Winter crops update, warm to cold from 2015 to 2016!

 What about this 75 degree weather in December?  I have a feeling things are going to get back to normal for January and February.  The old saying goes, if you don't like the weather in TN today wait a day or two and it will change!  The winter wheat and cover crops have enjoyed the warmer weather.  The wheat does need cooler temperatures to take it into dormancy for the rest of the winter.  Guy Reeder, our crop consultant/agronomist, was scouting wheat the week before Christmas and thinks the crop looks good with plenty of tillers.  The more tillers you have translates into more heads of wheat at harvest.  The no-till wheat has helped keep nutrients and soil in place during the recent heavy rainfalls we have had too.  We have had close to 6 inches of rain in the last couple of weeks!    

 The cover crop mixes we planted behind soybeans this fall are enjoying the warm temps and rainfall as well.  These cover crops are harvesting and storing valuable nutrients left in the soil and creating nitrogen for the corn crop we will plant in the spring.  The cover mix here consists of winter wheat, crimson clover, oats, tillage radishes and turnips.  The radishes and turnips scavenge nutrients left in the soil, the clover is a legume and creates nitrogen while the wheat and oats hold the ground down to prevent erosion during periods of heavy rainfall.  All these species create root mass in the ground and increase pore space in the soil where water can be stored.  The tap roots from the turnips and radishes can go a few feet into the ground breaking up compaction zones where we have driven heavy machinery across our fields in less than ideal conditions.  When the cover crop is terminated in the spring the plants will decay and as they breakdown release their stored nutrient content to feed the corn crop in May and June.  The "green manure" adds organic matter back to the soil to make it healthier and increase the water holding capacity during the hot dry summer months of June and July.

The stripping crew grading dark air cured tobacco and packaging for delivery. 

Everyone is happy to see the last of the crop go across the stripping table!

The last loads of tobacco being graded for the 2015 crop.  The guys finished stripping and grading our tobacco in time to make it home for Christmas.  It's always nice to finish a job so we can move on to another!  Each of the "piles" of tobacco on the head tops weighs about 800 pounds.  We move them around on dollies in the stripping room and load them in a van trailer with a loader tractor for delivery.  There is a lot of time, labor and sweat equity invested at this point of the crop.  As we close out 2015 we hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and will have a Happy, Safe and Prosperous New Year!  Here's to a wonderful 2016...

Where do you come from and where are you going?

My uncle, Jesse Jepson, had an idea to have people from our community in Simpson County, KY to write family farm history articles to be compiled into a book.  The Simpson County Extension Agent Jason Phillips has assisted him in gathering the information from folks.  Farm families have played vital roles in developing towns and communities across our state and nation. Hard work and a spirit of community coupled with service through an attitude of selflessness towards one another made this nation great one rural community at at time.  Dad and I were preparing our entries today and I thought it would make a nice blog post.

The agricultural heritage in our blood and our land runs deep through what is now 8 generations and 3 branches of the family tree.  While it's nice to recall fond memories and reflect on past accomplishments of our family we need to remember the future holds more promise for all of us than in any of our history.  It's nice to know where you come from, but it's much more important to think about where you are going!  


The Jepson Family story begins in Boston Mass. as members of our family migrated from England.


Lemuel Cox Jepson was born in Boston, Mass. in 1762.  He was a fifth generation resident of Boston.  His great-great grandfather (John Jepson) appeared in Boston about 1638.  Records show John Jepson was granted a lot for 3 people in 1639.

Lemuel Cox Jepson was an assistant to Revolutionary War Surgeon Dr. William Jepson and was later trained as a doctor and surgeon in England.  Lemuel Cox Jepson arrived in Kentucky late 1806-early 1807.  He moved from Sumner County, TN where he appears on tax lists.

This date is used in all of the family writings and histories.  It is confirmed by census that lists his daughter Nancy as born in Kentucky in 1808.  The 1815 Logan County tax list has Lemuel Cox Jepson with 40 acres and his uncle, James Jepson with 100 acres.  No deeds have been found for these tracts.  Simpson County was not formed until 1819. 

The KY history for the Jepson Family Farm began around 1806.

Seven generations of the Jepson family have worked these farms in Simpson County with their families and the 8^th generation is already present.  “The Jepsons of the border-states of Kentucky and Missouri are all descended from Lemuel C. Jepson (Jesse Jepson) who came to Kentucky from Tennessee in 1806.” (The Jepsons of the Border States by Professor Willis Linn Jepson). 

Lemuel Jepson moved from Sumner County to then Logan County what is now Simpson County.  The last tax list he appeared on in Sumner County was 1806.  This date is further confirmed by census that lists his daughter Nancy as born in Kentucky in 1808. 

The 1815 Logan County tax list has Lemuel Jepson with 40 acres and his uncle, James Jepson with 100 acres.  In Logan County records, we find a survey transferred to James Jepson November 15, 1815.  A survey was preliminary to a land grant.  James Jepson was awarded a land grant shortly before he died in 1817 and this 100 acres was transferred to Lemuel C. Jepson. (Logan County Will Book B page 142).

Lemuel C. Jepson is listed on subsequent tax lists owning land; including 1819 Simpson Co. tax list.  Simpson County was formed in 1819 from part of Logan County.

In the 1820’s only Lemuel Cox Jepson and his son Benjamin stayed on the “Old Home Place”.  The rest of the children of Lemuel C. Jepson took their families to Missouri.  From there they scattered all over the west.  (A History and Genealogy of the Descendants of John Jepson of England and Boston by Norton William Jepson MD).  About 1838 Benjamin Jepson built the brick house that is the home of Ben and Julianna Jepson today. 

Benjamin Willis Jepson later built the house that is the home of Josh and Chelsea Jepson today.  The log house (with weather board and additions) that was home to Lemuel C. Jepson was torn down and Benjamin Willis Jepson house built on that site.  Josh and Chelsea recently remodeled this house.  Their son, River, is the 8^th generation Jepson to live at least a part of his life not only on the same farm but on the same house site.

Benjamin Jepson died in 1861.  His property was not divided among heirs until 1867, probably because of the civil war.  According to census records he owned a large amount of land.  Benjamin Jepson purchased much of the Jepson land back from his sisters and half-sisters or their families.  Benjamin Jepson’s daughters and granddaughters married into the:  Link, Gillespie, Wingo, Goins, Grainger, Halcomb and other families in the community. 

Benjamin Willis Jepson’s son, Jesse and his wife Nell farmed this land and passed it on to their sons James and Harold Jepson.  Again land was purchased from other heirs, Ben and Louisa Jepson Bradley.  James’ children, Ben and Jane and Harold’s children Jesse and William grew up on these farms.  They are still owned and farmed by the Jepson Family.  

Our current Family Farm business begins with my parents William and Terry moving to Robertson County, TN in 1978.

William Jepson son of Harold and Frances Jepson grew up on a portion of the original Jepson Farm.  William and his brother Jesse were raised farming with their father and mother in the Neosheo Community in West Simpson County.  As they grew so did the family business.  They developed a quality registered Holstein dairy herd that was known nationwide.  William and Jesse purchased their own farms and the operation evolved into 3 separate farm businesses. 

In 1978 William and his wife Terry had the opportunity to purchase a farm in Robertson County, TN and established a base of operation in Orlinda, TN while still partners with Harold and Frances in the dairy and renting land to farm in Simpson County as well.  The farm William and Terry purchased belonged to the Shannon family for 3 generations.  William’s grandmother was a Shannon before marrying Jesse J. Jepson.  It had been out of the family at the time William and Terry purchased the land for several years. 

William and Terry later purchased land in Simpson County from Tom and Claudine Johnson, The Smith Cattle Company, that was part of the Pepper Farm on Red River and The Pennington Farm from the Smoe Walker Estate bequeathed to Calvary Baptist Church Franklin, KY.  William and Terry inherited part of the farm and the homestead where William and Jesse were raised upon the death William’s parents Harold and Frances.  That tract is part of the “Old Jepson Home Place” that has been in the Jepson family for generations. 

William and Terry’s sons David and Willis were raised farming with them.  Rented farm land played an important role in the development of the farm operation in Simpson and Robertson Counties.  In 2010 Jepson Family Farm Partnership was formed to include present generations and accommodate the addition of future farmers from the Jepson Family.  The Jepson Family Farm Partnership focuses on growing corn, wheat, soybeans and tobacco. 

While gathering his thoughts for this project William stated he had seen many changes in local agriculture during his lifetime.  When he was young there were many small extremely diversified farms in the Simpson County community.  Families worked these farms growing large gardens and enough crops to feed their animals and raised livestock to meet most of their food needs.  Most farms would have milk and beef cows, chickens, hogs, horses and mules.

Today farms are much larger and more specialized.  There are only a few dairy farms left in Simpson County.  Most farmers used to have a small tobacco crop, now a few farmers have large tobacco crops.  Migrant labor has replaced most of the family and tenant labor that lived on the farms.  There are only a very few hog and poultry farms today.  The number of beef cows in Simpson County is lower now. 

When William was a boy they still used mules to work the tobacco crop.  The first tractor William used on the farm was a 1948 Model “A” John Deere 2 cylinder tractor.  These tractors were very different from the machines the Jepson Family uses today with air conditioned cabs and power steering with GPS auto steer technology.  Farming operations such as planting or harvesting the same fields that would take days and weeks take hours today.  The farm has entered the digital age today including GPS and real time-cloud based data storage and analytics.  More information about the modern practices of Jepson Family Farm can be found at www.jepsonfamilyfarms.com.    

The Jepson Family has been farming in Simpson County before it became Simpson County.  David and Willis both have 2 sons each.  We are optimistic that this family tradition will continue.  

Christmas time on the farm and reflections on the last crop year.

It's hard to believe 2015 is drawing to a close.  We already have the 2016 wheat crop in the ground and growing.  We are busy preparing for the end of the year.  Today we met with our accountant Rush Midkiff and did some tax planning work to close out the financials for 2015 and prevent any nasty tax surprises.  We will be preparing 1099's and W2's next month.  We have already selected corn seed and chemical programs for the coming year.  During the winter months we will prepare a crop plan for each farm and field to be executed during 2016.  Hopefully budgeted costs will stay firm and our yields and marketing plan will allow a positive margin in 2016.  We will spend the next couple of months in the shop cleaning and preparing our equipment for the next year of work.  We have corn, soybeans and wheat to clean out of the bins to make room for 2016 crops.   

We held our annual Christmas Appreciation event at Yates Cave last weekend.  We hosted 75 people including our landlords, agronomic and financial consultants, our team members and their families.  It's nice to relax and enjoy a good meal and great company.  THANK YOU to everyone who plays in a role in the success of our family farm daily!  It takes commitment and trust from many different folks to keep the wheels turning to make our family farm successful.  Our interests are interconnected with input suppliers, end users, land owners and team members to produce high yield- high quality crops in a socially and environmentally responsible way.  I prepare a video every year of pictures we take during the growing season to chronicle the past year.  As we celebrate the accomplishments of 2015 and look to a safe and prosperous 2016; I hope you enjoy the Jepson Family Farm year in pictures 2015    https://youtu.be/ieySr3hsAv0.  

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Fall harvest, planting and hospitality.

 We had the opportunity to host the Robertson County Junior Leadership Class at the farm a couple of weeks ago.  This group of bright students represented all 5 high schools in Robertson County.  We had a great visit and answered many great questions about Agriculture in Robertson County and the importance of Agriculture to our local economy.  It's great to see the next generation taking an interest in their community and we were pleased to be involved in telling our story.  Our county is still considered rural, but unfortunately many in the population are 2 or 3 generations removed from the farm and really don't understand what we do and why we do it the way we do.

The combines lined up at the field attaching the headers to begin harvest.  We have to take the 40' headers off the combines to move them down the roads.  Once the headers are attached the combines are ready to start harvest.  Yields for double crop soybeans have been variable across our area according to soil type and planting dates.

The contrast of the blue sky and the tawny soybeans made for a great picture the other day while unloading the grain cart onto a trailer.  We have been hauling soybeans to the crush facility at Owensboro Ky.  Once processed the soybean meal that is left from the process is used in animal feed.  Chickens and cattle benefit from the high protein and energy content in the meal.  

The top video shows the air seeder in action sowing wheat.  The no-till air seeder cuts through the corn fodder and plants without having to till the ground up.  This will reduce erosion during the winter months.

The bottom video is from the combine harvesting soybeans.  You can see the header cutting the soybeans off at the ground and gathering them into the feeder house of the combine.  Soybeans are found in many everyday products including plastics, news print, automobile components, crayons and bio-fuels.  The soybean is truly an amazing bean!  

Fall Harvest Action

 Fall Harvest action is in full swing in our area!  We are almost finished with corn harvest and have begun soybean harvest.  The corn crop has been great with above average yields.  The early planted soybean yields have been great too.  Our harvest crew has put in some long days and nights to make it all happen in the harvest window.  We have been spread pretty thin trying to harvest corn and soybeans at the same time.  Sowing winter wheat has been thrown in the mix this week too!  

The fall season is a beautiful time of year to be in the fields working.  We've had some amazing sunsets this harvest season.  This picture was taken in Simpson County KY.

Dad and Jake Mitchell unloading the combine "on the go" to maximize combine efficiency at harvest.  Sherman Marklin waiting on a load of corn.  There wasn't much waiting this season!

Dalton Crumley loading a trailer at the field.  Ricky Massey below is unloading a load of wet corn at the bin and hauling dry corn out.  We don't have enough capacity to hold all of our corn crop in our bins at once.  We have to haul corn in and out daily.  Some of our corn has already made its way to end users for pet and livestock food and the rest is stored in bins on the farm.

We are at the halfway point of the harvest season with the corn almost done and starting soybean harvest.  Remember to watch for tractors and combines on narrow country roads this fall.  We aren't there to slow you down we are just trying to get our work done.

2015 tobacco is in the barn.

 I get lots of questions about dark tobacco and how we grow and cure the leaf.  Each plant is hand cut and spiked onto the tobacco sticks.  The sticks are then loaded on the wagons to take to the barn.  We try and let the tobacco hang a day or two on the wagon to wilt and make it easier and lighter to handle.  The pictures show the tobacco cut in the field and then being picked up and placed on tobacco frames for transport to the barn.  We have barns that all sizes and shapes.  Some hold an acre some hold 5 and our biggest holds about 12 acres.  Cutting tobacco in 95 plus degree heat is a grueling task.

Sherman Marklin pictured above backing a wagon up to the barn to be unloaded.  The tobacco is unloaded and then handed up into the barn and hung with care on the tiers of the barn for curing.  Each stick weighs about 75 pounds.  

Once the tobacco barn is full we place hardwood slabs from oak and hickory trees on the floor of the barn and cover them with sawdust.  Then we place kindling in holes scattered throughout the barn and light fires in each hole.  This is the part where knowing the barn and having an understanding of the stage the tobacco and the weather is in becomes critical. If you light too many fires and get it too hot too quickly you will flash dry the tobacco and set a green or yellow color.  If you don't light enough fires you will "sweat" the tobacco and make the leaves rot in the barn and greatly decrease quality and yield.  Curing tobacco is equal parts knowledge, tradition and luck.  

The fires are lit and they will die down to a smoldering fire once the kindling is all gone out of each hole.  We get lots of calls from folks passing through to tell us our barns are on fire.  

Dark Air Cured tobacco is hung in a more open barn where the natural heat and wind cure the tobacco.  If you have good curing conditions you get a nice color if it's too wet we may have to open fire these barns to dry them out.  Basically, open firing is lighting little campfires all over the barn to dry the tobacco out.    

Summer Crop Update.

It's hard to believe the kids are back in school and the summer is almost over.  Soon the days will be getting noticeably shorter and hopefully cooler!  I've had a lot of questions about the crop conditions with all the rain we had in July.  July was one of the wettest on record.  In some of our locations we received close to 20 inches of rain during one of the normally driest months of the year!  We expect the corn harvest to be one of the better in recent history.  We have to remember the wet conditions in which we planted much of the corn.  I don't think it will be the best crop we have ever had.  That being said we are looking forward to a better than average crop.  The tobacco crop looks good.  Generally a wet weather crop doesn't weigh what it seems like it should.  It's big and heavy going in.  Maybe it will weigh good coming out this winter.  The soybeans need a few more showers yet.  The double crop soybeans are flowering and setting pods.    

During the hottest days of the past couple of weeks we watered corn under pivots to help cool the plants down and encourage the kernels to grow as large as possible.  Overall mother nature provided most of the water needed for our corn crop.  What a blessing!

We have a few single crop soybeans scattered around and they are filling pods with beans.  The recent showers have really helped them along and they look great.  The wet conditions have caused a few spots of "Sudden Death Syndrome" in some fields but not enough to get excited about.  We have sprayed all the soybeans with weed herbicide and are beginning to spray fungicide to promote pod fill.  Clean beans are happy beans!

We have been scouting corn fields and yield checks look really good in most fields.  The ears pictured above came from an irrigated field that had extra fertilizer applied through the pivot.  These are early estimates.  Yields are usually all over the place depending on the field and specific variety in each field.  Very few ears are exactly the same so estimating yield is quite difficult, but it's fun to get out and look at a great crop in the field.

Tobacco cutting is underway in the whole area.  We began cutting last week.  Tobacco is still a very labor intensive crop.  We have a great group of men that come help us get the tobacco in through the H2A Visa Program.  Each plant is cut by hand and put on a stick with a spike by hand.  There are about 800 sticks per acre.  Each stick is then loaded on a wagon and hauled to the barn where it is unloaded and handed up by hand into the barn to be hung on the tiers in the barn where it will cure.  It's tiring just thinking about the whole process.  All of this happens in 90 - 100 degree heat!

Two proud young farmers.  They love to come to the field.  They had a contest to find the biggest leaf the other day.  Tobacco farmers take great pride in their crop.  We sell the leaves and try to handle the tobacco as easily as possible to make it to the barn with the leaves on the stalks.  A few are inevitably broken off during the process.  Tobacco from our area is exported all over the world.  Much of it is used domestically for smokeless tobacco products.

Be sure to watch for farmers on the road during the coming months.  They are trying to get their work done.  They're not out joy riding on the tractor. There will be hundreds of tobacco wagons on the road in our area over the next few weeks.  PLEASE be alert and try to be patient if you get behind one. We know fall is just around the corner when the barns start smoking in Robertson and Simpson Counties!    

The wheat harvest hustle is almost over!

We've been busy on the farm with summer harvest activity.  The recent rain has delayed us from finishing the last few acres of our wheat crop.  Yield and quality have both been excellent.  All the little things done over the growing season pay off when the weather cooperates and we have the blessing of a good yield.  The wheat has had great milling characteristics with high test weight.  Heavy grains make better flour and better cookies! 

 

Our team has worked long days and into the night getting the job done right.  With the weather, we have had to do the harvest hustle when we could!  I hope you enjoy the everyday harvest shots as much as I enjoy taking them.  If you have a question about what you see or read please ask.  We have had a lot of positive feed back about our crop updates.  If you have a suggestion for a post let me know.  We take for granted the scenes and work we get to do everyday.  We enjoy what we do and hope you have a better understanding of how we do our job of growing safe and affordable food through our blog posts.

Chris Marklin running one of the combines day and night in Robertson County, TN.  Soft Red Winter Wheat is used in many food products derived from wheat flour.  Wheat flour is also one of the main ingredients used to bond plywood and particle board together.  Your house probably has flour in the kitchen, literally!

The weather has slowed field work but has also given us some magnificent sunsets too.  This picture was taken in the Prices Mill community of Simpson County, KY.

We had a friend stop by with his drone a few days ago and took these shots of the combines and the planter in between rain showers.  Dad and Sherman dumping the combine on the go Chris Marklin in a combine and Jake Mitchell planting below.

A panoramic view of the field office.  It's nice harvesting a good crop, when everything is working right.  Automated steering makes it easy to take a nice picture too!

The field captain keeping everyone in line!

David Jepson and Sherman Marklin assisting Guy Reeder with Agriserve Crop Management calibrate yield monitors in the combines.  The monitors in the cabs of the combines keep up with the yield for each field and farm.  It takes a measurement every few seconds and records it and the GPS location of each data point.  It is important to keep the monitors calibrated for weight and moisture.  We use this data collected from every field and farm to make fertility and seeding prescriptions for our crops.  Precision agriculture lets us turn our data into decisions.  The better the data the more accurate picture we have of the  situation in each field.  This information helps us make smarter agronomic decisions that affect our bottom line and the environment.  

Ricky Massey waiting on a load for the cart.  There hasn't been much time to stand around during harvest.  Thanks for reading and be on the lookout for a crop update for soybeans, corn and tobacco in a couple of weeks!