Plant 2019 wraps up after rainy Spring

It has been one of the wettest Springs ever remembered resulting in a delayed planting season. We were blessed to have the skies clear up this past week even when the forecast was calling for rain. This allowed us enough time to get the 2019 crop in the ground and we wish for another bountiful harvest. Check out some pictures below from the planting season.

Darin McKay & Joey McKay

Benson McKay

McKay Farms begin Harvest 2018 in Beecher City

Harvest started in the middle of September and has brought us great yields and exciting memories. That #Harvest18 season has experienced wonderful weather outside of today which resulted in 1-3 inches of rain in the area. Blake McKay has been busy with the drone capturing some unbelievable aeriel shots that could not have been accomplished without new technologies. Check out the pictures below and expect many more pictures to be published soon. Happy Harvest!!

Thumbs up to Harvest Season

Benson enjoying combine ride

Jason McKay standing on Semi

Joey and Benson

#Plant18 complete for McKay Farms in Central Illinois

McKay Farms has successfully completed their corn and soybean #plant18 season. The delayed start was due to a colder than normal Spring but temperatures warmed up quickly, especially in the last week. We are blessed to complete the planting season with only a couple breakdowns and a few flat tires. Most of our corn has emerged and is looking great. Check out our pictures below of our 2018 Planting Season!

Jason McKay & Dan McKay #Plant18

McKay Farms, Beecher City, Illinois

Darin McKay disking field outside Cowden, IL

Check us out at McKayFarms.com

Corn emerging & Looking great!

Tyler McKay farming in Central Illinois 

Corn #Plant18 is complete for McKay Farms!

We successfully planted all of our corn for the 2018 season as of May 2nd. We were lucky enough to have only a few minor breakdowns and a couple flat tires during the corn planting season. We will be taking the next couple days off due to the rain showers but hope to continue with beans as soon as possible. Check out some pictures of the corn planting season.

Dan McKay planting corn

Blake McKay with field cultivator

Benson McKay on tractor ride

#Plant18 postponed due to cold & wet Spring

The 2018 planting season has been delayed due to the wet and cold weather across the Midwest. We have all our machinery ready to go but have not started due to wet field conditions. We expect to start in the next week or two as long as no more flooding occurs. If we try to plant too early, we may end up like the tractor below!

Harvest 2017 begins for McKay Farms

Today we begin #Harvest17 in front of our homestead in Beecher City. Corn moisture is good due to the recent high temperatures in Illinois. We are excited to begin another Harvest Season!!

Preparations begin for 2017 Farming Season

As the snow melts away in Central Illinois, McKay Farms is preparing for another successful Farming Season. We have a lot of work to get accomplished before planting time including the cleaning of 11 grain bins. Grain is currently being hauled away and before we know it, we will be beginning #Spring17.We can't wait!

McKay Homestead 2017

#Harvest16 for McKay Farms is finished!

After many long days of work and hard work by Dan McKay and his sons, we are proud to say #Harvest16 is successfully finished. Harvest makes Fall the best season of the year and allows the family to come together to accomplish one goal. We will now begin preparing for #Plant17 with soil testing, fall tillage and tractor maintenance.

Volunteers lend helping hands for injured farmer's harvest

NEWMAN — Dave Young is facing many adjustments after an accident in August left him blind in his right eye. At first with little depth perception, he was having problems with seemingly simple tasks such as putting toothpaste on a toothbrush. It took him a few days to be able to do that again. The hardest part for Young, a farmer in Douglas County, might be watching others in the fields this fall after years in the driver's seat of a combine. Unable to operate the equipment, Young, 59, wasn't sure how he was going to get this year's crop out of the fields. Luckily, a group of neighbors in the Newman area and others from across the county rallied to his aid, taking a day off from working their own fields last week to harvest Young's corn last week. “I've been stewing about it for a month,” Young said while still making phone calls to make sure the grain was delivered to nearby elevators. “This feels like a great big hug. It's a good feeling.” Tyler Harvey, the Douglas County Farm Bureau manager, found that everyone who heard about what Young needed was more than willing to help. Young was injured when a pry bar slipped, hitting his face while working on a semi-truck.

“All the time we think about wearing safety equipment using power tools, but hand tools can hurt just as bad,” Young said. “One little slip and I'm paying for it.” Harvey said 230 acres in five fields needed to be harvested, a task that normally takes several weeks. Instead, it got done in a day with the help of all the volunteers. “Seeing so many people come together, it takes the weight off,” Harvey said. “This is really what the agriculture community is like when there is a time of need. Once word got out, the help flowed in.” Dave Young's wife, Debby, was among the family members and neighbors helping to prepare sack lunches to take to the fields as a way to thank the volunteers. They even made sure an FS truck was available to replenish any fuel that the volunteers used for their equipment during the day. Debby Young said it's been a hard adjustment at a time of year when Dave is usually out in the fields for more than 12 hours a day, something she knows he'd rather be doing now.

“We can't express how much we appreciate the help,” Debby Young said. “Harvest is a stressful time in farming. This is when we get our pay day.” Family members have driven in from both nearby and out of state to help. They were impressed to see the show of support. “I drove in here and I was almost in tears when I saw all the guys lined up,” said Gerald Day of Monticello, Dave Young's father-in-law. Taking any time off during harvest can be a lot to ask as farmers want to complete the work as efficiently as possible, not knowing how weather conditions can change, Harvey said.

“It's always a race against the clock,” Harvey said. “One of the things about farming is being used to change.” Some of the neighboring farmers shrugged off what they were doing, saying it was just what they do. “We've got to help when somebody needs it,” said Greg Luth while preparing to hop back in a combine to finish off one of the fields. Harvey said after knowing Young through various Farm Bureau activities that he would do the same thing if somebody else needed the help. “I'm glad we could help out and coordinate this,” Harvey said. “It's easy to help somebody like him.” Harvey said a similar effort is likely to be needed to help with Young's soybean fields, but for the time being, the focus was on corn, which was ready to be harvested. Young isn't sure what the future will hold for his recovery, but he remains hopeful that he will be back in the fields for spring planting.

(Article was published by Chris Lusvardi, Herald & Review)

More Pictures of Harvest 2016

Another successful week of shelling corn contributed to these pictures below. With corn nearly complete, we will be switching to cutting beans this upcoming week.

Great Start to Harvest 2016

The weather has been perfect over the past week allowing the family to begin operations on Harvest 2016. A busy and successful week of over 250 acres of corn shelled and contributions from the entire family. We will have a lot of pictures to share over the next coming weeks as Harvest season is here!

Time to Clean the Farm Equipment!

Blake McKay washing John Deere

Tyler McKay cleaning Brent Grain Cart

Harvest 2015 is over and preparations are made each day for the coming year. The beautiful weather lately has been great to allow us to clean our farm machinery before storing for the long winter ahead. We have most of the equipment cleaned up but still have to finish a few tractors and the hardest piece- the combine.

Continuous Corn Moisture Monitoring

Dan McKay is inside the new grain bin testing the moisture of the corn. Results came back in average ranges of 14.8 to 15.9.  Below is the maximum storage in months for shelled corn form USDA research. Most of our stored corn will be hauled away during the winter or early spring months.

Cash rent changes for 2016

(Source: University of Illinois) Cash rents on professionally managed farmland likely will decrease for the 2016 cropping year. Rents on non-professionally managed farmland likely will decrease as well. However, projected rent decreases are not large enough to cause farmers to have positive returns in 2016 given current projections of commodity prices and costs. The lagged relationship between returns and cash rents still exists.

Each year, the Illinois Society of Professional Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers conducts a survey of its membership. In this survey, managers are asked the cash rent for the current year and expectations for next year. This survey provides a good indicator of rents on professionally managed farmland. Managers give averages and expectations for four classes of farmland productivity:

• Excellent - expected corn yields over 190 bushels per acre
• Good - Expected corn yields between 170 and 190 bushels per acre
• Averages - expected corn yields between 150 and 170 bushels per acre
• Fair - expected corn yields less than 150 bushels per acre

For excellent quality farmland, the average cash rent on professionally managed farmland was $374 per acre in 2014. Cash rents decreased to $350 per acre in 2015. Current expectations are for cash rents to continue the decrease in 2016. Expected rent in 2016 is $318 per acre, a $32 decrease from the 2015 level. Similar decreases are projected for all land classes:

• Good quality farmland: a $28 per acre decrease to $267 per acre
• Average quality farmland: a $31 decrease to $219 per acre
• Fair quality farmland: a $23 decrease to $177 per acre

These professionally managed cash rents typically are higher than "average" cash rents, which include all farmland, the majority of which that is not professionally managed. In 2014, for example, excellent productivity farmland had an average cash rent of $293 per acre, $81 less than the $374 per acre for professionally managed farmland. While $293 per acre is the average, there is a large range in rents, with some rents considerably below average, just as there are rents above average.

Land Improvements Season Begins!

Fall is great time of the year to begin land improvements to existing fields. By analyzing yield monitors during harvest season, you can determine low spots within the fields and begin to improve for the upcoming season. Many fields will also have fallen trees on the edge of the fields which will need moved before fall tillage or spring planting begins. There has been beautiful weather so far this fall to allow us to continue the work.

Jason McKay adding soil to field

Dan McKay lifting dead trees over fence line

Harvest 2015 is Complete!

Nearly perfect weather throughout the months of September and October has allowed Harvest 2015 to finished at a record pace on October 3rd, 2015. Dan McKay and his sons worked day and night until the job was complete. We have to thank God for safety during the harvest season and for the beautiful weather to help deliver another successful harvest.

Working through the night

Jason McKay overlooking last load of corn for Harvest 2015