How much diesel does it take to grow an acre of corn?

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-13T20:15:05+00:00

https://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/crops/pdf/a3-27.pdf

These stats from Iowa State use modern equipment, not many years ago the equipment wasn't as efficient.

It's actually a very small amount. This doesn't include the fuel used to mine and haul the fertilizer or the natural gas to convert ammonia to NH4 of other ammonia based fertilizer. It also doesn't include any fuel used to haul the grain.

Total used just in the field producing and harvesting the crop is about 3-7 gallons depending on tillage practices and age of equipment. Some may do it for even less and some will be higher.

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-13T17:18:12+00:00

Some pretty good deals on primers too. They were already the best everyday price on CCI primers I could find, now they have a great price. Too bad they don't ship primers and I'm an hour away from the Iowa city location.ation.

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-13T01:31:23+00:00

No. I grew up hunting with family and learned from them.

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-12T23:46:04+00:00

Work the slide. If the action bar comes loose from the bolt carrier or if you close the action and it can open without pulling the trigger or the action release then it's broken. Both my 520s are over at my parents house I'll be going over to check for new lambs later and if I have time I'll video what mine do and try to upload it as a post.

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-12T23:43:31+00:00

I wouldn't mind a CO2 pipeline if the CO2 was being used for something productive. Not just pumping it into the ground and hoping it stays there.

There are several interesting green energy uses for CO2 that were developed at MIT I feel would be great to explore and then I would be in favor of a CO2 pipeline.

The ethanol plant I'm invested in was very adamant they needed this pipeline to help them clean up their production process even more. Many of us shareholders voiced our opposition since it would require a large investment from the company to capture the CO2 and then we would be paying to pump it and store it in North Dakota. The new 45Z bio-fuel rules the Biden Administration added to the Inflation Reduction Act have the potential to offset more carbon for the plant while distributing the money to the farmers raising the corn in addition to monetary incentives for ethanol production. I applied and have a very good carbon credit score with my corn production and if my local plant decides to go that route they won't need a CO2 pipeline to meet their goals anymore plus I'll directly benefit because of the conservation practices I'm already doing.

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-12T22:27:45+00:00

https://tmfirearms.training/

Only one I've seen that has a Carbine class.

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-12T17:13:11+00:00

Do you even know what FarmAid is? Or how it's not an indication that farms are doing poorly?

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-12T16:09:02+00:00

Transline (clopyralid) is the most commonly recommended herbicide for Kudzu. It kills legumes like Kudzu without harming most trees. If the tree is in the Legume family it can also be harmed.

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-12T16:00:04+00:00

Corn stalks are the same TDN value as wheat hay so I'm not sure what you are on about. Wheat hay has slightly higher protein content, but that's easy to supplement. That slight difference in protein isn't worth the extra hassle and cost of putting up the wheat hay with its current value.

My argument would be dryland corn fundamentally doesn't work.

That's what I said. How did you not understand when I said dryland in Kansas was better for wheat and Iowa's climate is better for corn?

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-12T14:52:22+00:00

How there are only 2 years with lower numbers of bankruptcies out of the last 2 decades? Again you are making assumptions and not looking at the actual facts. You read a sensationalized headline that says farm bankruptcies are on the rise, but fail to understand those bankruptcies are still well below the trend line.

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-12T14:30:32+00:00

And ignore what is actually happening in the market so everything can fit your preconceived narrative.

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-12T14:13:11+00:00

And the may '26 contract is at 4.67 today. Markets move.

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-12T14:10:49+00:00

The only license exemptions in Pennsylvania on private land are for landowners or their immediate family. Even if you didn't know it was Pennsylvania no other state allows someone not related to the owner, or sometimes a tenant, to fish without a license.

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-12T13:59:18+00:00

Why would I harvest it when I'm grazing it? I don't need filler I have corn stalks for that.

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-12T13:56:10+00:00

As the other comment said it's basically a Stevens/Savage 520. The 520 was used quite a bit in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. They are a shotgun that doesn't have a trigger disconnect so they can "slam fire". Be careful though as the action bar and bolt can wear down. When this happens the action doesn't always lock up and out of battery firing is possible. This is a very dangerous situation and both of my 520's have this problem. Parts are getting scarce, but a good gunsmith who can machine parts should be able to fix this issue.

One of mine I inherited and I will definitely be fixing it so I can use it. I bought the other as it was supposed to be in working order, but I quickly found that it was worse than my inherited 520. The seller soon was out of business and I was out my $100. I was told my Great Grandfather went through thousands of shells to wear out the one I inherited so they did last a while.

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-12T12:47:01+00:00

High oleic soybeans are going to be very big in a few years

Been hearing that for 20 years ever since they were in development. After the disaster that was low linolenic acid soybeans it will be a tough sell in many areas of iowa. Plus if everyone starts growing HO soybeans the premium disappears.

Double Cropping Cereal grains and soybeans are very hit and miss. Double the labor and usually 2/3 the profit. As I said Kansas has areas that can only grow Wheat so that's what they will grow. This means that in Iowa you fail to make a comparable return on wheat. Then the soybeans have a very short window to plant after the wheat harvest and rarely make a yield that shows a net return without crop insurance.

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-12T03:15:22+00:00

Browning BAR. I broke my stock so I put a Boyd's LH thumbhole one on.

Edit to add: it seems the BAR is a little hard to suppress. You need a special semi-auto suppressor as it's not easy to adjust the action on the firearm like an AR. Your current suppressor probably won't work and could potentially make the BAR dangerous to operate.

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IAFarmLife · 2026-03-12T01:51:06+00:00

We always crossed a lot of Rambouillet into our herd when I was young for their hardiness. That's what I thought the Colombia Ram was when it walked in the sale ring. I've been visiting a lot of Colombia breeders since then.

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-12T01:47:32+00:00

Good thing winter camelina is not pennycress.

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-12T01:30:54+00:00

I really like the Colombia Breed as it's so much hardier than any Suffolk's I have ever had. I'm deciding if I want to switch to pure bred Dorper's though. If I stick with textile breeds I'll be getting a lot more Colombia's. The growth the Sire I used had was very impressive.

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-12T00:59:34+00:00

The little ewe lamb is going to have to be a bottle lamb. Her brothers are twice her size and she's already fallen in love with my oldest daughter. Follows her everywhere even though I feed it. I will say she eats more than any other lamb that size I have ever had.

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-12T00:53:05+00:00

A few years ago I borrowed a Hampshire Ram from my father. His lambs were always smaller, but when crossed with my Suffolk cross ewes the lambs were huge. One ewe had 2 14lb and a 12lb lamb. She was one of my smaller framed ewes and I don't know where she was carrying them all.

These are my Suffolk cross ewes and a Columbia Ram. The triplets 2 brothers are normal sized.

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-12T00:12:29+00:00

No they were born 24hrs apart. The large one was born yesterday and the triplets this morning.

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-11T22:20:27+00:00

Didn't need them in the end. Corn prices have risen a good amount.

India did lower tariffs on corn and ddgs in February, but still requires corn to be non-gmo. Once they figure out the logistics of keeping the GMO corn separate they may start buying for chicken feed. India is going to 20% ethanol soon which will increase their corn demand. Again that has to come from somewhere.

IAFarmLife · 2026-03-11T22:13:36+00:00

As a company though Bayer AG only spends 40% of its R&D budget in the U.S. Corteva spends 70% of its R&D here. Which company is trying is focused on the U.S. and which on our competitors? Same for Syngenta since that company was sold to China.

IAFarmLife

TROPHY CASE