Spindly corn stalks, usually a bright tan this time of year, have taken on a darker color of late, the result of a recent weather pattern of cool nights yielding heavy morning dews.
The moisture is no friend of farmers eager to unleash their combines.
“Probably three weeks,” Justin Hoepker said of when he’s likely to begin harvesting his 80 acres of corn. Sooner, if weather were hotter and drier. “Drying out” is the key to harvest of any row crop.
The standard moisture content for cutting corn is 14 percent or less, and, within reason, the less the better. A smidgen of area corn is in the bin, harvested from fields planted early or those that avoided weather-related setbacks.
Patience is a virtue demanded of those who depend on the weather for their livelihood, a lesson Hoepker learned early on from his father, Larry, and others in his lineage who’ve farmed in Allen County for decades.
“I’m the fourth generation of my family to farm here,” said Hoepker, from his home that sits on a high ridge south of Iola, and gives a crystal clear view for miles around.
When time comes to send his combine into the long rows of corn, it will be a family affair.
He and wife Nicolle have three children, Rayce, a freshman at Allen Community College; Chassis, a senior at Humboldt High School; and Speed, a sophomore at HHS.
Nicolle works as marketing executive of J&J Contractors, long the business venue of her parents, Lorenzo and Jackie Jensen.
Along with corn, Hoepker has about 700 acres planted to soybeans, the No. 1 cash-crop hereabouts. He had a bit of wheat, but doesn’t depend on that as a third crop of consequence.
“You can’t make much on wheat these days,” Hoepker said. However, son Speed takes advantage by baling straw after harvest. His markets include Moon’s Grocery in Humboldt, where the bright bales are sold for decorative purposes. Sales often spike at Halloween. Bales of straw also can also be used to insulate foundations.
Hoepker has meadows he bales, with forage mainly cycled through his father’s cattle.
Hoepker isn’t eager to make any predictions on what his corn will make, though he doubts it or soybeans will challenge 2017 yields. Then, corn did well and soybean yields, with few exceptions, were at or near record levels.
“It was a little too wet for corn when it was first planted,” which retarded growth, and then it and newly planted soybeans were beset by a drouth.
“Amazing” is a watchword for those who know soybeans and how they’re able to withstand hot, dry weather, and then take off if rain of any significance occurs.
That is one of the biggest changes in agriculture Hoepker, 44, has seen in his lifetime of farming — scientific advances that have conditioned crops to deal with harsh weather. “Soybeans will just sit there with that nice dark-green color and wait for a rain,” he said.
Another change of consequence is the size and capabilities of modern farm equipment. Today’s equipment can do as much in a day’s time as tractor-drawn equipment, and smaller self-propelled combines, did in a week or 10 days.
That has permitted far fewer farmers to have bumper yields of corn, soybeans, and other crops. The time of 80- and 160-acre farms sustaining a family evaporated many years ago. The only small farms today are maintained by hobbyists. The Hoepkers farm 800 acres.
HOEPKER GREW up on the home place east of Humboldt, within shouting distance of Humboldt Speedway. As a young man he gravitated to racing, a sport that had him in its grasp for about 20 years.
Eventually, “as the kids got older,” family demands coupled with work intervened. He admitted it was hard to be involved with children’s activities and do all else and keep a race car in competitive condition.
But, he wasn’t ready to skip altogether away from fast and powerful vehicles.
On a flat and convenient area just west of their home, the Hoepkers opened Wide-Open Speed Park, basically a 200-foot-long trench that becomes a bog when flooded with water.
“It really is a family enterprise,” he said. “Nicolle is at the gate and the kids help out with concessions and whatever else needs done.”
Mud racing, the generic term, has a wide following. Fans and participants, locally and from several states around, including “one guy who lives almost to the Kansas-Colorado line,” fill parking and pit area on the four days a year competition occurs. The next is a week from today, Sept. 17, and the finale in late October, with a Halloween theme.
Hoepker was prophetic in its genesis, thinking “it would be something different for the area.” Race days draw vehicles in 11 classes, and two others for all-terrain vehicles. Results depend on how fast a driver can negotiate the sloppy mud track.
“We stress safety and it’s good family entertainment,” Hoepker boasts.
MANY FARMERS have a second source of income.
The Hoepkers, with the speed park and Nicolle’s work with J&J, have yet a fourth enterprise.
Before Ray Whiting, a Humboldt locksmith, hung up his keys for the last time, Hoepker learned the trade. That was 11 years ago.
Most days find him out and about performing all sorts of chores to do with locks and security, both residential and commercial. He also has a shop in Humboldt, 204 N. Ninth St. If his van is parked nearby, “I’m there.”
His trade area is wide, with frequent calls to Fort Scott, Chanute, Pittsburg and Burlington and everywhere in-between. That he drills and replaces lock cylinders for safety deposit boxes in financial institutions, a task not all locksmiths do, often puts him on the road.
Even though he and Nicolle often are busy from daylight to dark, or beyond, one thing takes precedence. “Family. We’re family oriented,” he said, which means the Hoepkers will be found at ACC basketball games this winter, with Rayce a Red Devil scholarship player, and at Humboldt High activities involving Speed and Chassis.
