Carnahan & Sons, Inc.

Tuesday, September 22, 2026

First of all, Happy 40th Birthday to John!  He got to celebrate by going to the top of one of the grain legs to clear away debris from the distributor!    What a way to start your day, huh?

We continue to send corn to GPC today.  Larry is here and he’s delivering corn on contract.

The special additions for the new-to-us combine arrived this morning, and Brandon and John have begun to install this new equipment.  First, is the adjustable spout on the unload auger.  John has done this job before, so they are confident of this install.  Soon, Kyle, a mechanic will arrive from Hutson, Inc. to assist with the installation of shut-offs to the cross augers in the grain tank.  This feature will allow the clean-out of the long unloader auger even when the grain tank is not empty.  This reduces the strain on the system to start under full load, and it also reduces the weight hanging on that long unloader.

Brandon begins with the removal of the original spout

Next, he installs a special elbow adapter to hold the new spout

John assists Brandon to attach the pivoting spout to the auger.

This wiring harness must be installed to control the cross-auger shut-off system.  Looks complicated to me.

Kyle is removing the old sprockets in order to install the new electric clutch-sprockets.

The clutch-sprockets are installed, and ready to fine-tune their alignment. Then re-install the drive chain. Almost done!

I was able to do a simple light replacement this morning.  The warning blinker on the R side of the corn head was burned out.  It’s important to see this when traveling down the road with the corn head folded.  It was not a difficult task to remove the old one and install the new one.  Metric-sized allen (or hex) wrenches, 13mm socket wrench, and a Torx screwdriver were necessary tools.

The replacement works like new!

The weather is noticeably much cooler today at 63ºF (17C).  I might need to put on a sweatshirt!   The cloudy and cool day is not drying the fields very fast right now.  But it seems we have stuff to keep us busy when we are not yet back to harvesting.

I hope the sunshine returns soon so that we can go cut some soybeans!  That is my favorite task of all the things I get to do on the farm.

Tuesday, September 15, 2026

Yesterday, we went back to the corn field.  The rains of last week had dried enough for us to get back at it.  Monday was a very good day.  The new part-time guys are doing very well.  The corn is above average yield, and much drier than we would experience in mid- September.   Many loads from yesterday afternoon and evening went directly into storage instead of the dryer!

Some pictures from yesterday.

Pat took this picture

Brian has been a great addition to the team.

Joe started yesterday, and he had a good first day.

Pat rode with me for a few rounds after lunch time.

Brandon D was quite busy yesterday.  He does a great job with the grain cart.

Brandon D

Brian cosults with John when he comes in to unload

John is responsible for in the incoming grain, and operates the dryer. It’s a big responsibility. And he does it well.

He doesn’t get to stay in the A/C very much while he operates the grain elevator. It’ll be a hot one today… 100ºF predicted!

All in all, it was a great Monday at Carnahan & Sons.

Friday, September 11, 2026

We are having our first rain delay of #harvest26.   Rain came Wednesday night and last night too, bringing 1.1 to 1.5″ (28 to 38mm).   Today, the day is gray and gloomy and feels damp.  The forecast is for a bit more of the same.  We are not sad about the rain, however.  It brings 3 benefits at this time:  1.  Reduced fire danger…it was scary dry.  2.  It will help fill out the DCB.  and 3.  It will likely help the fields have moisture when we begin to plant wheat toward the end of the month.  (typical start day for wheat planting here is 9/25).

Unloading into the grain cart. Notice the rain spots on the glass. That was the extent of the Wednesday rain, until Wednesday night.

The soybean results have been all over the map.  On the hills where there was no flooding, the yields were nearly 80, but down in flat areas, the yields were at best in the 40s.  So, while it is true that it is better to have a wet summer than a dry one, the flooding has affected many of our soybean fields.  Of all the many fields that remain to be cut, each one has spots or large areas that had to be replanted.  Therefore, we have no more soybeans that are ready to be cut.  Yet.

We switched over to corn on Wednesday afternoon, and that was a good day.  We harvested two fields of corn here at the main farm, each was planted on 4/1.  We saw moisture levels from 14.1 to 18.5%, which is likely a record low for a first day of corn harvest!  Several of the loads that came in that day went directly into storage.  John initially had some problems with the dryer, but Jeff came from Midwest Ag in Rockport, IN, and he replaced a circuit board… the dryer took right off!   We are pleased with the corn yields so far– 240+!  With all the challenges of the summer of ’26– too wet, too hot, too dry– it’s nice to have some good corn to bring in.  We are grateful… it is a blessing.

Yes, we found corn that dry…

We use a feature that John Deere calls “AutoPath”. It is fabulous when harvesting corn, No more ‘rows of shame’!

Wednesday sunset, taken from the seat of the JD S780 combine.

Today, the guys are servicing the Pete semi, changing the fuel filters, and blowing out the air filters.  It is a cooler day, only 75ºF (24C), quite a relief from the near-1ooº days we’ve been having.  John is clearing out the corn from the dryer… it may be 2-3 days before we return to corn harvesting, and it would not be good to have that 1100 bushels sit there wet, and there has been some rain on it too.  We will be ready to go again, as soon as the field conditions permit.  We don’t want to go making deep muddy tracks in the field just yet!

We have a new part-time employee, and he has been terrific.  PTL!

There are many remembrances of this day from 25 years ago, the famous (or is it infamous?) 9-11.  Every person can recall where they were and what they were doing that morning.  We were harvesting corn at the Harry farm, on the most beautiful day you can imagine.  When I finally turned on the radio in the combine, I could not believe what I was hearing.   It was sobering.   We have all been affected by 9-11, and that day will be riveted into our memories always.   It is good today to celebrate the heroes of that day.  Never forget.  Never forget.

Have a good weekend.  Count your many blessings.

Friday afternoon, September 4, 2026

Yesterday afternoon, we took the combines to the Dunn farm and cut the soybeans on the fields that were planted on April 1.  The beans were a 2.7 maturity, and we planted them specifically so they would cut early.  The first field did not have any replanted acres in them, so it was cut border to border.  The 2nd and 3rd fields had many strips and areas of replanted soybeans in them, and those were still green.  So, we had to cut around those.  It was rather cumbersome, as compared to the first field.  Field 1 and Field 2 at Dunn were on steep hills, but the third field was mostly flat, and near the Roberson Ditch (which flooded the field numerous times in 2026.   We cut around the replanted acres and finished there just after noon today.  There are no other soybean fields that have the beans that are quite ready, so the combines are stopped for the weekend.  The next farms (Lett and Watjen) are on reclaimed coal mine ground, and they may be ready by Tuesday.  Emphasis on may.  If they are not quite there, we can begin on some corn instead.  I would expect the earliest-planted corn to be near 22-23% moisture by now, and with the extreme heat this week, it should be drying significantly!  We prefer to begin corn harvest at 23% or drier.

The final pass on the first field of soybean harvest. This field is rather steep.

These soybeans did not get flooded during the year, and they were pretty good (73bpa)  The fields that were flooded…. not so good.

With all the cutting around replanted patches, I often had to unload into the grain cart while stopped.

It’s helpful to have both combines be the same.  We can share guidance lines, and they work together much more efficiently.

So, this afternoon, we are doing some small repairs and getting the combines fueled and DEF’d for next week.  John is greasing the VT implement.  He wanted it hooked up now just in case of a field fire.  It is scary dry here.   We’ve had record temperatures of 100+ for 5 days now. (very rare here, it has been 4 years since we saw 100F).

At least the yard won’t need to be mowed this week!

We will have a time to enjoy the weekend and then see what next week brings.  The new part-time helpers begin then, and that will be an exciting time to see how they work into the team here.  I’m optimistic about them.

Have a great Labor Day weekend!

Friday, August 28, 2026

While Pat and I were in Alaska, the guys we able to complete the negotiations to upgrade a couple of our most important machines.  We had been looking to upgrade, and buying new wasn’t possible in these current economic conditions.  So, we found a 2024 combine and 2025 tractor and John and Brandon finalized the deal.  They did a really good job with the search and the negotiations.  These new machines are now here at the farm, and they are getting fitted to go to work here in a couple weeks.

The 2025 9R 540

The guys are working on this 9R540 to get it ready to pull the grain cart.

The PTO is an important feature.

The 2024 S780 combine.

Doesn’t it look kinda funny without the dual tires on it?

It is pretty shiny and will soon be ready to go to the field!

The dealer will arrive next week to install the duals on the combine. They also must install the cross-auger shut-off system in the grain tank, the adjustable spout on the unload auger, and 3 cameras.  Then, it will be complete!

It is always an exciting time when a new machine arrives.  We are very pleased that both these machines come to us with Michelin tires!