Striped Rust in the Wheat

Our tenant's hard white winter wheat is harvested and sold. The yield was a slightly disappointing 2.3 tons per acre (76.7 bushels per acre) due to the development of striped rust late in the growing season. Striped rust is a constantly mutating fungal disease which has managed to attack the previously resistant Blanco Grande variety in only a few years. Luckily, the wheat price was higher than it has been in several years and our tenant will receive about $165 per ton, which will help offset the mediocre yield.

Coyote Nest in the Wheat

Each year that our tenant plants wheat, he finds at least one coyote nest, or den, or whatever it's called, in his harvested wheat field. The coyotes seem to find wheat to be an ideal hiding place in which to make their homes. Some farmers shoot coyotes because of their depredations of the game animal populations. Our tenant does not shoot coyotes, because of their depredations of the pest animals such as mice, gophers, and squirrels. If he sees any San Joaquin kit foxes, he will, of course, shoot them. They are an endangered species, and we cannot afford to allow any of those on our land, given the depredations of our property rights by the environmentalists, especially the ones working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Game. Since we have never seen even one San Joaquin kit fox on our land, we must assume our friends the coyotes are taking care of the problem for us.

2006 Final Cotton Payouts Delayed

Our tenant placed his 2005 Pima and Acala cotton crops in Queensland Cotton's seasonal sales pools last year. Although the final payments are usually made at the end of June, this year Queensland Cotton has delayed the final payment in order to take advantage of strength in the cotton markets. Our tenant expects the final price for his 2005 Pima cotton to be about $1.20 per pound, and the final price for his Acala cotton to be about $.75 per pound. These prices, combined with his good yields last year, will result in a very successful cotton year.

Pima Cotton Planted

Our tenant finished planting his Pima cotton on April 22nd. A combination of cool weather, followed by extremely warm weather, and, frankly, a couple of mistakes by our tenant, has caused him to have a poor stand and plant growth markedly lacking in vigor. The above picture is not representative of the entire farm; most of the Pima cotton looks even worse than this area. This does not bode well for a good Pima harvest this autumn. Fortunately for us, his strong economic performance during the fiscal year just ending, and the carryover of payments expected during this July and August from the 2005 cotton crops and this spring's wheat crop, should prevent any severe problems.

New Old Triplane

Since our tenant purchased his John Deere 4430 tractor in 1990, he has rented a triplane (a tool used for smoothing his fields) each year from the Los Banos Resource Conservation District. Last winter the district decided to end its equipment rental program, leaving our tenant without a way to do this important job himself. The district sold its equipment at auction and our tenant purchased this old Marvin Triplane so he can continue doing the work instead of hiring it done by others. The old triplane doesn't look like much, but it should suffice for the job, especially considering that it only needs to work a few days each year.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!