Are we alone?

Are we the only guys that have to do stuff like this to get the job done? This is what it takes to fill our wet bin with dry corn this year.

A couple locals....

Couple locals stopped by to watch harvest. They were bedded down in a fence row. The buck has pretty good size body and no more than 8 pts on a mid size rack. I drove the cart up on them but they were in no hurry to move. Bet they think they own the place. I wonder how many bushels I fed that big boy?

Almost done!

The last field of wet corn. Sunset with the home place in the back.

Big time operations....

When you are big time you do things like this to unload a bin. It didn't work well. Or you spend your night shoveling to get the wet bin empty but your wife brings you supper, that is a big help

New facilities

New elevator down the road. 1.1 million in the big bin.... 750k in wet bin. Loaded weight on the scale.... could of had another 40 bushel on.

Cup of Joe...

33 mph... 7am sunrise... coffee cup with no lid. This tractor rides smooth.

Harvest 2013

Big deal

Yes it is a big deal when you can send your son out to pull off a rock hung up on the sickle bar. He saw it at the end row. He likes riding in the combine because he can stand up move arounds some and not wear a seat belt. He likes to stand and watch for rocks or other hazards, he is gonna make a good operator.

New sports car....

What has four wheels, is red, is expensive, handles well(suspension package), and is fast(33mph!). Yup a new sports car! Here is ours. The chief is taking it though its paces in the photo. Owen was a bit frightened when we took off in it, he had never gone that fast in a tractor before.

2013 calf crop

17 of our calves weaned and growing. There is a furry number 18 in the back right from a friend that was a show calf with no home.

Harvest 2013

Worked some corn the last week of Sept in some light ground to scoop up some basis advantage. Corn was around 105bpa.... maybe... Went to beans last week they were a early planted 1.8 and went better than expected at over 50bpa. After a little rain this weekend we should be back at hard early next week and the rest of the beans should be ready to roll by the time we get to them.

Couch potatoes

The kids love the buddy seat in the White 6144. It folds out like a couch. It is so big you can even bring a friend.

The fox screams again.

We put up corn silage in the last few day. Filled up the silo to the top. The corn looked pretty good, better than I expected. I could just stay ahead unloading while the chief hauled and Roger ran the. chopper. The fox continued it's corn eating tradition. It busted up some gathering chains but those didn't set us back very long. Looks like good feed with more corn than last year.

Dawson Creek

Took a trip to Dawson Creek a little over a week ago to conduct some investigations. Got to see some wheat, pea, and canola harvest going on while working. They are experiencing above average moisture this year so have had a pretty good hay crop. Saw many cow calf operations, mostly red and white colored with a few blacks, and one good sized feed lot.

The big education I received was what was happening in the "Oil patch"of the Canadian natural gas deposits and oil sands. Imagine small towns exploding in size, new industrial buildings for fracing, oil fields services, site cleanup and drilling. New hotels and restaurants built in just a couple years. Imagine every hotel parking lot with 7 fully equipped pickup and large industrial trucks for every 1 car packed full everynight and large truck traffic going 24/7 in all directions. Imagine a  huge population of hardworking men, many in their 20s with minimal skill sets making close to six figure salaries, it is a modern day gold rush. Well you don't have to imagine it just go there and see it, the dollars involved are staggering. It made me appreciate our Midwest ethanol industry and want to encourage my neighbors to support it. Ethanol is and will continue to be a key to the economic vitality of our small communities in Iowa. It won't be pretty to see these northern Canadian town if the resources run out and it makes me wonder about my local communities if ethanol takes a dive.

Sweet feed

Local sweet corn tycoon Kerns Corn had some extra older ears last week so we filled up a trailer full. It was kind of a pay back he said for me  helping out with some picking a few weeks back. Don't tell him but I had always wanted to pick with the big boys so no compensation was needed. Well this old corn was a big treat for the stockers.... and we had 2 calves born within days of starting to feed, must be good stuff.

Mr. Kerns grows good corn so stop by his selling locations to pick up some of his bicolor goodness or if you see a truck flying down the road with a trailer full of corn and Hawkeye licences plates that say EATCORN flag him down to get some.

Employment

I suppose if you are good at vacuuming you can always find work. This guys should at least be able to feed himself later in life. I think we should keep pushing the arithmetic lessons though.

Water park

95+ degrees.... humid.... no clouds... no breeze.... tongues hanging out.... so we provided some relief to these guys with a sprinkler.

Expert driver

This seven year old was a big help loading 3rd crop alfalfa round bales last week. We went out a 7 am to finish up hauling. He could just reach the pedals to follow me in the loader, saved a lot of time.

Eat up!!!!

Like fat guys at a buffet. Those 2 beneficial bugs in the lower right can't eat all those aphids.

Aphids!

This picture is not that bad compared to many leaves but we are having an aphid explosion around here. We were just thinking about putting the sprayer away for the year. Sprayed 360 acres today will finish the rest tomorrow. We haven't had to spray for aphids the last few years, just pile it on the stack of challenges this year. The earliest corn we planted in late April is just beginning to dimple.

Need cat food....

Something tells me the cat food bag is almost empty.

Guest farmers....

Had some good city folk come up to the farm. Lana showed her friend how to build "dance" muscles. I told Lana if she bailed more hay she would get stronger muscles for better control in ballet class. She has been first on the wagon many times this summer.

My wise daughter.....

She drew me this during the challenging planting season. It applies to a $1.40 drop in corn basis in 2 days as well.

Tax deductible play set....

If your looking for a tax deduction and a new slide for the kids put up one of these. It can get a bit ripe smelling if it gets to rainy but sure is fun.

Done planting...

It took us right up to June 15 to get all the beans in. But with all the water the alfalfa hay had a great yield. Corn is all sprayed and almost done side dressing. I would say we are 3-4 weeks behind average in these parts and there is some corn that is going to have to go crazy to get knee high by July 4.

Corn done 2013....

Finished corn at 11pm May 24 planting the last 9 acres in a nice rain shower that wasn't supposed to come until 4am. At the time we had corn in v2-v3 and also some still in the bag. Going to be an interesting fall. The forecast does not seem to indicate we need to move hard on getting ready for beans... Rain chances everyday and night for the next week.

At least we got 60 big squares of rye baled and wrapped and got started chopping and the bag is started. I like to call the last photo "The Classics" as it shows a couple old machines pulling their weight as much as the new ones.

A big responsibility!

Time to put in the sweet corn. This is the first time the chief has trusted me to operate the planter so it warranted a rare pic of me with the planting crew. Trust me, he kept a close eye on my performance. Actually I might have run the old planter back in the late 80's using the Oliver 1655 to pull it, I think I backed up and filled the shoe openers with soil once, I suppose that close observation of my techniques is needed.

Protect the apples!

Last year a frost killed all the apple blossoms and we got zero production. Fortunate that the ranchess worked hard in 2011 to put up many in the freezer so we still enjoy the occasional applecrisp. These boys are protecting the trees in full bloom so we get a good crop. Good looking boys and blossoms.

Spring challenges 2013

Here Simon and I loaded a neighbors wagon with ryelage. Simon is kicking it in his boots in the skidloader. This spring has been tough. Pastures are slow getting going, that is why the neighbor needed feed. Guys can't bale spring cornstalks for bedding because it is wet. Interesting experience I guess and it will be good for telling stories in the future.

Corn progress

Planted this last week of April. Seed germ by May 4. Sprouting good in second pic May 10. Out of the ground and pretty yellow May 13. Still looks a bit yellow with all the rain and cool temps.

All work....

And no play makes for dull times....

To wet to work but not to burn. The Chief is an expert at controlled burns and this one went great. This was a couple weeks ago and it is already green and growing.

RIO

My daughter asked me who named this calf Rio? It took me a couple minutes to grasp her logic.

Calf crop

This is most of our 2013 calf crop. About half done, the rest will be strung out into the late summer. Despite the wet and cold conditions they look pretty good.

The chicks sure have grown the last couple weeks. They put weight on fast.

May 2013 snowstorm

A bit of a change here. 80 one day and 33 the next. We didnt get a lot of snow accumulation but a lot of cold rain. Soil temp was over 60 a couple days ago today closer to 40. Special rain gear is needed in such conditions as "Outback Jack" shows us here. It made the cows laugh, they have been a bit gloomy with all the mud.