Farm:  Dwain and his wife, Melba, own Ford Farms and M&D Seed Company in Kinmundy, Ill., where they produce and market soybeans, corn and wheat. Their family includes son, Shannon; his wife, Misty; son, Ryan; his wife, Carrie; and four grandchildren. This is Dwain’s sixth year as a USB Director.
Dwain Ford:
This week I attended the USB Executive Committee meeting and met with executive members of ASA.
In the field, we started harvesting wheat and hope to start double cropping the soybeans once we get all the wheat cut, but that depends on the weather since there’s rain in the forecast for this and next week. The soybeans have a good stand, and most of them are planted in the area. Some farmers have to replant their soybeans though since it rained right after they planted.
We finished spraying the soybeans with herbicides.  Since we don’t have any pressures from insects or diseases, we haven’t had to spray any insecticides or fungicides. Right now, we’re just keeping an eye on the crop and will monitor it throughout the growing season. We’ll likely have to spray herbicides again probably in August because there will be a new flush of weeds that will germinate and emerge.
The challenge right now is the weather conditions. Up in Minnesota and Iowa, they’ve had some severe storms and flash flood warnings. Some farmers in that area have reported four to seven inches of rain. Fortunately we haven’t had that much rain; we’ve had excessive amounts at times but not to that extent. It’s been extremely hot this week in the mid-90s with the heat index over 100 degrees, so the heat and humidity have also been a challenge.
With severe weather, it’s good to know we have the comfort of a diverse soybean-growing region. With soybeans planted in at least 26 states from the Southeast to the North, as far west as Colorado to the Northeast and clear down to Texas, then all over the South and Midwest, we’ll have a reliable supply of soybeans this year for our international customers.