ALFA Farm Tours

This year we were honored take part in the 41st annual Alabama Farmers Federation Commodity Producers Conference. We had 145 people come from the conference in Birmingham to visit our farm and get an up-close look at how we operate.

As the buses pulled up and unloaded, we split everyone up into four groups. Each group toured the farm on a hay ride and made a stop at four points of interest. Each stop lasted about 15 minutes.

First, visitors could travel to the 2,000 acre field to listen to Annie speak about our minimum tillage program. She spoke of the soil benefits provided by minimum and no-till efforts implemented on our farm. She also gave information on the Invest-An-Acre Program.

Next, this group journeyed up the road to Mike who was waiting at the reservoir. He detailed our irrigation system and the wireless communication system we use to control our pivots.

The tour continued at the cattle pen with Jesse. Jesse demonstrated how we run cows through our hydraulic chute. He also showed everyone the technology used to track the growth and keep records of our cows.

The last stop before lunch was with Seth and the grain bins. Here, they heard the details on our newly updated grain management system.

Following the tours, we served a delicious steak sandwich lunch. A special thanks to the Pickens County Cattlemen who cooked the steaks and the ladies who assembled the sandwiches. 

We'd also like to thank ALFA, for giving us the opportunity to share our love for agriculture and to everyone who came out and toured our farm. We hope y'all had as much fun as we did! 

Click here to read more about the event from ALFA's online publication.

Annie Speaks at the Library's Summer Reading Program

Annie Dee served as a special guest speaker for the Aliceville Public Library's summer reading program, Dig Into Reading. She gave presentation on farming soybeans, corn and wheat to 75 children and over 30 adults. Annie showcased a variety of farm items and also showed a powerpoint presentation featuring numerous photos from our farm.  The presentation concluded with the children each receiving a book about agriculture and a sample of bean, corn and wheat seeds.

Rain Is A Good Thing

Farmers have a love-hate relationship with the weather, especially the rain. We love it when it is watering our planted crops and helping them grow. We hate it when it is muddy-ing up our fields and we can't get in there to plant. We love it when it there is a perfectly timed afternoon shower that nourishes the corn or beans then moves on so we can get back to work. We hate it when the rain hangs around for days and days and floods our fields.

On the flip side, when there is no rain at all we panic! Then there is the dreaded "D" word buzzing around farmer's conversations. Noone wants to hear the "D" word... DROUGHT. Living the south, Mother Nature deals us this card often. Luckily, this year we will be prepared for whatever hand we are dealt.

Over the past several months, we've been hard at work putting in a new irrigation system that will enable our farm to be approximately 50% irrigated. We hope in the near future to be almost 100% irrigated.
This process was long and grueling... lots of planning, hundreds of hours of dirt work on the reservoir & levy, countless nights of no sleep, getting down in the trenches laying heavy pipe, blood-sweat-and no tears that I know of (except for the wives at home crying for their husbands to come home).

Finally, we can announce that we have completed our project! So back to the weather... After we wrap up our first round of planting, rain is a good thing! We are ready to fill up our new irrigation reservoir, just in case we get dealt the "D" card again.

Here are some pictures from along the way!

Dee Featured in Soybean Publication

Our very own Annie Dee will be featured in the upcoming issue of Beyond the Bean! As one of the newest members of the United Soybean Board (USB), Annie was interviewed on her goals for the program and soybean industry.

For more news from the USB, click here to visit their site http://www.beyondtheelevator.com/

Annie Dee named to United Soybean Board

Click here to read the full story from Alabama Farmers Federation!

Congratulations Annie!

We are proud of you!

Round Two

The corn harvest is over here at Dee River Ranch. Luckily we beat out the wet weather.

Now we have a little bit of a break until we begin harvesting soybeans. This should begin in the next week or so... depending on the weather. Due to the tropical disturbance in the gulf, we've had rain showers nearly every day for the past several days.

This is forecasted to continue throughout the week.

Until then, the beans will be waiting for Round 2 of harvest...

In the meantime, there has still be a lot going on around the farm. Shipping grain, loading and weighing trucks, managing the bins, field work, working on equipment, and moving cows...just to name a few things that's kept us busy.

Welcome!

Welcome to Dee River Ranch's blog! This site is intended to inform friends, family, and other interested folks of the happenings around our farm. Check back often for pictures and details of daily operations and events. Don't forget to frequently check out our web site http://www.deeriverranch.com/.