by Holly Wortman
“When it’s time for baling hay, it’s time for baling hay,” Gary Freeburg says on the way in which to his alfalfa area to test on a middle pivot. Gary and spouse Amy began as first-generation farmers in 1976. Collectively, with their sons, Jory and John, they personal and function Freeburg Hay LLC, a business hay farm in southeast South Dakota.
“The haying business could be very technical,” Gary says. “Timing is all the things. Whenever you’ve been doing this for over 50 years, folks preserve coming again. We’ve the sheds, tarp stacks and the setup to retailer the easiest.”
The Freeburgs promote feed to patrons from each nook of the nation. Generally, it’s 20 bales for pleasure animals; different occasions, it’s a truckload going to thoroughbred horses in Kentucky.
High quality and consistency
“It’s due to our consistency that retains patrons coming again,” Amy says. “In agriculture, we’re form of all in the identical boat. Weathering the cycles in enterprise retains life fascinating. Our enterprise relationships are the place it’s at. Gary enjoys promoting hay to all people.”
The Freeburgs’ purpose is to constantly put up a high-quality hay that’s examined and saved in a barn for his or her patrons. Irrigation permits extra amount of their product. Sixty p.c of the Freeburgs’ 3,000 acres of alfalfa is sprinkler-irrigated by heart pivots.
Jory helps run the primary pivots for the operation. “We put our first pivot on alfalfa in 2006,” he says. “We made the funding in wells and irrigation, and carried out it when it appeared proper. It modified our farm by serving to us stand up to 5 cuttings. Earlier than the irrigation, we had been solely getting 4 — generally three for those who weren’t getting the rains.
“5 cuttings is the largest motive for the irrigation, permitting us to remain on that 28-day minimize cycle. On new seedings, we’re getting 4 cuttings 80% of the time. Previous to that, we had been solely getting three. Extra cuttings imply extra tons. Irrigation performs in excessive quantity, the place 6 to 7 tons per acre is attainable, versus 4 to five dryland tons per season.”
KEEPING TRACK: Because of their Valley BaseStation3, Amy can monitor all the pivots and their operations from their principal workplace laptop. The Freeburgs have been working pivots to irrigate their alfalfa fields since 2006.
The Freeburgs handle their heart pivots with BaseStation3 from Valley Irrigation. “A 100-foot antenna was erected in 2012 on the principal workplace,” Jory says. “All of the pivots are on a closed-loop automation system. Apps on our telephones tie into the system, permitting us to handle irrigation from anyplace.”
Strolling fields
Though the know-how is ready up for a number of customers to remotely handle all heart pivots with out driving to a area, Jory says there is no such thing as a changing bodily scouting a area.
“The system will let you know if the tire is flat and if the pivot stopped. Nevertheless it received’t let you know if in case you have a plugged nozzle, and it’s by no means going to repair the top gun,” he says. “That’s why once we begin up the system, we attempt to pressurize throughout daylight to see if there are any issues.
“The know-how and automation make our life a lot simpler, however is the robotic going to scrape out the top plugs or caked mud? It’s nonetheless as much as us to feather out the marginal circumstances. I don’t see a human being fully changed by irrigation system know-how — at the very least not in my lifetime.”
In keeping with the Freeburgs, crucial administration issue to think about when irrigating alfalfa vs. corn and soybeans is that alfalfa is stored on a 28-day cycle. “The most important factor is that if the primary or second chopping is a bit on the dry facet. We’ll run a quick go with the pivot, and that perks up the plant and retains it to twenty-eight days,” Jory says. “Then increase, it retains going.”
“Watering is a continuing sport it’s a must to play,” he says. “I’ve three climate apps that I’m always watching to ensure we’re not overwatering. After all, much less water means extra passes. We do one-half inch per go except wiping, which means the pivot received’t make a full circle, then it’s one-third inch. With the BaseStation3 system, I can monitor gallons and hours, and print these experiences. This makes it simpler when submitting every month’s utilization” to the Pure Assets Conservation Service.
IN THE FIELD: Jory may monitor pivot operations from the sphere together with his smartphone. Whereas know-how can alert operators of issues like flat tires or different points, it nonetheless takes boots on the bottom to repair many of those issues.
Whereas the Freeburgs have invested within the newest irrigation know-how, the largest problem nonetheless comes right down to one thing out of their management. “Mom Nature is the boss,” Amy says.
“She’s 150% in cost,” Gary provides.
Assist alongside the way in which
The Freeburgs have a working relationship with Dreesen Farms. “Dreesen Farms handles the corn and soybean row-crop finish. Tom and his son Jeff are an integral a part of our enterprise. All of us work to assist one another,” Gary says.
“Once we are making hay in the summertime, the Dreesens are there serving to with the chopping. When it’s harvesttime, we assist haul,” he says. “A friendship like ours is exclusive. Our children walked to high school collectively as kindergartners, and now we get to work collectively in our entities. In case you don’t have household and buddies, you didn’t do very effectively in life.”
“When you have that strong, grounded connection, you may get by something,” Amy says. “There’s in all probability nothing tougher for the younger folks than to work with their dad and mom, as a result of the dad and mom have put it collectively initially. We by no means could be the place we’re at except we had household concerned or anyone equal to them,” she explains.
“On the farm, you will have disagreements, however it’s not such as you received’t recover from it,” Amy says. “I believe a part of the explanation our youngsters are well-grounded is as a result of they grew up in the course of a quickly rising enterprise. They noticed all of it and had been proper in the course of it. They noticed the phone ring when occasions had been good, and so they noticed when issues didn’t go proper. They usually’ve confirmed to us they’ll deal with it.”
The Freeburgs live their enterprise motto, the place “daily is a hay day.”
“Let it go and proceed on as a profitable well-respected enterprise,” Amy says. “We simply wish to proceed the trajectory that we’re already on. It labored, it’s confirmed, so simply preserve that arrow going.”
For extra data on Freeburg Hay, go to freeburghay.com.
Wortmann writes from Crofton, Neb.
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