Producers Blog
Help Us Mother Nature!
Marty Shafer (DSM, Region 3 – Western Nebraska)
Let me first begin by introducing myself. My name is Marty Shafer and I live in Arapahoe, NE, a small town situated in the Republican River Valley. I am married to a wonderful woman, Sheila, and together we have three children and six grandchildren. It’s true what they say about grandchildren; if we would have known they were so much fun, we would have had them first!
My district consists primarily of eight counties in Nebraska and one in Kansas. I cover Furnas, Gosper, Red Willow, Frontier, Hayes, Hitchcock, Dundy and Chase counties in Nebraska and Norton County in Kansas. This area is unique from many other districts because the Republican River runs nearly right down the middle of it. With the drought and no river water, there seems to be much confusion in the area on how to handle the irrigated acres that are irrigated out of the canal system or any of the wells in the Republican River Basin. The dryland acres are in the same situation since we have had no help recently from Mother Nature.
As I sit down to write this blog it is snowing lightly and the sidewalk is white so far. If the weatherman is correct, this winter storm will produce the first substantial moisture my area has received in nearly two years. I had a client inform me this morning that if the weatherman missed this prediction and we don’t receive the amount of snow he mentioned, the farmer was going to sue for mental anguish. We are all hoping Mother Nature will help us out with some much needed moisture.
If I could recommend anything for those in my area, it would be to reduce your populations, shorten your day lengths, spend extra time on your hybrid selections and check with your insurance agent on what needs to be done to maximize payments. If the drought in this area continues, your agent is going to be an important part of your farm plan.
Call me or any of our area dealers if you have any seed needs. Thanks for your business!
