Bryce Scott gets a taste of real-life farming

by KATHY PIERCE

REPORTER STAFF WRITER

 

Like any book, you need to get beyond the cover to fully appreciate what it’s about. And that’s how 4-H’er Bryce Scott felt about his crop production project on display at the Iowa State Fair. A 5x8” card attached to his black binder informed fair go-ers that Scott, of Boone County, was awarded the Judges’ Choice Award in the area of Ag and Natural Resources.

“There’s a lot more than meets the eye,” commented a judge after reading through Scott’s documentation of his first year in farming. “You were given a good opportunity to try your hand at farming with family help, which is needed to enter the farming game.”

When a Pilot Mound area landowner mentioned she would really like to find a 4-H’er or FFA member and help him get started in farming, Scott’s name came up. Renting the 45 acres would be a great opportunity for him to get his feet wet. 

The challenge was just beginning. Scott had always helped around the family farm, but now he was about to learn so much more. It started by his meeting with the landowner to negotiate the rent plan.

Scott of course at age 16, does not have his own farm equipment so he drew up a contract with his uncle Stan Lingren. He would be trading  labor (livestock chores, fence mending and any other odd jobs required around the farm) in exchange for machinery rent.

Next was a meeting with the banker where he sat down and did a cash flow statement and set up an operating line of credit.

“My parents weren’t available to go with me the day the banker could meet with me, so I did that on my own,” said Scott, “with a banker I never met before. I set up a checking account and wrote my first check for the first half of the cash rent.”

His next step was the FSA (Farm Service Agency) office. Paperwork identified him as the official tenant of the farm. He was then off to the NRCS office to fill out a “highly-erodible” land plan.

Just picking which seed to plant was another challenge. He made a trip to the elevator to put in his herbicide order. Even crop insurance had to be figured into his expenses.

Scott chose not to till his field. “The previous tenant had left standing cornstalks, and so to prevent erosion and to save myself some money on tillage equipment and fuel, I planted the beans right into the cornstalks,” explained Scott.

How does he think his crop of soybeans is doing? “They look awesome!”says the junior from Southeast Valley High School (newly formed between Prairie Valley of Gowrie and Southeast Webster-Grand of Burnside). “It flooded earlier and the beans were stunted, but they came out of it. One thing I didn’t plan for was the geese and wild turkeys eating about an acre’s worth of beans.”

Pioneer seed dealers James Hawcott and Kyle Chesnut walked alongside Scott down rows of beans, scouting for weed and insect pressure on the crop. 

For the complete story, see this week's issue of The Ogden Reporter.

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