F

D ont bet the

Farmers face tough price climate
-- Page 2

arm

Also inside:
Producers need
to think like
buyers -- Page 6
Canning provides
fresh food all
year long -- Page 8
Just shy of 90,
Hickel was born
to farm -- Page 9

Cousins Steve Dhuyvetter and

Chuck Dhuyvetter survey the
progress of a grain eld, near
Noonan.

ioga
Supplement to Journal Publishing Inc., August 24, 2016

ribune

Fall Agriculture Special

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Economists warn: Dont bet the farm this year

By Sydney Glasoe Caraballo
Weathered and wind-hewn, the two farmers stand
tall and straight as they gaze out at the waist-high
ocean of durum wheat.
Steve Dhuyvetter and Chuck Dhuyvetter cousins
who farm together near Noonan share a brief smile
over the impressive number of kernels they count in
one head of Carpio durum. They agree this field has
the potential to produce nearly 70 bushels an acre.
This could be a record setter, Steve says.
Chuck nods, and gazes westward at the expanse
of field. Without scab, he says, This field could
be phenomenal.
Then Steve points to another grain head showing
discoloration and evidence of scab, or Fusariam
Head Blight. The fungal disease, if widespread, can
substantially reduce yield and quality to the point
where the Dhuyvetters couldnt give the grain away.
They spray fungicide each year when their durum
and spring wheat flowers to protect the crops as
much as possible, but in 2014 when many farmers
sprayed fungicide, the vomitoxin levels (also known
as deoxynivalenol or DON) were still devastating to
farmers bottom lines.
And here, where wheat is king, farmers will tell
you that is the story to follow.
Ending line or bottom line: If you farm 2,000 acres
of spring wheat in northwestern North Dakota this
year, you could lose $100,000.
Durum wheat producers fare better, only losing $40,000 on that same acreage, according to data
compiled in the Projected 2016 Crop Budgets from
the NDSU Extension Service.
Heres why . . .
The average national price for wheat nearly 40
years ago fares better than today. The average in

Sydney Glasoe Caraballo -- The Journal

Steve Dhuyvetter and his cousin and farming partner, Chuck Dhuyvetter, walk a eld near Noonan.
1980 was $3.91 per bushel compared to todays price
of $3.45. Figure in inflation and parity, and the true
value per bushel of wheat is the lowest its been as
far back as the Civil War, according to an article published on Smallgrains.org this July. Depression price
values cant even compare with todays depressed

wheat value. The average national 1932 wheat price

of 38 cents a bushel would equal $6.67 today. The articles author, using USDA figures, says thats almost
double todays value.
The cost to produce a wheat crop hasnt stayed at
Civil War-era pricing either. Land payments, land 4

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Banker A
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Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Fall Agriculture Special

The cash flow is negative on a lot of spreadsheets. -- Dan Beyer, Farm Credit Services
rents, machinery purchases, crop insurance, fuel,
repairs, labor, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides,
fertilizer, operating interest: the list is long, and the
cost is high, according to Andy Swenson an NDSU
Extension Service farm management specialist and
author of the Farm Management Planning Guide with
annual projected crop budgets for each crop and
region in North Dakota.
It costs $202.28 per acre on average to raise spring
wheat in northwestern North Dakota, according to
Swensons projections. The five counties Divide,
Burke, Mountrail, McKenzie and Williams average
35 bushels of spring wheat per acre at harvest. The
high cash bid locally is $4.25 per bushel for a gross
profit of $148.75. Farmers, on average, are more than
$50 in the hole for every acre of spring wheat they
farm this year. (They are $20 in the hole for durum
wheat).
While the federal government provides relief payments when crop prices drop below reference prices
($5.50 per wheat bushel) set in 2014s farm bill, those
payments only provide partial protection nowhere
near the actual revenue lost, according to Swenson.
Furthermore, payments are made approximately
one year after the crops are harvested; farmers will
receive payments this fall for their 2015 crop.
The majority of the states farmers are enrolled
in the Agricultural Risk Coverage-County [ARC-CO]
versus the Price Loss Coverage program. Nearly one
third of North Dakota counties and their resident
farmers wont receive ARC-CO payments due to good
yields despite low prices. The remaining counties
will see farmers receiving payments starting at an
estimated $18 per acre this fall.
The Bumpy Ride
If you started farming in 2014, you didnt make
a lot of money, and you may have lost money, says

Dan Beyer, Farm Credit Services vice president of

marketing. Today, youre worse off now than when
you started.
Farm Credit Services provides short, medium and
long-term credit to farmers and ranchers in 17 counties. The company has already assisted more than 15
percent or 150 farmers in their customer base with
rebalancing shifting current debt loads and repayment over a longer time span than initially planned.
The cash flow is negative on a lot of spreadsheets,
Beyer says.
Furthermore, the companys 2016 crop price projections estimating farmers gross profit were based
on 2015 cash bid prices. Those projections are now
inflated in comparison to current cash prices. While
Farm Credit Services was able to rebalance debt
and carry every customer who needed assistance
the beginning of this year, Beyer says several young
producers and farmers nearing retirement age still
decided to call it quits.
Its the stress of what youre putting into each
crop, says Tim Sundhagen, who farms with his
brother and father near Tioga.
The Sundhagen family is growing nine different
crops this year to diversify and spread their risk.
Sundhagen believes most farmers in this area are
savvy and positioned well to weather the downturn.
Still, Its become an expensive occupation, he says.
For some, it is downright unprofitable.
From marketing and management experts at NDSU
to the state agriculture commissioner to the producers -- all echo that sentiment in the short-term.
Sundhagen, the Dhuyvetters and other area farmers are buckling up for a bumpy ride not on the
tractor, but on the commodities markets that have
crashed this year.
Nearly all crops seeded in the northwest corner
(all wheat varieties, feed barley, soybeans, oil sun-

flowers, canola, flax, peas and oats) project a loss

in 2016 after inputs of labor and management are
calculated, according to Swenson.
Locally grown lentils, which were projected to be
profitable, have been hit by a series of widespread
hailstorms and root rot issues.
Those grain prices, especially on spring wheat
and corn, theyre ugly, Swenson says.
Cash bids for winter wheat [HRW] at New Century
Ags Noonan elevator are $2.70 per bushel for 12
percent protein specifications as of August 6. Ray
Farmers Union Elevator offers $2.77 per bushel for
12 percent protein HRW and $2.57 for 11 percent
protein HRW.
Spring wheat [HRS] cash bids depending on
quality range from $3.57 to $4.17 at Ray. HRS cash
bids at Westby and Noonans depots range from $3.25
to $4.25. Durum wheat fares a bit better if it is good
quality. Durum ranges from $3.25 to $5.75 at Ray and
from $4 for plain grade to $5.50 for choice grade at
New Century Ags Westby and Noonan depots.
I havent sold grain under $3 a bushel in all my
time, says Steve, who moved back to his home area
to farm in 1987 and just hauled in some winter wheat
he harvested in July. Until now.
Sundhagen can recall one truckload of wheat they
sold at a worse price within the past 10 years.
My father pulled into Noonan, says Sundhagen.
He got a buck a bushel for it. So he came back and
said we wouldnt haul another load. We could just
piss on it.
The Sundhagens are patient. He says they will
store as much grain as they can and wait for the
markets to rise. The upside to the current market?
Sundhagen swears prices cant get much worse.
Donald Hickel, an 89-year old Ray farmer who still
picks rocks and pitches in to help operate equipment
when his son, Hal, needs him, has both a personal 4

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Fall Agriculture Special

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Our Main Street businesses can tell the farm economy is down. -- Doug Goehring, N.D. Agriculture Commissioner
and historic perspective on the state of agriculture.
He helped out on his parents farm during the 1930s.
And for him, the 1950s remain his worst decade farming. I put in a lot of hours on and off the farm and
made just enough to get by, he says.
Hickel and his wife, Dolly, held other jobs year in
and year out. Between the two of them, they sold milk
from dairy cows, trucked and hauled coal, changed
oil and washed cars at the service station, ran a
movie theater, welded air heaters, and drove school
buses. Hickel, who made his final land payment in
2008, says the 1980s would have been a lot worse
for him if he didnt have oil leases providing secondary income. That, as well as the free labor force of
his wife and kids and repairing all their equipment
themselves, helped the Hickels survive the tough
times. While todays grain prices dont faze Hickel,
he admits nothing compares to the sticker shock he
sees today on farm inputs.
I went to Stanley to find out how much it would
cost to fix my tractor, he says and rests his hand
on his forehead to emphasize his frustration. It was
going to cost more to fix it than the damn tractor is
worth. So its going to sit there.
As Hal and Donald walk east beyond the farmstead
to examine Hals field of Divide durum wheat, Hal
explains that as a certified seed producer, his grain
marketing is not to the local elevators, but seed
brokers and local farmers. But he, too, has seen
depressing fluctuations in the amount for which he
can sell his seed.
North Dakotas Agriculture Commissioner Doug
Goehring says farmers arent the only ones depressed by the downturn. The declining agriculture
sector will have an even deeper impact on the states
economy than the lagging oil boom. Agriculture,
which maintained its number one industry position

in the state even during the height of the oil boom,

supports 25 percent of the states workforce and
economy.
North Dakota farmers led the nation in total wheat
production in both 2014 and 2015, and when the
price for wheat plummets, so do the dollars spent
on Main Street.
Each dollar generated by agriculture rolls three
to five times through the economy, says Goehring. Our Main Street businesses can tell the farm
economy is down.
Nearly 40 percent of the states farmers who borrow money for operating loans each year will be at
risk this fall, according to Goehring. Its going to get
tight, he says. Our farmers are in big trouble by
the end of this year if the markets dont come back.
Swenson says cash flow is strapped right now. He
gives state farmers a score between six and seven
on their balance sheets: one being a cash in now
scenario and 10 being you can bet the farm youll
be in business for years to come. However, he ranks
farmers cash flow at a two.
How long that balance sheet can sustain us until
we get our cash flow in order, Swenson says. Thats
the question.
Whos Behind the Wheel
Swenson says this downturn was swift, and frankly
stunning, to many in the industry. Too much plentiful profit, and financial discipline wanes. We were
snapped back to attention rather abruptly, he says.
Sundhagen thinks most farmers in the northwest
are faring better than other sectors. Down east a lot
of young farmers shot themselves in the foot when
corn went high, he says. They couldnt make payments after corn dropped off. Everyone around here
realizes the cycle.
One of those payments would be cash rents and

land payments. It was pretty frothy, Swenson says

of land values going as high $6,000 per acre in the
east.
Now that same land has come down to the $4,500
range per acre. However, Burke, Divide and Williams
County land values have actually increased by approximately $200 in 2015 compared to the 2010-2014
averages. Burke Countys average land value per
acre in 2015 is $1,171, Divides is $852 and Williams
is $879. Richland County saw the highest cash rent
value in 2015 with a maximum of $225 per acre and
an average of $131.90 per acre, according to a survey
by the North Dakota Department of Trust Lands.
Burke, Divide and Williams averages were $34.40,
$34.70 and $35.80.
Swenson says land rents and values have to come
down for farmers to remain in business, and that is
slowly happening in most areas. Fertilizer costs and
fuel has also come down.
He says prices can and will shift upward, but by
how much and for how long is anyones guess.
The current gut-wrenching prices for U.S. grains
can be easily traced to a world market flush with
commodities and the high value of the U.S. dollar,
according to Goehring. The value of the dollar kicks
our butt, he says. But Im more disappointed with
the conversation taking place in regard to trade.
Goehring says he is frustrated that the U.S. has 36
to 60 percent tariffs placed on our products while
neighboring countries have none when they export
to the same countries. We are working hard to deal
with countries on this issue, he says. We continue
to go out there, knock on doors and hit the beaten
path.
North Dakota producers have added 20 countries
(totaling 83 countries) to their export list in the
past 10 years and have climbed to ranking eighth 4

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Fall Agriculture Special

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Unfortunately, we need a disaster to turn those prices around.

in the nation for commodity exports, according to
Goehring. North Dakotan producers can also claim
being the first state to ever sell soybeans to India
this summer.
The worlds middle class is currently estimated
at 750 million people, and they have the purchasing
power to access higher quality, higher value foods,
which is what U.S. producers are known for. Goehring
says the middle class is expected to grow to three
billion in the next 30 years, and with that demographic increase, demand for meat protein and plant
protein soybeans, lentils, beans, for example will
see growth. Other countries love the quality of our
products, says Goehring. We provide consistent,
high quality.
Hold On Tight
While farmers wait for demand to come back and
lift prices, Swanson says re-examining the balance
sheet is a must. Convert to cash anything youre
not using, he says.
Then he lists off options. On finance: check on
getting longer-term notes with your lender. Find out
whether they offer FSA guaranteed loans and apply
for that. Refinance to get lower interest rates if possible. Spend less or delay purchasing capital assets.
Renegotiate cash rents or get a flexible cash rent
based on production. Sell machinery not in use. Do
custom work with the machinery you have to add
revenue. Rent out your empty grain bins. Tighten
the belt on family living expenses. Go to the local
Farm Service Agency to check on direct loans and
possible government programs with which you can
partner and add revenue.
On production: research the crop rotation synergies and the mix of crops that will provide the best
outcome. Consider net returns on low input crops
versus high input crops. Dont cut yield-producing
outputs, though. Swenson says years of analyzing
profitable farms always show higher yields. Dont

Kevin Killough -- Tioga Tribune

Earlier this season, Tim Sundhagen seeds a eld.

be a penny wise and a dollar foolish, he says of

chemical and fertilizer costs.
On marketing: Good luck with that, says Swenson.
Then he adds, it would be prudent to forward contract crops that are currently penciling in the black.
Farmers may also want to consider working with
a broker. You dont have to do a lot of fancy trading
to get some price protection, Beyer says.
He adds that farmers should begin talking with
their lenders this month. The earlier you talk to
your lender, the more options you have. Our job is
to figure out solutions.
Hickel, who has survived every tough cycle this
past century threw at him, leaves one four letter
word out of his vocabulary -- QUIT.
I worked a lot off the farm, and that reminded me
that farming wasnt work, he quips. Id make my
payments first and then just live.
Sundhagen stresses crop diversification. Durum is the drippy-nosed kid that always gets sick
in school, he says. Every year I feel like I should

-- Tim Sundhagen, Tioga

grow it, and I do, but the odds of choice durum and
the money you have to dump into it is ridiculous.
He adds that spring wheat is grown throughout the
world, and the supply is too stable right now to see
a huge rise in price. I dont buy into the idea that
we dont have enough food to feed the world population, he says. Unfortunately, we need a disaster to
turn those prices around. Somebody has to lose for
someone to gain.
The Sundhagens try to store commodities that
have low cash bids and hold them until the market
shifts while selling those that are profitable. Being
diverse, he says, Youll catch a market.
When asked what advice he has for fellow farmers,
Steve shrugs, smiles and says, Pray a lot.
As the Dhuyvetters work on their Peterbilt truck,
Steve admits he may be a bit of a pessimist right now.
Our only hope when prices are this low is to have
the bumper crop, he says.
Chuck, who is trained as a diesel mechanic, shakes
his head and admits theyre maybe a little grumpy
as they sweat with the fan belt. They say you gotta
farm for 40 years to hit a home run. It wont happen
this year, he says.
But ask them if theyd rather be doing anything
else.
Im too old to do something else, says Chuck,
who worked nearly two decades on the oil slope of
Alaska before returning home in 2011 to farm with
Steve. I dont have to listen to all them suits. I can
be my own boss.
When Steve was young he would tell himself that
if farming got really ugly, he could walk away. To see
him tenderly grasp the kernels of durum and count
each precious one is to know he wont be walking
away any time soon.
Its always a welcome challenge to do better
than you did last year, he says. I fell in love with
it, I guess.

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Tioga, ND 58852
701-664-1492
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Fall Agriculture Special

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Producers need to think like buyers if they want to thrive in todays market
By Sydney Glasoe Caraballo
Producers need to think like buyers, says Dr.
Frayne Olson, an NDSU Extension Service crops
economist and marketing specialist. If you can make
that mental shift, you understand how the system
works.
For farmers who raise crops selling in the futures
market, it is a huge advantage to think this way. Olson
says with wheat in particular, there are years when a
producer could add 80 cents a bushel to the bottom
line just by watching the basis and that relationship.
The basis is the price differential between the local cash price and the corresponding future price.
Understanding the difference between these two
closely related markets is critical. The local cash
price reflects local supply and demand, but what
happens locally can be very different from what
happens nationally and internationally.
I lay awake at night worrying about it, Olson
says. That basis is much more variable here than
in the Corn Belt and Kansas. Our spread has bigger
swings and swings more quickly here than other
areas.
The speed and strength of those swings are because North Dakota cash markets are more dependent upon exports. While domestic mills buy wheat
from Williams and Divide Counties, international
markets heavily influence our grain prices.
If you live in China, the cheapest soybeans and
fastest delivery is from North Dakota, Olson says.
That grain can reach a port via rail in three days
and ship out from Seattle or Portland and arrive at a
major port in China in 12 days. In the world of grain,
that is rocket speed, Olson says.
He compares that transport efficiency to soybean
deliveries out of Brazil that are two months behind

in their journey to China.

While the U.S. has a reputation for providing quality and consistency with its commodities, it comes
at a cost.
The stereotype of the U.S. grain market is that
you can always find what you want, but it will cost
you more money, says Olson. We have to be price
competitive too.
Olson says other countries such as Brazil, Argentina and Russia have transportation issues and
inconsistencies in the quality of the product they
deliver, but they are improving their systems and
are slowly catching up.
The biggest problem we have is our costs are
too high, Olson says. The Russian farmer can sell
grain at the current price and make money. We cant.
As soon as the U.S. farmer had some good, profitable years, the cost structure started climbing land
values, cash rents, fertilizer and chemical costs.
Olson says those prices have to come back to earth.
While some farmers compare this cycle to the
1980s when many farms went under, Olson says
the analogy isnt accurate. Because world stocks
of wheat, corn and soybeans are all much less, the
carryover wont support low prices that last for
nearly 10 years.
We will have volatility, Olson says. Our bottom
line will do the hula dance. There will be times we do
really well and times well really be hurting.
Producers who understand the market and utilize
that knowledge to market their grain accordingly will
have a large advantage.
Lots of farmers get juiced about marketing, Olson says. Others hate it worse than record keeping.
Olson says producers may want to consider hiring
a marketing consultant and work with a broker, as

Tioga Parts Supply

well as the local elevator, to put a plan together. A

consultant monitors the market and provides recommendations based on the farmers needs. Olson
recommends starting small and giving the consultant
a portion of one crop to market and compare the
consultants results with your own to see whether
it is value added.
Having a set plan in place assists producers to be
comfortable with the profit margins they choose.
You cant sit back and watch that market fly into
the stratosphere, he says. It will crash.
He recommends that producers strategize and
know the profit margins and pricing levels at which
they can comfortably make a sale and place that
order with the local manager at the elevator or their
broker ahead of time.
Olson suspects soybean and other oilseeds like
canola and sunflowers will have the strongest price
volatility, and therefore, more profit opportunity for
market-savvy producers.
While wheat is the number one grain on volume
of trade, and corn is number two, the soybean product growth rate for demand is fastest, according to
Olson. He adds that soybean carryover stocks are
the tightest.
There will be good pricing opportunities all winter, but the rallies will be quick, he says.
Corn rallies will be less aggressive. Olson says
there is still plenty of world and U.S. carryover in
corn.
Well have record corn production again, but
there is also good demand for corn, says Olson,
noting that domestic feed and ethanol demand is
still there.
If youre a wheat farmer, you still need to pay attention to the corn market because the world wheat

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Fall Agriculture Special

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

market competes with corn feed markets.
Opportunities in wheat wont necessarily come
from an overall supply shortage, but a shortage in
quality levels.
The world wheat market is a cutthroat market,
says Olson. And no one is worried about running
out.
Low prices in the U.S. future and cash markets are
the result of those two factors, along with a strong
U.S. dollar.
The exchange rates and value of the U.S. dollar
is a huge issue for U.S. wheat markets, Olson says.
However, after nearly 18 months of that exchange
rate, world buyers are getting over the sticker shock
and see the current value of the dollar as stable.
The largest producers in the world wheat market
are the European Union, China, India, the United
States, Russia and Canada. Olson lists Russia and
India as major competitors who are gaining a market
share.
Southern Russia has wheat coming out of their
ears right now, he says. They have issues with
consistency, but theyre learning fast and adapting
quickly.
Wheat is quite quality sensitive, and those variances make the wheat market much more complex
than the corn or soybean market. While supply levels
primarily impact wheat futures, the local cash market is also very sensitive to quality issues.
Protein levels, test weights, falling numbers, and
dockage all impact the cash price.
U.S. producers grow six different classes of wheat:
hard red winter, hard red spring, durum, soft red
winter, soft white and hard white, according to U.S.
wheat associates. Each class has grading specifications that influence the price a farmer receives at
the local elevator.
While the overall wheat market looks dismal in
both future and cash prices, there may be opportunity for some profitability this fall and winter if area

Sydney Glasoe Caraballo --The Journal

The view from atop a grain bin near Wildrose as the small grains harvest gets underway earlier this month.
farmers can deliver a quality product.
Several large producers in the global market are
experiencing quality problems, which could boost
local prices on premium graded spring wheat and
durum wheat, according to Olson.
Customers want elbow macaroni, but they also
want angel hair pasta, says Olson. The cost differential is there for what Im making, whether its a

cookie, cracker, bread, pizza dough or pasta.

However, Olson worries that local durum producers might have quality issues here also, and if there
are high vomitoxin (DON) levels, he recommends
selling the grain as soon as possible.
If you have protein issues, you cannot store your
way out of a problem, he says.

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Have a Safe & Successful Fall Season

Fall Agriculture Special

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Canning produce for fresh food all year

By Kevin Killough
Its nearing that time when people harvest their
gardens and find themselves with more produce
than they know what to do with.
If you cant use it or give it away right after harvest, you can turn to canning to preserve it safely
for up to a year.
However, if its not done right, you can end up
with a serious, potentially deadly, case of food poisoning.
Canning crazy
Desiree Steinberger is the NDSU family and consumer sciences extension agent for Williams County. She has an educational background in nutrition.
She is also a canning enthusiast.
When she was young, Steinberger learned to can
from her grandmother.
They would blanch peaches, which is a technique for removing skin. Theyd drop the peaches
in boiling water and then into ice water.
They skin would fall right off, Steinberger recalls.
They would then can the peeled peaches, which
would taste fresh the whole year.
Not long ago, Steinberger, who now lives in Ray,
was looking for a hobby to fill up some free time
and decided to get back into canning. Its really
taken off for her.
She now has a micro-canning factory in her basement kitchen, complete with equipment and bags
of canning utensils.
I kind of went canning crazy, she said.
Steinberger cans jams, pie filling, and enchilada
sauce.
Keeping fresh
Sue Nygaard, who lives in Divide County, cans

Kevin Killough -- The Journal

Desiree Steinberger lifts a jar from a canning bath

in her basement canning kitchen, in Ray.

her own pizza sauce, spaghetti sauce, and salsa,

made from the tomatoes and peppers she grows
herself.
She found herself with so much of it, and she
didnt want to throw it away.
Nygaard is self-taught. She said she got some information from the extension office, as well as some
books on home canning. Shes been at it about 10
years now.
She said she doesnt lose any of the taste even a
year after canning.

Kristi Haugenoe Agency

17 Main Street S
Crosby, ND 58730
(701) 965-6319
khaugeno@amfam.com

Its very fresh when you open it up, she said.

Two methods
There are two types of safe home canning methods: hot water bathing and pressure canning.
With hot water bathing, the jars are placed in a
boiling pot and in pressure canning theyre put in a
pressure canner.
Hot water bathing can be used on acidic foods,
such as preserves, pickles, and citric fruits.
Its the method Nygaard uses, but Steinberger
said you want to be careful if youre canning tomatoes alone, as they arent always acidic enough.
People tend to grow tomatoes to be sweeter and
less tart. So many varieties of tomatoes people
grow dont have the ph level needed for hot bath
canning.
Along with these types of tomatoes, meats and
some vegetables need to be pressure canned.
Among these kinds of vegetables are green beans
and carrots.
For a small fee, the extension office can test the
pH level of your canned items. They need at least 1
pint of it to test.
When in doubt, its probably best to pressure
can. Improperly preserved food can result in,
among other illnesses, botulism.
We want canning season to be safe, Steinberger
said.
The process
Pressure canning sterilizes the food well, but it
can be dangerous if the equipment isnt used right.
After each batch is pressure canned, you have to
wait for the canner to cool before you can open it,
greatly increasing the time it takes to can.

Fall Agriculture Special

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Just shy of 90, Hickel was born to farm

By Sydney Glasoe Caraballo
He sits at the kitchen table, dressed in denim
coveralls and a cotton, button-down, collared shirt.
He might be nearing 90 years old, but Donald Hickel
still looks every inch the farmer.
And hes pretty territorial about his coveralls. ER
doctors once tried to cut off his coveralls when he
broke his back in 1983.
He recalls what happened.
I had the round bale on the loader, he says. I
remember it was March 7. I was raising the bale,
and I tipped the dam bale on myself.
He explains that the tractor was an open cab.
Well, I had to get up because the bale unrolled,
and there was exhaust puffing through the hay. I
reached up and shut the key off, he says.
Hickel didnt want a fire to start. The tractor off,
the pain soaring, he has a few moments that are
gone from memory.
The next thing I remember I was lying on the
hay, he says. So I got up and started taking little,
short steps. There was a lot of snow on the ground.
His wife, Dolly, saw him when he got to the house
and called the ambulance.
When he arrived at the hospital, the doctors
asked permission to cut off his coveralls. Hickel refused. He planned to get a lot more use out of those
brand new, insulated coveralls. Never mind the broken back, he thought.
He did feel badly for the nurse who was tasked
with removing his boots. That poor little nurse
had to take my rubbers off, and they were plum full
of sh-t, he says.
Overall good health and humor have helped

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Donald Hickel, left, has been wearing coveralls since he was a

tyke, pictured at center, above, with his sisters. Now nearing 90
years old, he looks back on his life on the farm and wouldnt
have done anything else -- even if it took.

Hickel farm for a prolific amount of time. While he

was laid up in the hospital for two weeks and wore
a brace and took some time to heal, he says this is
the first year he didnt do any seeding since 1947.
His boys helped him seed the 1983 crop, though.
Hickel chuckles and says he isnt too old yet
to pick rocks and plow some ground for a better

seedbed, which he did this spring for his son, Hal,

who farms. Hickel only had two other injuries two
broken ankles that inhibited his daily farming activities through the years. One: he was welding a
jacked trailer, and it moved. Two: His horse started
bucking, so he jumped off. (The ankle broke on the
landing). 4

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Fall Agriculture Special

10
Looking back, Hickel can see farming was the
most likely and natural occupation. He was born in
1926 to farmers who lived halfway between Ray and
Wheelock. He was riding a horse by three years old,
and while he did chores on the farm, he dreamed
of being a cowboy, not a farmer. He didnt just ride
horses. When he was six, his uncle gave him a bottle calf. Hickel rode the calf out to the pasture to
bring the cows home each evening.
One memory still rankles. His pet calf was taken
away from him in 1933.
The government took all the animals, he says.
Hickel recalls federal government officials confiscating most livestock in the area that fall because
they said there was no crop, hay or winter pastures
on which the animals could survive.
Hickel says before that year, his family put up
Russian thistle for hay and mixed molasses with it if
good hay wasnt available. The gentlest horses (because they could be caught again) would be turned
out on the free range to forage for themselves until
the next spring.
Hickels tone sharpens with annoyance as he
considers the loss of the calf and horses.
You want to talk about government help and
control? he says.
In exchange, the government provided commodities such as blankets and oatmeal.
Before their livestock was taken away, Hickel
says the time of the horse was already passing. He
remembers loading leftover seed grain (about three
bushels) with his brother into a single horse buggy.
They hauled it to the elevator. They sold it for 30
cents a bushel and used the proceeds to buy groceries. They were half a mile from home when they
took a turn. The buggy hooked on a fence corner
post on the prairie trail. The impact tore the shaft
off the buggy. A neighbor with a car rescued the
boys and their groceries.

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Donald Hickel as a young soldier, who was drafted

near the close of the war, in 1945.
Even though the Hickels were in the midst of the
Great Depression, they were able to move in 1934 to
a better farmstead where Hickel and his wife, Dolly
still live today. A bank in Iowa owned the farmstead
(the previous farmer couldnt make ends meet),
and Hickels parents rented it and the surrounding
land.

His father had a windrower, plow, combine and

tractor and had managed to hang onto his equipment. He even traded in a Model T Ford when they
moved for a 1928 Chevrolet car and was making $6
monthly payments on it.
They seeded a crop every year, but there was no
crop to combine in 1935 through 1937. Rust got the
35 crop. Drought eliminated the next two years.
Hickels father worked for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) off and on to bring in income.
The WPA was a New Deal agency that employed citizens who were otherwise unemployed and tasked
with public works projects. Hickel remembers that
his father built small dams to create water sources.
The family also purchased livestock again. They
raised chickens and turkey and a couple of dairy
cows. And they got a horse for the wagon. Hickel
remembers hauling grain in 1938 with the horse
and wagon and shoveling the grain by hand into the
granary. Grasshoppers went after the crop in 1939.
Hickels dad drove the Chevy truck they bought
that year up and down the field while Hickel stood
on the back and threw sawdust laced with strychnine poison from an ash shovel. It wasnt a pleasant
job, but it killed the grasshoppers. The family did
well enough that they bought another 1935 Chevrolet car and four of the six kids (including Hickel)
got to ride in that car with their parents on a family
vacation to Oregon.
By 1941 times were better. The dealer was out at
the farm damn near every day, Hickel says.
The dealers efforts paid off, and Hickels father
bought a 31-RD International Harvester that now
rests on the farmstead. That combine had new rasp
bar cylinder technology. It was one of the best
things we ever did because then the war started,
and you couldnt get new equipment, Hickel says.
Hickel remembers combining 30-bushel per acre
wheat with that combine in 1941. The following 4

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Fall Agriculture Special

11

years were just as good.

We couldnt buy equipment so Dad bought the
farm instead, says Hickel, chuckling at the 380acre purchase. They were also renting other land
and increased to a cattle herd of about a dozen and
still had a team of horses to put up the hay.
Hickel helped his dad farm those years, but he
didnt imagine hed stay around. I was a pretty
damn good horseback rider back then, he says. I
thought Id join the rodeo.
Instead he joined the Army. At its request. Hickel
pauses, a bit sheepish about the fact that he wasnt
out of high school yet when he was called up. He
admits he wasnt the most studious kid. He was
18 years old and finishing his junior year of high
school when he got orders in February 1945. His
principal got him a delay so Hickel could finish the
school year. By the time Hickel shipped out for Europe after the spring of 1945, the war was over.
Once he returned home, he was ready to build
on his future. He finished school and graduated in
1947. He used his earnings to put a down payment
on two quarters of land. He says the 1940s were
profitable enough for him to make his land payments and get by.
He married Dolly in 1953, and he worked multiple
jobs to make ends meet. He farmed six quarters of
land by the end of the 1950s. He says the 1960s and
70s were fairly good years to farm. Then in 1974
wheat went to $8 a bushel. The downside was that
many farmers who had contracted their grain for $2
to $3 a bushel broke their contracts, and the local
elevator was plugged the majority of the time that
price held.
You were only allowed to haul in one truckload
at that price, says Hickel, who hadnt made a contract at lower prices. My wooden granary stored
3,000 bushels, and I only got to sell 300 of it.
He qualified for a loan in 1978 to purchase his
parents farmland. 4

Donald still has the rst combine the family owned -- an Oliver.

Send Us Your Pictures for the

2017 NCC Calendar
Winners will have their photos featured in the 2017 NCC Calendar.
Entries must be color photos taken within northwest North Dakota,
by customers of one of our services -- phone, internet or TV.
High resolution digital files should
be emailed to:
ncc@nccray.com;
or, drop photos at the Ray office,
111 Railroad Avenue;
or mail to NCC ATTN: Photo
Contest, PO BOX 38
Ray, ND 58849
Deadline is Oct. 1, 2016

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

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Come see us for all your machining needs!
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701-664-3337

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Mike Melby - Crosby, ND

Phone 701-965-4284 or cell 701-570-0944

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

cy

ch

Po
li

NE ALL
&
Ra W
n

Donald Hickel, center, with his sons, Joe and Hal, on the farm, in 2002 -- six years before he paid o the farmland he
bought from his parents in 1978.

I borrowed quite a bit of money, he

says. I bet the farm.
Hickel secured a fixed interest rate
on that land. The U.S. prime rate went
from 8 to 11.75 percent in 1978. By December of 1980 it reached a record high
of 21.50 percent, and it didnt go down
below 10 percent again until May 1985,
according to fedprimerate.com.
Hickel says he felt a lot better about
his fixed interest rate by the early
1980s. He also kept the philosophy of
his parents, who taught him to always
pay his bills on time, work off the farm
if he needed to make ends meet and
reinvest any extra income in the good
years on better equipment and land investment. He adds he was also lucky to
have some oil lease money supplementing the family.
When he secured financing in 1978
to purchase his parents land, his final
payment was due in 2009. He told Dolly at the time hed be an old man and
lucky to still be alive when they paid
it off. Dolly, listening to him reminisce,
pats Hickels hand as they sit together
at the kitchen table where both can
look out the window and see their sons
durum field to the south.
Hickel says with a wide smile that
farming went better than he thought.
I got the farm paid off one year early, he says, the humor of it certainly
not lost on him that the homerun hit
for wheat farmers came one year before
his final payment was due -- in 2008.

Fall Agriculture Special

Fa
r

12

Amber Haugland, Agent

Lucas Schumacher, Agent

106 Main Street N

Crosby, ND

701-965-6335

Amber Haugland

Lucas Schumacher

13

Fall Agriculture Special

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

800.247.1584 | www.horizonresources.coop

Ray

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11503 Hwy 2
701.568.2171

PO Box 561
701.539.2272

209 Washington Ave

701.572.2171

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Inc.

Fall Agriculture Special

14

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

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sunfldealer:
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Home: 701-965-2500;
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See you
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County Fair!

Peaceful Valley Pheasants Forever Youth Shoot

Saturday, Sept 12, 2015 at the Tioga Dam
Registration and 12:00 p.m. Shoot Starts at 1:00 p.m.

of Crosby
1-800-965-6232 | Crosby, ND | travlwld@nccray.com |
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Diane Haugland, #236 Clerk
12520 104th St. NW -- Ambrose, ND 58833
Phone 701-965-6234 -- FAX: 701-965-5234

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Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Fall Agriculture Special

15

Safety Tips
Look Up! for Overhead Power Lines

Overhead power lines carry thousands of volts of electricity. Accidental

contact with one of these wires may result in serious injury or death.
Almost all of these accidents can be avoided with greater awareness
of overhead power lines and by using safe electrical practices during
work and play. Always keep your tools, equipment and yourself at least
10 feet from overhead power lines. Know the height of all equipment
before attempting to move them from under power lines.

Avoid Planting Trees Near Lines

To avoid power disruptions, blinking lights, maintenance costs and

service calls, never plant trees near overhead power lines. Mature trees
can be no less than 10 feet from the path under and near power lines.
Also keep shrubs and structures at least 10 feet from poles and other
power line equipment thats located on the ground.

Call Before You Dig

Many homes and businesses have a combination of underground

utilities located in their yards, such as electricity, water, telephone and
cable TV. The location of the utilities are very important when performing landscaping or digging in your yard. If you need to locate utility
lines, all you need to make is one call to North Dakota One Call at
1.800.795.0555.

Electrical Emergencies

Accidents involving electrical lines or wires require special precautions

to prevent further injury. Until the power source has been turned off
or removed, always consider an electrical wire or downed power line
energized and maintain a safe distance from it. Do not touch anyone
in contact with a downed power line. Call for medical assistance and
contact your area electric cooperative immediately to take care of the
electrical line.

Contact Information: info@sheridanelectric.coop

Phone: 406-789-2231; Fax: 406-789-2234

Headquarters: Hwy 2 North of Williston, ND

Williston 577-3765 - Stanley 628-2242 - New Town 627-3550

Headquarters: Hwy. 5 West of Columbus, ND

1-800-472-2983

Fall Agriculture Special

16

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

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