Local Health & Wellness Leader, Hailey Peters, joins Geddes Farmer, Derrick Scott, for Planting Season

The tone of planting season was set when I counted 14 tractors in the field on my way to Derrick Scott’s farm. It was the perfect condition for planting that day and there was rain in the forecast so the farmers were eager to get the seeds in the ground! When I arrived, I hopped into the tractor with Derrick and we finished planting his corn field. He told me that they harvest 3,500 acres of land, 1,100 of that being corn! He was on acre 700 of 1,100, which he felt pretty good about! His hired hand was in another field right next to us drilling some beans as well.

One fun fact that I learned from Derrick was that you rotate what you are planting in the field every year. I thought farmers always planted the same crop in the same field year after year but it’s better to rotate yearly! Derrick and his family plant wheat, beans, and corn. He said many years ago they did sunflowers but they are a harder crop to plant and grow because they are so oily, which affects the machinery when planting and then once they are planted they are big and insect prone so they haven’t done them recently but they have considered getting back into it. 

Another interesting fact that I learned from Derrick was that the ground has to be 50 degrees for corn to germinate! 

Derrick’s family has been farming their land for over 100 years. He has 2 sisters and he is the only child that has come back to the homestead to farm. His dad still helps around the farm but Derrick has taken over a lot in the past few years. Their hired hand has been helping them for over 30 years as well! 

While we were in the tractor planting the corn it was really amazing to see all of the new technology in farming! I grew up on a farm watching my dad plant and he didn’t have any of the amazing electronic devices like the auto steer and iPad that Derrick has to help him plant and harvest. Derrick said he has really noticed that his body doesn’t get so run down from the long, long days of planting with the help of the auto steer. It was so amazing to see how the computers read the land so well and made things so efficient! 

Once we got done planting that field of corn, Derrick drove his planter down the road a mile to the next field he was going to start planting that day. We took a quick lunch break and made a pit stop at his shop where he keeps a lot of his machinery. I also learned that Derrick likes to race cars in his free time and some of those cars were in his shop as well! We then went into Geddes and ate at the cafe called The Blue Room. Derrick said he usually goes to his mom and dad’s house for lunch that his mother provides for them but sometimes he will go to the Blue Room and enjoy a meal there. We had the special, which was a delicious chicken wrap and a side of peach pie! We left with full bellies and Derrick was ready to get back to planting before the rain hit! 

Before I said farewell, Derrick showed me how the seed of the corn started in a big grey tub on top of the planter and the process it went through to get into the ground! It was amazing to see! I learned so much in the few hours that I was blessed to hang out on the Scott farm and I am so grateful for the opportunity! It really is amazing to see the heart and labor that goes into our South Dakota farmland and understanding how it works really made me appreciate our farmers even more!