Friday, August 1, 2014

“Well, that’s one snow in January…,” is what we heard at the John Deere store this morning when we went in to pick up a part for the 7130 tractor.  When we said, “huh?” in response, this was the explanation we heard:  The number of ‘fogs’ in August equals the number of ‘snows’ the following January.  This supposedly old saying was a new one for us.  We’ll check this one for accuracy if we can remember it this winter!

John followed the pit cleaners Brandon and Haley yesterday, and did some washing in and around the new leg and wet grain hopper tank.

Here, Haley and Brandon wrap up the ‘glamorous’ task of cleaning up spoiled grain around the two elevator legs. The worst part is going into the old pit, and scooping up the spilled (and spoiled and smelly) grain, placing it in 5-gallon buckets, and lifting it up by hand to pour into the front bucket of the backhoe. The stuff is then spread in a nearby field as compost.

John washes the area near where the new pit empties into the big leg. Behind him you can see the bottom of the wet grain hopper tank.

We have some more bush hog work to do today, and that may catch that up for a couple weeks.  We’ve also repaired a tile hole in the entrance to the Dunn farm lower flat field.

Upon returning to the farm from delivering the red stripe Mack truck to the dealer for some service on the air conditioning and brakes… we stopped to take this picture of the home farm.  The soybeans look really good right now, and a picture will help us remember this beautiful summer of 2014.  Our Maker has delivered ‘near perfect’ weather for the crop development, and this makes us hopeful for the upcoming fall harvest.

August 1, 2014. The soybean crop at the home farm looks as good as it ever has. We’re grateful, and hopeful for harvest time.

Our thinking is turning toward preparation for harvest time.   The combines are ready, the trucks needs some attention.  Only about 6 weeks… can you believe it?

Have a good weekend.