A Year in the Life of a Farmer: Preparing for spring planting season

AgriNews will follow Chad Bell throughout the entire year. Each month, look for updates about the farmer and the decisions he makes on his farm.

VIOLA, Ill. — Chad Bell is working on a variety of projects during the transition time from winter and getting ready for the spring planting season.

“We seeded some waterways a couple of weeks ago and we did some vertical tillage in February,” said Bell, who is married to Brittany, and they are the parents of Amelia, 12, and Charlie, 9.

“We have been getting some grain moved and now we are getting down to the bin sweeps on a couple of bins,” he said. “We usually finish hauling corn in the June to July timeframe, but my goal is to be done sooner than that this year.”

Bell completed most of the tillage work on his crop acres last fall with strip-till and anhydrous application, as well as some vertical tillage.

“We are ready for spring with the exception of some acres that had tank-applied manure and they will have to be leveled off before we can plant with probably a field cultivator,” he said.

The farmer in northwestern Illinois started strip-tilling in about 2017.

“It is the best of both worlds between no-till and full tillage,” he said. “It maintains residue on the soil surface and the advantage of having a residue-free strip that is warmer and drier to plant into.”

Bell has two 16-row planters, one dedicated to each crop. The Kinze planter has two sets of row units to plant 15-inch soybeans, and the White planter is used to plant 30-inch corn rows.

“I’ve had a second planter for a while and one of the intentions of having a dedicated planter is to be able to plant soybeans first or when they need to be planted,” the Mercer County farmer said. “I also use the Kinze planter for wheat and in the fall for cover crops.”

Soybeans will be planted first on the Bell farm once the soil conditions are favorable.

“My dad, Greg, typically runs the planter and we’ll start anytime it is fit after April 10,” Bell said.

“My planters don’t need a whole lot, but I replace some stuff every year for peace of mind,” he said. “The goal is to go to the field ready, but there is always a surprise like a wheel bearing or a flat tire that throws a wrench into things.”

Typically, Bell replaces the seed firmers on his planter every year.

“To replace those, I have to take the seed openers off,” he said. “I also check the disc-opening bearings because I have a lot of trouble with the bearings.”

This year Bell will be planting more Corteva Agriscience genetics than Bayer for both his corn hybrids and soybean varieties.

“We spread our soybean maturities from 2.5 to 3.4, but it seems like they all end up ready about the same time,” he said.

“The last few years, the earlier-maturity beans have yielded better than the fuller-season beans and I’m not sure if that is due to the timing of rains in July and August or if that is just how it worked out.”

For his corn acres, Bell will plant 107- to 117-day maturities.

“It is pretty typical for the full-season corn to be our best, so I would like to focus more on full-season hybrids,” he said. “But we don’t have a drying system, so we use Mother Nature to dry the corn.”

Over the last month, Bell said, his area has received probably 4 inches worth of moisture, between about 3.5 inches of rain and enough snow to get another half inch of water.

“We are short of moisture versus normal, but I am not worried about it,” he said. “Being dry in April and May is better to get the crops planted without worrying about getting stuck or waiting to plant a field another day because it is too wet.”

“We can fix a drought much faster than we get into a drought because it takes just a few days to get a bunch of rain versus a month to really dry out and get worrisome,” he noted. “Drought is usually not the problem. We’re more worried about too much water.”

A few weeks ago, Bell got his bus driver’s license and has been filling in on a couple of bus routes for the Sherrard Community Unit School District 200.

“There have been several districts in the area that have canceled school on random days because they don’t have enough bus drivers,” he said.

Two groups of feeder pigs were delivered to Bell’s 2,400-head wean-to-finish barn about a month ago and are off to a good start.

“One group of pigs came from the boot hill of Missouri and the other group came from south of St. Louis,” he said. “Typically, I fill the barn from the same place, but there are some health problems on the farrowing side, so I had to do things a little differently.”

Bell has noticed differences between the two groups.

“They were healthy, but one group started off a little slower and it seemed like they did not go through the first stages of feed quite as fast,” he said. “Now they have picked up pretty good.”

The pork producer goes through the pens to sort the pigs based on size.

“About 10 days to two weeks after they arrive, I start going through the pens and pull out the ones that are smaller and group them together,” he said. “I usually leave six to eight pens empty in the barn to start with, for these smaller pigs.”

This year Bell has been a little more aggressive than normal marketing grain.

“Now we are able to sell new crop corn and beans at prices that we haven’t really seen in a couple of years,” he said. “I am probably 20% to 30% sold on corn and beans.”

Bell has spent more time this winter evaluating his farming operation.

“Even though things are tight, I am a lot more comfortable with where I am at because I’m more confident about what I need to do to breakeven or make a profit,” he said.

The higher grain prices are a sign that farmers should be doing something instead of nothing, Bell said.

“Two weeks ago, we were running out of reasons to be hopeful, but then the war in Iran happened and oil prices skyrocketed and the grain market followed,” he said.

“That was the black swan that we were not anticipating,” he added. “This rally has been a gift, so you have to take advantage of it.”

Most farmers probably have their inputs locked up for the 2026 growing season.

“That’s the biggest problem now,” Bell said. “We may have some significantly higher input prices next year, but maybe we will have higher grain prices, too.”