining an informed relationship with every farm has heavily influenced our management practices. 

Yield maps and soil fertility test results are reviewed annually. This data alerts us to underperforming areas and determines precision nutrient application.          

We have specific guidelines for tillage around the perimeter of fields and waterways. Never roll top soil into a road ditch or encroach the back slope of a waterway. Position the edge of tillage tools within three feet of the property line, maintain a minimum five foot grass strip along drainage ditches.

Installing drainage tile on 30-40' spacing has narrowed the gap between well drained and poorly drained soil, making fields more homogenous.   

Operators are coached to report tile repairs, exposed boulders, excessive erosion, or other defects that need to be addressed. 

Our in-house tile repair specialist spends most of his time maintaining the drainage systems on our farms. We stock tools, supplies, and repair parts and support him as needed to keep repairs timely.   

We have a very "hands on" culture of ownership at Pinicon. With every able body going to the field during planting and harvest, odds are high either Bert, Ben, Alex, or myself will oversee a field operation on most farms at least once annually.

"Land repair" is a line item in our expense budget and has an advocate with the credibility to ensure adequate funding.  

We have a designated "Land Improvement Supervisor" whose duties include monthly growing season field inspections, operator input aggregator, repair priority decider, and project oversight.

I assumed this position when the new management Team took over in 2018. The boys haven't fired me yet so I must be meeting expectations.   

It may not be possible to achieve the ideal of direct interaction and specific working memory of every square acre we operate.  

But we believe we can know each farm well enough to give them the individual care needed to preserve and enable their potential.

Jim