Dillon County farmers had had a successful year in 2012 and are hopeful about 2013.
Bud Price, who has been farming for 33 years, farms 7,770 acres—3,910 of soybeans, 1,710 of corn, and 2,150 of wheat in Dillon, Marion, and Marlboro Counties.
He said he had a great year in 2012 with one of his best yields and price wise. “The prices were close to previous years,” Price said, “but every crop was very good yield wise and that’s something that has happened to us in a long time.”
Soybeans was his most successful crop this year with an “exceptional” yield and the price was the best average ever.
In 2013, he plans to add another crop, canola, and will plant less wheat. He will keep his soybean and corn growth about the same.
Neil Moody, who has been farming since 1966, farms 310 acres including pasture and hay, corn and soybeans, and has 60 broad cows. He farms in the Lake View, Kemper, and Dillon areas.
Moody said last year was the best  year he had ever had. “Every cow I had had a calf,” Moody said.
The Baxley brothers, sons of the late Roy Baxley, farm 2,000 acres in Minturn, 10 miles west of Dillon. They grow cotton, corn, peanuts, wheat, and soybeans. 2012 was an excellent year for their operation as well.
“We had record yields in cotton and peanuts in 2012.  In places, cotton exceeded three bales per acre and peanuts just over two tons per acre.  All other crops were above average compared to recent years,” said Daniel Baxley.
Baxley said that “The most successful crop per acre would be peanuts thanks to excellent yields as well as high contract prices.  Our peanuts were followed very closely by cotton which also did outstanding but did not have the price that we had with peanuts.”
“We are planning on less peanut acres due to national overages from bumper crop in 2012 (which results in lower contract prices for 2013)”.  They will have more corn acres “due to favorable market price and around the same acres of wheat, cotton, and soybeans.”
All say mechanization has improved their operations. “We have found that improvements in the technology and mechanization of agriculture allow us to cover much more ground in less time with less labor involved.  The large machines we operate today greatly improve our day to day efficiency as well as precision in doing each task.  This is crucial in times when weather is a major factor controlling the window in which we have to plant, spray, and harvest each individual crop,’ Baxley said.