Soil sampling

The chief thought we could save some time this year if we did soil sampling with the combine... Actually the chief is a man of honor and takes the reins of the combine in problem areas such as this, he says he will take responsibility for the consequences, in this case just a few extra minutes to get pulled out. This area is Palms Muck, a Terric Medisaprist for all you soil geeks, not a soil you see very often. Around here it is known as "The Peat Bed" and has been a nemesis of the chief for many years. This is a unique area and is really "alive" in many ways, it grows and shrinks in size, it moves, it weeps, it belches forth ancient clay drainage tile from its bowels. If you grab a handful you see it is very organic, soil survey says around 17.5%. While alive it has no emotions or preferences, it will suck in the combine, devour a tillage tractor, or reach out and grab your last 3 planter units. It is one of the things that make our place unique to us and memorable. Do you have a similar area in a field?

Down corn

Here is Roger running the machine. And a picture of the.some  down corn we have had. I think some of the down areas we had went over 200 bpa which indicates Rogers prowess.

Employee update...

The work continues, and like all businesses our employees are our best asset. Roger has been doing an amazing job combining, we have had lots of down corn and he has run the majority of it, and a minimal amount of corn has been left behind. Owen has found you grab a nap when you can, maybe while riding in the combine, because you might have to shovel later. Others have been helping with pest control. Simon turned two which was a huge deal now he is freed from many OSHEA regulations, the main one being he can ride in the tractor seat by himself and not on a lap, he has been putting the hours in too. We also have a new woman hauling loads. She is doing a great job. I find her attractive and am a bit smitten, I am considering asking her out on Saturday night but need to talk to the chief to see if there is a policy on dating co workers. I hope she is not texting a cute guy in that photo but I bet she is.

Infrastructure improvements

It has been a busy fall on many levels.  We made some improvements to our power supply on the home place.  This will take us up to 400 amp 230v 3 phase, the big improvement was the amperage, this doubled our previous capacity. It was needed and will allow us to grow more as well as increase safety.  Thiswas partially spurred by a "new to us" dryer purchase, the system has been working well. It is not the.worlds largest but with good planning should be able to keep up with our production for a while.  The last photo is the burner running at night, I enjoy watching and listening to it roaring away, kind of like having a jet engine in your yard, the only thing that would improve it is if the music from "Top Gun" was blaring in the background.

Corn is king

I was teaching this  slogan to a child while working in the church nursery a few weeks ago. We were playing with  little people, the mommy little person said "Remember to brush your teeth".... The daddy little person said "Remember to do your chores"... And the farmer little person said "Corn is king!" Owen agrees, as he has needed to take a nap in the combine to keep up his energy level. Harvest has been going well.  Our yields vary depending on soil type and location but generally seem to be above average.

Finished beans

Finished beans today, average yield around 55 bu/acre. Had to move north of Maynard which is about a 20 mile trip so best to get all the wagons up there is one trip. The chief was back he had earned a few days with some friends. Things always go more smoothly when he is around. A few switches and odds and ends to tidy up on our end.... and some important visits from some dryer repair and installation outfits and we should be running corn tomorrow afternoon. I wonder if the Ferrari owner has to wait until the day she wants to drive to get the repairs and installs she requested months ago. Lots of farm equipment is in the ferrari price range, maybe that is why we go with the "sports car red" models.... Anybody ever seen a green Ferrari?

Harvesting and planting

Here Roger tops off a wagon at the end of the day. He is an expert doesn't drop 1 bean, that 's pretty impressive with a machine that unloads 4.5 bushels per second, that's about eight 5 gallon pails per second. We have not had very many super late nights, usually done around 7 pm. Not only are we harvesting, Harrison and I planted 25 acres of rye today which we will use to fill the silo next year. It is dry here lots of dust which can be dangerous and is a common culprit in combine fires. At one point when we turned around the dust was so bad we had to engage auto steering during the turn and have faith it would take us to the right spot, worked great. We hope to have beans all harvested by the end of the week. We'll have to move to some of our farms that are farther away, which takes some time but yields have been reasonably good so it will be interesting to see how those fields have done with different soil types and variable rainfall events.

Harvest begins

Harvest officially begin for us on september 30th, we poked in a few fields just to check moisture earlier. It is special here because it is our first year of the family on the farm. Everybody is participating. Owen has spent a lot of time in the tractor, even had a fever 1 day you can tell you didn't feel good. Lana got in on the action when we went to IAS to deliver some beans, she helped the guys shake the wagon. Things look good so far, yields averaging 50 to 60 bushels per acre for beans.