Mike Dick, Munich, North Dakota

First of all, a confession is in order. I must admit that for the last 3 years, I've concentrated more on trying to minimize economic losses than maximizing economic returns. The reason, for the most part, is that the weather patterns in our area drastically changed in 1993. Our long-term average annual precipitation is 17.6 in. According to climatic records from the Langdon Experiment Station, from 1993-1995 our annual precipitation was 23.9 in. 6.4 in. above average. Our growing season precipitation for those years averaged 6.6 in. above the norm of 10.8. This totals 17.4 in., which falls short of the annual average by only .2 in.! Along with the increased rainfall came cooler than average summers as well. This led to a drastic increase in diseaseÒmainly scab, that we're still struggling with today.

In a sense this has been a good thing for our operation. Due to the scab problem, we have seen changes that need to be made to maintain our economic viability. I suppose that we (my father Marvin and I) are a little slow coming to this conclusion, but we've determined that a good crop rotation consisting of approximately 500% cereals and 50% oilseeds and/or pulse crops is a necessity to break the disease cycles weÌve been experiencing. Wheat and durum production in our area is no longer more appealing than alternative crops due to the expense of maintaining the crop versus the value of it once itÌs in the bin. By the time a person sprays the weeds, sprays for scab (which may or may not work), and sprays for the latest insect, the orange wheat blossom midge, the profit margin just isn't there anymore.

When it comes to maximizing returns, it all starts with inputs. We try to minimize our trips over the field to maximize our efficiency as well as our dollars. In spring, seeding is accomplished directly into standing stubble in one pass. We use a Yielder no-till drill, with which many of you may be familiar. It allows us to deep-band the NH(3 ) with some dry fertilizer as well, to avoid placing too much with the seed. The deep band dry fertilizer and the starter dry fertilizer rates and blend can be separate from each other, allowing a lot of versatility, depending on crop needs. Putting down the anhydrous ammonia at time of seeding does tend to make things a little more hectic than doing it with a separate application, but it saves on fuel and machinery inputs as well as cuts down on compaction. To get the most out of a machine that sits around the majority of the year, we decided to custom no-till seed. We start about 100 miles away from home, which usually gives us a week or two to custom seed before we need to work on putting in our own crop. As well as providing extra income to pay for this machinery, we have introduced several farmers to no-till. Some have completely converted over from conventional farming methods, which in turn, has greatly reduced soil erosion on the hilly and sandy soils they farm.

During harvest we utilize the same mentality as in spring, and start custom combining in the same area we seed. This has enabled us to afford a new, more efficient machine, which allows us to get our own crop off at as optimal a time as mother nature allows, as well as reducing grain loss. We've also modified the straw spreader to spread over the complete width of the swath, which allows us to eliminate a pass over the field with the harrow to spread it out. We have a chaff spreader as well, which I feel is necessary to facilitate good seed placement in spring, rather than having some of it placed into the chaff layer where it may or may not germinate. Also, I feel (in our operation. anyway) that we are better off not harrowing, to avoid moving weed seeds into other areas of the field. We hope to leave weed seeds plus any fallen grain on the surface, too, rather than scratched into the dirt, where they can germinate and necessitate more money being spent on herbicides the next growing season.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the help we receive from my wife and mother. By having my wife, Bev, help in the field with us while my mother watched our kids, we're able to avoid having a hired man. At times, we still hire one or two high school kids to help when things are really hectic, but typically IÌve found that Bev can run a combine or grain cart as good as or better than a hired man, which helps on the bottom line when we're trying to get the most returns for what we put in.

Another way we attempt to maximize economic returns is by utilizing the winter season as well. We keep fairly busy operating a seed cleaning facility where we (along with my uncle and two cousins) clean our own crops for seed to grow and to sell, as we are AgriPro seed dealers, as well as custom clean for others. When I'm not busy there, I commercially haul grain with my semi. which helps to make the payments.

Basically, what it boils down to is- how hard do I want to work? The answer to this question for me is the crux of the issue. Our machinery investment enables us to do our own work timely and in the manner we want. We would sustain a considerably higher cost/acre for our own operation, though, if we didn't do the custom work. Although, being able to spend more time with family and friends must be weighed into that decision to find extra work as well. The answer to that question will always be different for each one of us. I guess my answer is to balance working hard with playing hard, putting work and thoughts of work aside when with my family. When itÌs all over, and I'm retired, I want to be able to look back and see that, yes, I was successful, but not at the cost of my family