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Language of the land is universal for farmers
McCOOK, Nebraska -- One came from Germany and the other from Southwest Nebraska, but the two farmers had plenty to talk about despite the language barrier.
That's because the language of the land is universal, as Collin Messersmith of McCook found out when Christoph Suelzer of Wittbek, Germany, toured the Messersmith farming operation south of McCook during wheat harvest.
Although Messersmith doesn't know German and Suelzer has only a rudimentary knowledge of English, farmers are not known for wasting words, anyway. All it took was a few words here or nods over there and enough was communicated between the two.
"He asked a lot of questions but I think he pretty much understood what I said," said Messersmith, a 2013 high school graduate who farms about 2,300 acres with his dad, Shane Messersmith. Regardless of the differences in background, "I was amazed at how alike we really were," Collin said.
The corn was more than knee-high and the wheat harvest in full swing when Messersmith gave Suelzer the grand tour. This included a ride in a combine cutting wheat, showing Suelzer the center-pivot irrigation system as well as the gravity flow irrigation, a ride in a tractor, GPS drilling and more.
Suelzer, a self-avowed farm machinery nut, was mesmerized by the farm equipment used here. The farm equipment used in Germany is nearly identical but smaller in scale, he observed.
Messersmith said Suelzer seemed surprised, too, at the massive size of acreage used to produce one crop "I guess they're not used to that," Messersmith said.
Probably not. Germany could fit inside the state of Texas size-wise and in Wettbeck, Suelzer farms a total of 325 acres, the majority of it forest land where lumber is harvested. A recent shipment was sold to the United States after Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast, he said.
He also grows low-grade corn for feed, sugar beets, potatoes used for powder and barley for malt.
A different type of non-edible corn is also grown in Germany, he said, strictly for energy purposes. Suelzer explained that the entire plant is chopped up into fine pieces and then stored in large amounts to decompose. Daily, 10 tons of this corn mulch and six tons of decomposing cow or pig manure is put into fermentors, where bacteria turns it into methane gas, used as energy for cars, industry or electricity. The farmer can use it for himself or sell it for a good price, Suelzer said.
In a region that gets 36 inches per year in moisture, it doesn't seem like irrigation would be that important to this German farmer. But 80 percent of the rain falls in autumn and winter, he said, not in May or June when the plants need it.
Which is why he was intrigued with the center-pivot irrigation system used here, which Suelzer found very efficient compared to what is used in Germany. There, a hose similar to a fire hose rolls itself out, he said and the tractor pulls the hose out to its full extent and water is pumped through it. When it's finished, the hose automatically rolls back up and the tractor repositions it to the next spot.
The center pivot system used here is less labor intensive, he said, and "the water distribution system is very effective, because it goes around more often."
This was Suetzer's first time in the United States, visiting his friend, John Lee. Lee, a native of Wales, United Kingdom, formerly lived in Wettbek but now resides in Fort Collins, Colorado, with his wife, Lisa (Schaaf) Lee, whose parents live in McCook.
Along with his first visit to a Nebraska farm, Suelzer also experienced his first Fourth of July, with a barbecue, lighting fireworks and trying out the American beer.
And what did he think of the brew here in the United States?
"It's a question of flavor and what you like," Suelzer said, adding that his favorite were the American craft brews.