Clayton VanAernam is 17 and a junior at Audubon High School. He farms with his parents, Andy and Ashley, near Exira in Audubon County. They have a cow-calf herd, and Clayton helps his uncle with his row crop operation. He is involved with FFA, serving as chapter president, and is also active in 4-H.

Planting season is just starting around here. We are planning on starting sometime today. We have received large amounts of rain within the last few weeks — roughly 3.5 inches. It has finally dried off enough so we can being to start field work. The pastures are beginning to take off, and the hay is the same way. We have five cows left to calve for the spring. Calves are looking to be one of the best sets we have had this year. Overall we are starting at a good point.

Once again planting came to a halt due to a light rain last night. We are hoping to run tomorrow morning. Most people have started, but a few are still waiting. On the cattle front, the pastures are growing great, and we are looking to get a few out on grass next week. The hay crop is starting to look great and should be a good turnout due to the rain we have gotten this spring. We are hoping to get a good run on planting this week.

Planting is a full go in our area. Most guys are getting to the end stretch. If I had to guess, most have a week to two weeks left. The big thing that we need is a rain so we can get everything to come up well due to simply how hard the ground is becoming. On the cattle front, we moved a few out to grass over the weekend, and we are looking to A.I. some this weekend.

We finished up planting this past week. The biggest thing we could use at the moment is a rain. Some of our first-planted crops have begun to come up the past few days. Hay crop is looking to be dropped within the next few weeks and looks to be a good cutting. We started to A.I. cows over the weekend and are hoping to get everything out to pasture soon.

We received an inch of rain over the past two days, which is a blessing! We have completely finished planting and pretty much everyone is done around us. The sprayers are starting to roll. On the cattle front, we are hoping to drop hay in the next week and are moving cows out to pasture this week as we wrap up breeding. Overall we are standing well and are going to receive more rain tonight. Hopefully we stay out of the wind.

This week has been a great one. We have finally started to receive some rain, right around an inch this week. Overall we just need some heat to get everything going strong. On the cattle front, we have moved everything out to pasture and are getting ready to mow hay once it dries.

We ended up getting a half inch of rain this weekend. It got most of our first cut of hay wet, which was a bummer. The corn and bean crop is coming up well and appears to be on the right track. The pastures are nice and thick and appears to be a good year. Overall we are standing well.

We ended up with roughly seven-tenths of rain over the past week, which was much needed. We could use a bit more though, and Thursday we have a good chance. The crops are taking off and appear to be in a good spot. On the cattle front, pastures are standing well and cattle are looking great out on grass. Second cut of alfalfa is starting to grow at a good pace. We are hoping to start our grass hay at the end of this week.

This week has been a good one. We got right around 0.7 of an inch of rain, which was much needed. We have officially reached the point where our corn is starting to shade, which is a good sign. It’s past knee high. The beans are coming along nicely as well. The hay crop is taking on growth well, and we are looking to do grass hay this week. Pastures look good and seem to be holding on. Cows and calves on pasture look amazing — one of the best calf crops in my life.

We ended up with right around 0.7 of an inch of rain at our place this past week. Boy, was it a blessing no wind came with it, and it was a great boost for our corn, beans and hay. Beans look great, just needed a rain to get them going. Can’t wait to see how the look in a few days! We are at my waist for corn — I’m 6 foot 2 for reference. We finished our grass waterway hay Friday night with 45 grass bales, which is a great number for us. Cows are looking great out on grass and pastures are holding up well.

This week has been a nice, cool one. They say next week is going to be hot. It’s looking like we’re going to start making the second cut of alfalfa next week, which is something positive. I worry about the extreme heat on the crops, though. The beans and corn look great. Beans are close to a foot high. The big need is rain. We have missed some much-needed rain that other areas have gotten. If we could keep getting some consistent rain that would boost our crops even more.

This week was a HOT one, but a good one. We ended up getting our second cut of alfalfa done, which was a positive. It ended up yielding about half what it did last cutting. That was not surprising due to the little bit of rainfall we have received. On that note, we did get right at six-tenths of rain at our place throughout the week. That was much needed. I would not be upset with a good, soft 2-inch rain. It would be a good boost for the crops. Happy we are not the ones in Ames, though. Overall the crops are taking off. Pastures are holding up well, and hay looks to be taking off, so hopefully we can get a third cutting. We are pretty blessed, just could use a little bit more rain. God bless!

This week was once again a dry one. We had a few small showers that did not amount to much — right at 0.2 of an inch total from all of them. Crops are looking great though. Some corn, not all, is starting to tassel in our area, which is good. Beans are all shaded over. Pastures and cows are looking great, though we are dry. Third cut of hay is taking off strong and looks like it will tonnage out well if we get some rain on it.

This week was once again a dry one. We got no rain. The corn rolled up some during the hot stretch of the day, but at the moment looks to be good. Beans are looking good. Hay appears to be ready for a third cut within the next two weeks. Just need some rain.

This week was once again a dry one. We got 0.2 of an inch of rain—and I honestly wouldn’t even count it as a “rain.” The corn and beans look good, but if we don’t get a rain soon it’s going to start to take effect on stuff big time. Hay is getting close to needing mowed but looks like a short cutting. Hopefully it yields out to be decent. Pastures are holding up pretty well considering how dry we have been.

This week was once again a dry one. We got right at 0.4 of an inch of rain at our place. There was talk of good 1-2-inch rain coming that never did. The big need is moisture. If we receive a good 2-inch rain it would be a blessing. The third cut of hay is underway for the most part around here, and the pastures are holding up well considering how dry we are.

This week was once again a dry one. We finally got an inch and a half of rain. The crops needed it, but we are in one of those pockets that have missed the rains this summer. Pastures are burnt up and third cutting of hay was very poor, but the beans and corn seem to be holding on well for the little bit of rain. We need more rain.

This week was a soaker! We ended up getting 6.8 inches of rain! We needed it terribly. Overall, pastures seem to be taking back off, which is a blessing. Hopefully we can graze for a bit longer. Hay fields seem to be taking off as well, so hopefully we can get a measurable fourth cutting. Corn and beans look to be doing well due to the much-needed rain. We will be set on rain for a little bit!

This week was a good one. We were dry but did receive some heavy dew which helped keep crops going. Overall we are looking at good crops and hay, and pastures look good too.

This week was a good one. We got a light rain with right at 0.1 of an inch. Had some heavy dew several days, which was also nice. Fourth cutting of hay is coming along nicely. Pastures are finally taking back off due to the rains, and they look green. Corn and beans are looking good. We are looking like we are going to start chopping corn silage next weekend.

This week once again was a dry one for us. Areas right around us got rain but not us. Crops are looking good. Some beans are starting to turn slightly. We are planning on starting chopping tomorrow morning (Saturday, Sept. 5). Corn is looking good as well and is starting to turn. Fourth cutting of hay is taking off, and we’ll look to cut that in the next week or two.