Outstanding Young Farm Family – Soybean Division
The 10,000-acre spread that makes up Dee River Ranch in Pickens County is larger than most family farms in Alabama, but the day-to-day operation is typical of most families who make their living from the land.Mike and Shannon Dee, this year’s Outstanding Young Farm Family in the soybean division, work on the farm along with Mike’s sisters Annie and Teresa. Their parents purchased the farm in 1989 after relocating from Florida. Mike graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in geology with the intention of joining the family’s oil business. But after working on the farm during the summer and on weekends while in college, he decided agriculture was more appealing.Now, Mike is in charge of running the day-to-day operation of the farm where he maintains all the equipment and coordinates labor and machinery. Perhaps one of his most challenging responsibilities is the handling and storage of the farm’s grain. He designed a new grain facility that increased storage capacity and efficiency for the farm.”We added to the grain facility about four years ago which gave us the capacity to store an additional 25,000 bushels,” Mike said. “We also added a leg, which makes it easier to handle, and a conveyer system to make it a less labor-intensive operation. We can cover more ground and handle more bushels.”With that addition, the farm now has storage and drying capacity for just less than 100,000 bushels. Overhead bins also make handling and shipping the grain easier, Mike said.This year, the Dees planted 2,000 acres of soybeans, and according to Mike, it could be the farm’s best crop ever.”It looks like we could have our best yield ever, and the quality looks very good,” he said. “We’ve been dodging hurricanes, and that’s had us a little worried about how our quality will hold up. We’ve also had a lot of bugs this year, but we seem to have that under control. We just need some dry, sunshiny weather to get our crop in before we lose it.”The Dees have increased their soybean acreage, and they expect to add a few more acres next year. Mike said soybeans don’t require as much input costs as some crops, but also don’t yield as much. But, he said, soybeans are well-suited for their area and work well in the farm’s rotation program.Mike said soybean exports are a great opportunity, adding that the American Soybean Association is doing a great of job marketing and creating new uses for soybeans.”It seems limitless what you can do with soybeans,” Mike said. “Beans have taken the place of many petroleum derivatives in oils and inks, and they are an environmentally-friendly source for a lot of things.” In addition to soybeans, the Dees have 1,300 acres of corn, most of which is sold to poultry feed companies. They also grow between 500-1,000 acres of wheat annually, which works well in their crop rotation, Mike said.”Wheat gives us a good cover crop through the winter on the ground we need to work,” he said. “It also gives us cash flow in the spring when we’re trying to plant our other crops. It’s nice to have that money coming in that time of year. It’s not our cash crop to speak of, but it fills a niche for us, and we need to diversify and cover all our bases.”A commercial cattle operation helps round out the diversity of Dee River Ranch. They have 500 head of beef cattle with a strong genetic base selected by Mike’s father. They use some of their own grain to feed the cattle, and they market their steers by trailer-load lots.Shannon grew up in Fayette and has no farming background, but that hasn’t stopped her from jumping in to lend a hand when and where she can. She runs errands and picks up parts when they’re needed, but she confesses that her most important job is to be an at-home mother for their two daughters, Victoria, 3, and Isabella, 2.”We hope they will be a big part of the farm one day,” Shannon said of their daughters. “They are fortunate to grow up here and see Mother Nature first hand. They see the importance of a rain. They can see a crop being planted, watch it grow and see it harvested. That’s just invaluable.”The Dees don’t plan to expand their farm any time soon, but want to make it more efficient and productive, Mike said.”We want to be better stewards of the land, and if we are, our potential is unlimited,” he said. “If we take care of the land, it’ll take care of us for life and hopefully for our grandchildren.”