DECATUR, Ill. (DTN) -- Farm. Food. Faith. Family. Every farmer has a different story to tell about what forms their agricultural legacy.

For the 2026 DTN View From the Cab farmers, Tyler Rath and Chris Weaver, the deliberate choice to work with their fathers each day is part of the account. And, as fathers themselves, there are additional generational chapters yet to be written.

Father's Day on the farm gets celebrated like most other days -- livestock, crops and kids still need tended. But this week, we asked our farmer contributors to talk about what it is like to work together and to actually talk to Dad about some of the challenges of leadership transition.

Rath of Belgrade, Minnesota, recorded a few thoughts from his father, Dennis. Having this snippet of conversation turned out to be an interesting experiment that he can hold onto as an oral history.

Weaver, of Finksburg, Maryland, asked his father, Dick, for commentary during the interview this week, which included some good-natured razzing about who gets the last word in farm discussions. They both claimed that victory.

Weaver and Rath have been volunteering their time and thoughts throughout this growing season as part of this DTN feature. This week they also give an update as crops get "parented" through the challenges of this growing season.

CHRIS WEAVER: FINKSBURG, MARYLAND

Chris Weaver's focus on crop yields while working to optimize nutrients keeps summer busy if not hectic. This season he's using weekly leaf tissue sampling and comparing it to a new portable system from Picketa that uses optical sensors to measure how a leaf reflects light across a spectrum. It deploys machine learning to translate that data into nutrient concentrations and gives him results within minutes.

He also used probes from AquaSpy to continuously monitor nitrate, soil moisture, oxygen, pH and temperatures in real time. In addition, he uses a portable soil test called 360 Soilscan to test nitrogen availability, soil pH and organic matter.

This week, armed with all that information, he'll be applying foliar micronutrients and top dressing corn. A no-tiller, additional 32% liquid nitrogen is dribbled near the base of the corn plant or in the case of more rolling acres, broadcast dry as ammonium sulfate (AMS). How much he applies in this side dress pass depends on the field and the readings from all those tests.

"Some fields may require nothing. At most we may be talking another 50 units as a top dress," Chris said, noting that his goal is to grow 300 bushel per acre corn on of a total 0.5 units of nitrogen per bushel. "I think we're on track to do that this year." Contest acres get special scrutiny and additional nitrogen needs on those plots are assessed separately, depending on testing as the season progresses.

Early fungicide applications (V4 to V6) have already been applied in corn. He's especially watching for tar spot, although official maps don't show it has arrived in Maryland -- he's heard reports of detections. Southern rust is also on his radar as hurricanes brew in the south.

Weather stabilized a bit this week, doling out another shot of rain on Thursday. But it's been windy and finding good spray windows has made for some crazy work hours.

"Those rains really changed things and the crops look great," Chris said. "Beans are a bit behind where they should be, but with the right weather they'll come around."

DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick expects it to be a tad warmer in central Maryland this coming week. "Temperatures should bounce around normal in the lower-to-middle 80s with overnight lows falling down toward the low 60s," Baranick said. "The best chance for rain is early in the week with a system and cold front moving through on Monday. There is some potential for some heavier rain in there as well. Spotty chances for showers and thunderstorms continue for the rest of the week, though the end of the week could see a couple of little systems moving through that could give them a couple of better chances for more rain."

Weaver is hoping to cut barley near the end of next week. It's going into a bin for cattle feed, so he likes it dry around 10% to 11% moisture. Rye, produced for the distillery industry, is still cooking along with harvest anticipated for early-to-mid July.

Father's Day, Chris Weaver's birthday and wedding anniversary all fall within a few days -- a strategy he claims was intentional to make sure he doesn't forget the third -- the most important -- of those events. Dinners with extended family is standard fare on Sunday throughout the year and he credits that tradition with fostering a closeness that unites generations and keeps them all talking, even with conversations are tough.

"For Father's Day, I've asked that there be no yelling, no screaming and everybody gets along," he joked.

His father, Dick Weaver, manages the family beef herd and helps in the daily operations of the family grain farm. In addition to farming, he also taught ag education and dedicated years of service to his community as a County Commissioner.

"We occasionally argue -- or disagree. But it generally lasts for about 10 minutes," Chris said, with Dick chiming in that they both just usually determine that they are right and get back to business.

"At the end of the day, our goal is the same. We want to see this farm survive and go on to the seventh and eighth generation," Chris said.

It is a legacy that literally surrounds Weaver. He lives in a house passed along from his grandfather, the same house where his father was born. "My children are the seventh generation to live in this house. It's so cool and something I don't take for granted," he said.

Making decisions that allow that business transfer almost always requires sacrifices. "Splitting and dividing a farm can kill it in one generation," Chris said. "Holding it all together requires planning and hard decisions that go beyond what crop gets planted where."

Being given the opportunity to make decisions early is critical, he believes, noting that his grandfather passed the reigns to Dick early.

"And my father did the same for me. As I was coming back into the business, Dad decided to pursue an additional career in politics and wasn't at the farm on a regular basis. I had to step up and make many of the farm decisions during those years," he explained. "Now that he's back at the farm full-time, we talk and discuss almost everything. But we don't second-guess each other. We've developed a mutual respect and I think a lot of it came out of that period."

His own children have a decade or more before such life choices come, but he knows that time will pass fast. Both are currently involved in 4-H and helping around the farm this summer.

"If they decide farming is not the career path they want, that's their choice. My goal is to make sure the farm is here to allow them the opportunity to make that decision," he said.

TYLER RATH: BELGRADE, MINNESOTA

Dennis Rath's path to becoming a farmer began at age 12 when serious health problems kept his father from continuing in the profession. For his son, Tyler, admiration for how hard his parents worked over the years to keep the family farm was a factor in his return to farm full-time. Tyler left a 15-year career in agriculture engineering and lives on the same farmstead where his grandfather once lived.

Dennis figures almost every farmer struggles to some degree with letting go of decision-making and embracing the next generation's approach to business. Today, rather than making the plan, he helps carry it out and fills in where needed as a full-time employee. That's required some adjustments in his work habits.

Growth of the farm is also driving change -- fields are now spread over 40-plus miles rather than just down the road. And, there are an increasing number of specialty crops being grown by Rath Farms, which complicates logistics.

"Dad and I have opposite scenarios," Tyler said. "He had to figure out everything on his own. On the other hand, I don't know what it would be like without him here.

"He probably grows more frustrated working with me than I do with him -- maybe because we are a lot alike in personality," Tyler added. "I know that I still have a lot of learning to do with regard to how I lead and manage. But I'm aware of it and hope he knows how super valuable he is to me."

Conflict is rare between the father and son, Tyler said. "But when you are busy, or working cattle, things get said and not always in the way you necessarily mean. We try to move on from it and leave it behind, but there are times when we probably should work more on communication."

The younger Rath has been keenly aware of the importance of not letting misunderstandings fester when working together. Communication is a frequent theme during The Executive Program for Agricultural Producers (TEPAP) of which he is a graduate. The entire Rath family meets at least once each year to go over the details of the farm business.

"That's a time to bring up the hard conversations," Tyler said. "We aren't perfect at it, but we are making an effort and that's important."

On the farm this week, uncomfortable came in the form of hail again this week -- this time in a field he'd designated for the National Corn Growers Yield Contest.

"The event appears to be less than 10% leaf tear, thankfully," he said. "But of all the thoughts, decisions and things it takes to make a farm operation run, I am starting to believe that weather is by far the most stressful and you have absolutely no control over it." Neighbors' crops were hit harder by this storm and the emotional toll of seeing crops devastated by hail.

Hail had already played havoc with some of Rath Farms' conventional corn fields, but they ruled out replanting soybeans.

"We had around 20,000 (plants per acre) left out of 32,000 and decided to leave it, partially due to the logistics of the field location, some of it because of workload that needed finished prior to this week's rain storm and also, it would have messed up rotations for next year," Tyler said. "We'll see if that decision is right, this fall."

This week another 2.2 inches of rain fell, which was unexpected and locked him out of some field operations. He was able to get some more organic corn cultivated with the farm's new camera-guided cultivator system. With this much rain, it's important to stay ahead of weeds in that crop before it gets too big.

DTN's Baranick said the active weather pattern could continue in the Belgrade area, though the heavier rain is likely to fall to the south.

"They still have a good chance for rain on Tuesday and Wednesday, but the rain could easily miss as well. Other than that, there are chances every other day of the week, but most of those are not likely to materialize. Temperatures remain very mild with a lot of highs in the 70s throughout the week. Growing degree units are going to fall behind a bit through the end of the month," Baranick said.

This week, Tyler used rain delays to strategize what to do with turkey litter. "Turkey barns only get cleaned out so often. So, we have to figure out how to stockpile the manure even though we won't spread them until fall," he said. That's easier said than done -- the piles need to be located somewhere an irrigation pivot can't hit them and at least 300 feet away from roads, ditches and waterways.

This week, he was able to finish planting organic sweet corn. He'll soon be able to put away the planter when green beans get planted as a double crop behind English peas.

Father's Day will probably mean taking in some kid baseball and more family time. "We've been so busy, I'd be happy with just a quiet day of doing nothing," Tyler said. A little grace in the weather department wouldn't be a bad gift either.

His children are little enough that he hasn't pushed their involvement in the farm. But he also wants them to understand what is happening and has been surprised with how eagerly they soak in details about the farm and operations.

"They ask questions I don't think I asked," Tyler said.

When Tyler inquired about his dad's dream for the farm, Dennis quipped: "Selfishly, it is for me just to drive around in the pickup and watch you guys work.

"But really, the dream would be to keep the legacy going -- for the farm to stay in family. That's probably the same answer as you'd get from anyone in a family farming operation," Dennis said.

Pamela Smith can be reached at pamela.smith@dtn.com

Follow her on social platform X @PamSmithDTN

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