Today, we are sending corn to market; specifically, John and Philip have gone to Newburgh, Indiana to the ADM terminal elevator there on the Ohio River. They are delivering corn that was contracted earlier in the year. It will take them approximately 3 hours to make the round trip. Their trip there today should fill that contract. Next, we will be delivering 5 loads of corn to Cargill Elevator in Vincennes, to fill a contract there. After that, there are other contracts to fill at Robinson Grain, just across US 50 from our location, and GPC‘s big plant near Washington, Indiana… about 10 miles away. It’s more efficient and faster to deliver grain during harvest to nearby elevators.
John in the Peterbilt and Philip in the Mack Vision prepare for today's trip to ADM in Newburgh, Indiana
We received a nice rain last evening, so that is holding us out of the field today, and we are using the day to deliver grain to more distant locations. But the first thing this morning was that John and Philip replaced a bearing in the loading auger of the dryer. It’s several feet in the air, and they had to work from the dryer’s rear caged ladder. The proof of their good repair work is that the dryer is now running. As evidence that it is much cooler today (50F at 7 am), you can see steam wafting upward from the dryer. Tonight’s temperature is predicted in the low 40s…. brrrr…. I even had to wear jeans to work today instead of my much-preferred shorts!
We plan to return to corn harvesting tomorrow morning, at the Shake farm. It is one of the locations that we plan to plant wheat, and it needs to be ‘uncovered’ so that we can prepare for the wheat seeding that will begin on September 26 (weather and soil conditions permitting). The wheat is a minor crop for us these days, in comparison to corn and soybeans, but when the double-crop soybeans are added, does provide a comparatively good return. Another bonus of the wheat crop is that is doubles as a ‘cover crop‘ to protect the soil from water erosion during the winter.
