Host Jamie Duininck shares his thought on the past year, our changing weather patterns, and answers the question, “When is the best time to install a drainage system and water management practices on your land?” He also explains why using a drainage contractor for solutions is always a good bet.
Jamie Duininck has spent over twenty years working in the water management industry and building relationships with business owners, industry professionals and thought leaders.
“I grew up in the water management industry, which gives me a deep sense of appreciation for its rich history, the hard-working people who make it happen every day, and the important role we play in our communities and world. I am proud to be the CEO of Prinsco, a third-generation family business, as well as a husband, father and avid outdoorsman.
This podcast gives me the opportunity to have some great, thought-provoking conversations with smart, passionate people in the water management industry and beyond. Thanks for joining me– I hope you enjoy listening to these episodes as much as I’ve enjoyed making them.”
Jamie Duininck (00:00):
Today on the Water Table, I have the rare occasion of just speaking to myself. I’m going solo today and just sharing some thoughts that I’ve had the last couple of months. I hope you enjoy. Well, welcome back to the Water Table podcast. Today I wanted to share some thoughts that I’ve had over the summer, kind of uniquely this summer of 2024. I recorded some podcasts in June and early July, and then Trey Ellis took over for one or two. So it’s been a little while since I’ve been in the studio, and I’ve had the opportunity obviously to continue to work and go to some shows and meet up with customers and farmers around the Midwest. And just wanted to share some of my rambling thoughts during this time of the summer of 2024. Things have changed in the agricultural market the last year, with commodity prices, certainly have changed a lot from 2023 to 2024.
(01:03):
In the upper Midwest, it’s been extremely wet, Minnesota, Western Dakotas, especially South Dakota, have been really wet. Where I tend to spend a lot of time and where I live in central Minnesota, we’ve had almost an inch of rain every week since late May, which has been a unique way of being really wet. We’ve been wet before where you get five, six inches of rain in a week. And this year it’s just been interesting. It’s been an inch, three-quarters of an inch, two inches every single week, and seven inches where I live in the month of August. Just very wet, which creates different dynamics in agriculture, and obviously when you’re in water management, creates dynamics, and it’s always good to be wet when you’re in water management. So we’re hearing a lot of things in our industry. I’m hearing a lot of things, and just wanted to share some of those thoughts as we move into fall harvest and our customers and farmers start thinking about, they’re already thinking about and have decided, most of them, what they’re doing here for the fall in regards to water management.
(02:16):
But as they continue to think about next year, 2025, and they weigh that and have that tension against low commodity prices, “What’s sitting in my bank account? What can I afford to do?” Some yield decreases in certain fields that really need the water managed better than it has been. And even in areas where they usually get by with a pretty good yield, this year, just the way the weather patterns were and the moisture, it’s different. And so I know that a lot of farmers are going to be out there this fall and just thinking about, “Okay, how am I going to do this? What should I do? What should my strategies be going forward with a tighter checkbook than what it’s been the last few years?” So had a lot of those conversations, and just want to share some of my thoughts on that. And I think the first one is just the age-old question.
(03:19):
It’s been around forever. When is the best time to invest in a water management system? Is it when commodity prices are high? If I get 20, 30 bushels an acre more, I’m making that much more money when it’s seven $8 corn, or is it when it’s low, getting the same amount of bushels? But in some cases, that could be survival, right? So if you’re getting 20, 30 bushels an acre more when it’s 3.50 a bushel, it could be the difference between being above or below the line. And so that’s all in the eye of the beholder, I guess, of which is the best timing, and what is the best time to invest in drainage? I guess I say it’s like planting a tree yesterday, because then you have the benefits of that drainage system forever, not knowing what the future holds for pricing, not knowing what the future holds for commodity prices.
(04:24):
But you do know that for the next hundred plus years, you and your descendants, your family, are going to benefit from what that drainage system and that water management system offers you. So that isn’t the question about yesterday, because what needs to be done hasn’t been done yet. So it really comes back to what do you think? What’s best for you? Everyone has their own dynamics of their balance sheet. How much land do they own? Just where are they sitting? Everybody’s in a little bit different place, different place with succession in their families. So it is a moving target for everyone. But the reality is, is we’re going to continue, and 2023 to 2024 is a really good reminder, that is our weather’s going to change. 2023 was very dry throughout the Midwest. We’ve had a really nice run of three to five years of commodity prices, high commodity prices, and really pretty good overall, the Midwest.
(05:30):
Sure there were some areas that weren’t that great, but overall, really good yields too. And going into 2024, if you go back on the Water Table podcast, I had interviewed some meteorologists and some meteorology people from academia, and said, “Hey, it’s going to stay dry.” I think this was probably in, it was either March or April that the episode was released. And lo and behold, it wasn’t two weeks after the episode was released, it started to rain. And the theory was, it’s going to stay dry, from all of the scientific data, until August or September. And that didn’t happen at all. And I’m not blaming anybody, just we don’t know. Patterns change, and we don’t have a way of knowing for sure what’s going to happen. So from that standpoint, I think everybody looks at things and says, “Yeah, I’d like to, wished I would have done that last year, but I didn’t.
(06:39):
And now I can’t justify it financially, or I just need to figure out a way to do this.” But it leads to another point I wanted to make, and that is, I’ve heard from a few farmers this summer that with the commodity prices changing, we do need to focus on drainage. We’ve been doing some other things, the last few years we’ve been focused on grain handling and equipment, and that’s kind of done. We’re past that now. We need to focus on drainage. But we’re thinking about, because of low commodity prices, we probably can do it ourselves cheaper if we buy the equipment and learn a little bit more, at least some of the less technical stuff, some of just the pattern stuff and not the mains hire a contractor come in and do the mains, maybe we can do it ourselves. And there is, I don’t want to at all say there isn’t situations where farmers have done a great job of doing their own water management work.
(07:46):
There’s lots of cases out there where that can happen. But I think what happens, and what we’ve seen over and over, and what I just want to encourage both the farming community and the contracting community, is just around thinking about that from the standpoint of what is your operation really afford you from the standpoint of do you have the people? People are probably the most important thing that can take the time to learn, to become kind of passionate about water management, to understand it in a way that a contractor does. Contractor gets up every morning and they’re thinking about water management. They’re not thinking about their 160 acres that’s eight miles away, and did they get the same rain and “Do I need to go check that outlet?” And all the different things than dynamics that a farmer thinks about, a contractor is thinking about just as many things, but it’s really focused on water management.
(08:42):
I see contractors really evolving, and some of the younger guys that I spend some time with and know that, that I’m really proud of, they’ve become experts in water quality practices and design services. And even looking at how they can develop design services more and that benefit the farmer ultimately, that they’re providing a solution for the farmer. I encourage the contractors to continue to pursue their learning and continue to pursue the opportunities that are in front of them to grow and to be able to be that solutions’ provider. Because a lot of farmers, most farmers, they’re waking up every day and just don’t have the time in a day, a 24-hour day, to add that to their plate. So not encouraging or discouraging anyone individually because everyone has, it might be where your family is growing and you need an opportunity for one of your younger kids, and getting into the water quality drainage business is something you want to learn more about, and how that could be a benefit to your farm.
(09:54):
But at the same time, if your family, if you don’t have someone in your family or in your operation that can be passionate about learning the contracting side of the business and attend workshops and symposiums in the winter, just to learn more about all of the different practices that are afforded, and how you can apply them to your operation, then working with a contractor is the best, because so many of them have all of that right at their fingertips and understand it because they’re working on it every day. So just some of the things that I’ve been thinking about. I’ve been rambling here, but I believe in how our industry has evolved. I believe in the contractors over the last almost 30 years of my career. It’s pretty amazing the things that they have added to their portfolio of services and of knowledge, to help you on the farm.
(10:53):
And I just want farmers to remember that and use the contract. Call your contractor and ask them to provide solutions to you. Ask them to ask Prinsco to provide solutions to you that… You’re there every day, you see things on your farm that maybe we don’t understand, because you see it from a different angle. And if it can really solve an issue for you and make your life easier, I think that most of the contractors that Prinsco works with, and Prinsco, would love to be able to help you and see if we can’t provide that solution. So in conclusion, from this rambling today, and I hope you enjoyed the rambling, like the old saying goes in the water table, Prinsco our contracting community, and I think our farming community all support this is, it’s the old saying that we’ve said on here before, but “If you love yourself, buy a condo in Florida and if you love your kids, buy some land.
(12:00):
And if you love your grandkids, buy some land and tile it, and make sure that you have your water management in place.” And it’s really a fun little statement. But when you think about it and you apply that to the very beginning of this podcast, it’s so true, is when you can do something now or yesterday or tomorrow, instead of wait a few years, it’s going to pay you benefits, both financially and just in ease of working on your farm and working your land for generations to come. So at the Water Table, we’re all about helping, we’re all about educating as much as we can to the contractors and the farmers. These are just some of my thoughts. But be ready and open to continuing to listen as we’re going to bring some great guests to you here in the future around what’s just going on and what’s the future of water quality in agriculture. So thanks for listening.