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gone while cotton, corn, and soybeans remain
the mainstays on their 1,000 acre farm. Reflecting on his career, Willie states, “I enjoyed farming . . . most of the time.”
Willie, whose house is in short walking distance of the main shed, is with his son and grandson nearly every day. Wesley says, “The operation is pretty much the same as it was when we were growing up except for the hogs and the cattle which are also gone. We might, if the conditions are right, run a few stocker cattle in the winter. If we do, we will grow a few oats for them,”
Grandson, Scott began working on the farm almost since the time he could walk and has never left it. Wesley Ray has worked all his life on the family farm except for one year, 1974, which was spent in Tennessee. In 1998, he and his son, Scott formed a partnership and bought the farm.
Cotton growers since ‘53
The Saucers have been growing cotton since Willie’s first crop in 1953. Wesley and Scott learned how to grow cotton from Willie, and he still advises them occasionally. Wesley recalls, “There was never a year when we didn’t have cotton.” In 2003, they grew Delta and Pine land [D&PL] Round-up Ready 5690 and 5415.
The Saucers have sold their cotton through the Autuaga Quality Cotton Association for the last two years. Willie states, “The Association sells on volume so they get better prices.”
Scott adds, “We don’t have to worry about the markets when we are picking cotton. The Association takes care of getting the best prices possible, and it does help out a lot in picking season.”
Fifty years of change
Willie knows that you can’t continue to do everything the same way it was done 50 years ago, having gone to strip-till before he retired. “You have to change with the times,” he says.
Scott agrees, “We have gone from conventional till to strip-till. This reduces labor and fuel costs and cuts down on extra tractor hours. We now have to go through the field only two times, as opposed to five or six times with conventional till. And the yields stay about the same. Some of Granddaddy’s best cotton was on strip-till.”
The Saucers used to plant a little corn in rotation. Now, it is a full-time crop for them. In 2003, they got plenty of rain on 70 acres of corn and did not have to irrigate. They had all the corn picked by Labor Day weekend.
Scott says, “We have gone back to growing grain and plan to try some peanuts in rotation to supplement the cotton and to provide nematode control. We have 325 acres which we can irrigate. The irrigation can be used for cotton or grain. Under irrigation we can make a pretty good grain crop. We just got lucky last year and didn’t have to irrigate. But you can’t count on that every year.”
Willie planted Pioneer 3369 for years. Wesley and Scott planted several varieties in test plots to determine which would produce the best yields. Scott states, “In test plots containing three varieties Pioneer 3394 outperformed all of them. So we have been planting 3394 for five years.”
Willie agrees that Pioneer 3394 is hard to beat. They harvested around 190 bushels an acre last year.
The Saucers can rely on Scott’s brother, David, when it comes to getting tractor and equipment parts. He works in the parts department of the John Deere dealer in Frisco City.
Hectic springtimes
In 1974, Wesley and his new wife, Ruth, who met in 1970 at a 4-H livestock judging contest in Kansas City, Missouri, were living in Ruth’s hometown of Morristown, Tennessee. Wesley worked with her father, the late Bobby Alexander, growing tobacco and doing landscaping.
Wesley states, “I always enjoyed going to the nursery to buy plants for our landscaping jobs. I thought that this is something that I would enjoy doing. Ruth has always loved plants and flowers and is very knowledgeable”
So, about four years ago, Wesley and Ruth began a fledgling nursery business in their yard. They started with bedding plants and shrubs. Wesley says, “Our plans are to eventually put in a nursery on Alabama Highway 21.
But, you have to crawl before you walk, so Eden Nursery is still in our yard.” |
