BPB Farms

03/11/2026

Spring 2026 Farm Report

Wow, spring and warmer weather arrived quickly!

So it has been a few weeks of scrambling around to get my lime and fertilizer spread on the corn ground plus nitrogen and herbicide/insecticide out on the wheat.

The wheat looks fantastic so far - green and healthy. It will need another herbicide application in April before harvest in June.

Corn planting will start after our “dogwood winter” cold snap early next week. I am trying a different variety, DeKalb 6835, plus my usual hopper box MycoGold biological treatment to support soil health and fertility.

As my childhood farming and family friend, Larkin Martin (Martin Farms) reminded me recently, farming only has two seasons - Hurry Up and Wait. 😆

Again I am so grateful for the folks who help me with my farming!

Thank you to Jamie Blythe Trulove and all the guys at Blythe Cotton Company (Joshua Hacker), MycoGold, Helena (Josh Bates), Simplot, Athens Cotton Service, Woodall Grain Company, Lawrence County FSA, Silveus Crop Insurance, Nutrien Ag, Servico, my accountants and many others who keep our local and national farm economy running smoothly in the face of many challenges.

Happy spring!

11/16/2025

So happy to wrap up this farming season.

The beans are cut and delivered, the lime and NPK fertilizer applied to newly planted wheat ground, and the cover crop for next year’s corn ground will be spread this week.

Ups and downs with yields and prices. Wheat yield was only 60 bushels (very low) with an average price of $5.00 (low) corn yield was 203 bushels (high) with an average price of $4.83 (low), and double crop soybean yield was 40 bushels (high) with an average price of $10.50 (low).

So, it has been a pretty good year and I am grateful for the disaster assistance and other market interruption payments farmers have received so far. Crop insurance plans have also become more affordable for higher levels of coverage.

Again I am grateful for my sister, Jamie Blythe Trulove, Joshua Hacker and the great crew at Blythe Cotton Company, Josh Bates and Helena, Winston Chapman and Simplot, great folks at Nutrien and Servico, Cindy Ronk and the Silveus Crop Insurance crew, Kalethia Goodlow and the amazing folks at USDA-FSA in Moulton, Kerry Sims with Steward Link, crop consultants Clay Cook and Austin Wallace, and my fantastic accountants and dear friends , Pam and Terry Falkner.

I couldn’t farm without these wonderful people and I am truly blessed with their support.

Happy Thanksgiving and wishing everyone a peaceful holiday season with time to rest and reflect.

I will be resting after hip replacement surgery soon, so plenty of time for reflection and a quiet holiday season with family. So much to enjoy and look forward to!

Cheers,
Beth Pride Blythe

photo credit bean harvest - Josh Hacker

11/09/2025

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10/15/2025

Many thanks to Joshua Hacker, Jamie Blythe Trulove, and Blythe Cotton Company for getting my wheat ground sprayed and planted for 2026.

I really appreciate the long hours worked and especially Josh Hacker for his effort and dedication to do things well no matter how long it takes - and into the evening yesterday.

Beth Pride

Photo credit- Josh Hacker

09/15/2025

Wrapped up corn harvest and hauling yesterday.

Many thanks to my sister, Jamie Blythe, and the great guys with Blythe Cotton Company who cut and hauled the corn for me.

It was a good year with the average yield around 203 bushels per acre.

Next up is post harvest herbicide, soil sampling, and wheat planting for 2026 on the corn ground just harvested.

The only crop left growing for 2025 is my double crop soybeans that desperately need some rain

My farming has been quite up and down this year because of the weather.

It was a poor wheat crop because of too much rain and a good corn crop because of enough rain. I am waiting to see how the beans turn out.

Thankfully some of our crop insurance payments and disaster assistance from 2024 have landed in farm bank accounts. Even with the political turmoil in the U.S., I am very grateful there is still support for agriculture. It is a challenging time for everyone.

I hope we can all keep our heads up and look for ways to make the world a better place, even in our small spheres of influence.

Cheers,
Beth Pride Blythe

08/03/2025

A quick farm trip to see my sister, Jamie Blythe, and Boyd Truelove celebrate their marriage. It was a lovely and joyful day for everyone!

I checked on the corn and it looks like great yields are possible. The double crop soybeans are up and healthy.

Four weeks until corn harvest and wheat planting to follow.

Bean harvesting and cover crop seeding will start in late October. We need weekly rain on the beans for good yields ahead.

I am grateful for some additional 2023-24 disaster payment that was approved by Congress and arrived this week.

More waiting and hoping ahead until this crop year wraps up. Prices are low so I am hoping for huge yields to support financial stability. We will see!

BPB

07/15/2025

I’m behind on my farm posts!

I just finished teaching a corporate finance class for summer school that I enjoyed very much.

So now I can catch up a bit.

My wheat got cut in June. The yields were dismal due to the rain. And my average yield was 0.2 bushels over the insurance payment trigger so there’s no help for that!

My sister, Jamie Blythe, Joshua Hacker, and the other great guys at Blythe Cotton Company worked hard and got my soybeans planted and sprayed with herbicide before the last rain arrived-perfect timing.

The corn looks fantastic with all the rain and the beans will be off to a good start. One soaking rain each week through August would be really helpful.

There isn’t much left to do now - maybe another herbicide and fungicide spray on the beans before corn harvest.

We are in waiting season. Fingers crossed yields will be sky high (prices certainly are not).

No photos to share yet but I will have some for the next update in early August.

Cheers,
Beth Pride

06/15/2025

I highly recommend using MycoGold seed inoculant for improving soil health and plant nutrient uptake.

Ag-biotech seed inoculants are agricultural technologies that apply beneficial microorganisms to seeds pre-planting to enhance crop yield.

05/25/2025

Took a quick trip to the farm yesterday for my nephew’s birthday.

The crops look fantastic and have benefited from regular rains during April and May.

We do need a few weeks of dry, warm weather so the wheat will mature.

Next up will be wheat harvest in late June and hopefully plenty of rain in July and August for the corn.

Higher crop prices would be welcome also!

05/09/2025

May farm report -

The wheat has been treated with fungicide and insecticide and is growing towards harvest in late June. Hopefully yields will be huge to overcome low prices.

Many thanks to my sister Jamie Blythe , Joshua Hacker, and Blythe Cotton Company for working extra long hours and getting the corn sprayed with herbicide and another 100 units of nitrogen applied as the side dress.

The cover crop created an excellent mulch cover for the corn to suppress weeds. Hopefully there won’t be a significant carbon penalty as soil microbes tie up nutrients to digest the cover crop biomass.

For now we are getting the rain we need to keep the wheat and corn healthy. It is a long way until harvest but I will continue hoping for big yields, great weather, and higher prices!

Cheers,
Beth Pride

Photo credits to Joshua Hacker - thanks!

04/15/2025

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