Farmers, equipment gear up for soggy spring

y Connie Sieh Groop
Farm Forum Editor

 When talking about conditions for the upcoming spring, one farmer says, plain and simple, “It's not going to be good.”
 “It was mid-December before we finished with the corn after a year of extreme experiences,”  Chris Fischbach of Mansfield explains. “We even chained up the underside of the combines to get through wet fields last fall.” In one field, he counted 30 times that machinery got stuck.
 Farmers across the area are planning strategies for going back into those fields this spring to plant this year’s crop. Residue on the fields needs be be chopped and stirred to get things ready to plant. Ruts with tracks crisscross fields full of snow. Compaction from the heavy equipment can lead to lower yields. In an area where corn yields 200-bu. per acre and soybeans 50 bu. per acre, operators don’t want to waste time when they are able to get in the field to plant this year’s seeds.
 Based on the home place 4 miles east of Mansfield, Chris partnered with his dad, Paul Fischbach, about five years ago, and they now work together in the operation that includes 3,200 acres. They also have one hired man. About 1,000 acres is put into corn, with most of the rest in beans. Some wheat and a little alfalfa is planted. “But this ground is too good to use for livestock feed,” Chris says.
 Chris has upgraded some of his equipment this spring, hoping that will help in getting the planting done. The front-wheel assist tractor from Butler pulled the grain cart last fall. This spring, Chris is looking forward to delivery of  a new 400 hp Challenger track tractor  to pull a new piece of tillage equipment across the fields to smooth down the seedbed.
 Last spring, Chris was able to demo a Horsch-Anderson Joker and ran it over 800 acres of some really wet ground.  “It’s a cross between a disk and a super coulter. It really is a unique, 1-pass piece of equipment. It picks up the soil and throws it up in the air and then follows with a heavy packer. I just wish conditions last fall would have let us put more time in the field with it.”
 When the machines came up came for sale in the fall through the Butler Company, he bought one that was 25 feet. They also are available in other widths.
 Chris explains that the Horsch-Anderson machine came from Europe and combines speed with shallow tillage. Because of wet conditions in this area, it was brought over here and tried out by a few farmers.
The Joker is capable of high speeds that minimize tillage passes while adding agronomic benefit. According to the company’s website, the main benefits include time savings and ability to travel faster. It’s a smaller machine that can cover more acres per hour; eliminates the negative affects of regular tandem disc; consolidates soil to conserve moisture; and provides field conditioning and leveling. The Fischbachs set the Joker from 3/4 to 3 inches deep, but it can also be set to 8 inches deep.
 This winter, Chris fielded calls from people in Nebraska and Minnesota who wanted to know his opinion of this piece of equipment. “They’d heard I’d tried it and wanted to know what a farmer thought of it,” he said. “It really showed what it could do in wet conditions and resulted in a nicely mulched seedbed.”
 In pulling the Joker, Chris found that he needed more horsepower. He said he figures he needed 15 to 20 hp per foot. With the wet conditions, the 25-foot Joker pulled really hard with the 300 hp tractor, so that’s why he’s upgraded to a 400 hp 800 series Challenger track tractor.
 “Maybe that's what Troy (Haselhorst ) at Butler had planned all along,” Chris said with a chuckle.
 “The track tractor rides very nice, can go through a lot which will be very important this spring. To me it really works well, and when I’m pulling the Joker, it won’t plug up with the right horsepower.”
 Chris said he switched to using equipment from Butler about four years ago . “I had some issues with the equipment I was using that I didn't get resolved, so I decided to try the front-assist Cat tractor.”
 A second Cat tractor was added, as he likes how the equipment operates and enjoys the efficiency. “We’ve had some good years lately,” he said. “Farming is a business, not a hobby. Like all farmers, we’re trying to figure out how to have less input costs. We do all of our planting, spraying, harvesting so need to have good, reliable equipment that works for us.”
 Chris took the diesel mechanic course at North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton and went through the John Deere program. He then worked at some implement dealerships. When some land became available, and it seemed like the right time, Chris came back to farm. When Chris and his wife, Amy, got married about five years ago, Paul, now 60, built a house by the river and turned over the bulk of the operation to Chris. “But dad loves to combine so he helps out when he can,” Chris said. Chris and Amy live at the home place with their two children, Devon, 3, and Logan 1 1/2. Amy is a teacher's aide at Warner.
   “There’s still a lot of corn out there and it’s hard to know what damage all this snow will do. As farmers, we face a lot more challenges once we head out this spring,” Chris said.
 “The snowmelt in March will determine what will happen with the mix of crops. There’s a lot to be done, and a guy’s got to be ready to hit the field when he can.”

Chris Fischbach of Mansfield anticipates wet conditions this spring will provide many challenges. Chris is making some changes in his equipment line to be ready to hit the field when conditions are right.