Pictured above is Richard Willich operating the John Deere, disking the Picalata cornfield.
Richard Willich jumped on a very large tractor this weekend and began preparing a portion of his farm for a massive corn planting. No stranger to the tractor, Willich had previously carved out a 40 acre pasture, leveling, scraping and fencing it in preparation for this next step. Bright and early on Saturday morning the large equipment started humming. With the assistance of longtime friends and St. Augustine farmers, Rick Wells, and his son, Richard Wells, Willich began disking the field. Disking is a process in which the soil is tilled in preparation for planting. Wells and Willich are partnering on this corn project with high hopes for a prosperous crop.
Corn is America’s number one field crop. Over 332 million metric tons are grown annually in the United States with approximately 40% of the crop - 130 million tons - used for corn ethanol. Ethanol, when blended with gasoline at a 10 percent level, is effective in reducing carbon monoxide levels, ozone pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from automobile exhaust. Price per bushel has ranged from $6.00 to $8.00 in the last 6 months.
Field preparation and planting at Picalata Farm will be complete in February, at which time everyone will start praying for rain.