The sun is shining on a warm Monday morning.  But rain is predicted today.  Last Friday, Ross was replanting corn at the Roberson farm just east of here on IN Hwy 550, and was rained out of the field in the afternoon.  That .7 of rain is almost dried up now, and if it stays dry today, he can finish it.  I learned yesterday from our friend Barney Dunn that he measured 1.5″ of rain Friday night.  So, that explains why there were areas of water standing on our  Huey farm (near Barney’s house) on Saturday morning.  A dry and warm week would be welcome.

Philip checked the Weather Channel online last night, and they were predicting a 100% chance of rain during the night.  Well, we missed that one, and maybe we will miss the one today.  That would be helpful for the replanting that needs to be completed.  Imagine that, the weather forecaster got it wrong!

John expects to begin spraying the soybeans this week with the first postemerge treatment of Roundup (glyphosate).  He will also tank-mix with the Roundup a residual herbicide, Warrant, that will improve the control of the weed waterhemp.  Warrant is similar to the old herbicide Lasso (or alachlor), but with a newer chemistry. 

Soon, the corn will need its postemerge Roundup treatment.  And the window of opportunity for that application is very narrow, because the corn is growing very rapidly right now.  It can go from ‘just right size’ to ‘too tall’ seemingly overnight!

Ben is now home for the summer from Purdue, and we will set him up today to begin the work on the ‘suntan machine’.  He will apply a herbicide in many of our ditches to control the stream-clogging, woody sprouts of willow, maple, and cedar.

It is also time to clean up the 9360R tractor from the spring work.

Tomorrow is primary election day in Indiana, and it will determine who is on the general election ballon on November 6.  My school board term would have been voted on today, but last session of the Indiana legislature changed the time for voting for all elected school boards from the primary (May) to the general (November) election.  Therefore, my term was extended six months from June 30 to December 31.  I have decided that I will seek a 5th term on the South Knox School Board.  I will file with the county election board sometime in July, in order to be on the November ballot.

The dryer project is nearing completion, the electrical service was connected by electrician Russell Lashley.   The guys from MAS will return soon.  This project needs to be completed this month, in order to be used to dry wheat in early June.

Jake Gingerich, Montgomery Welding, has delivered the components to a roof-mounted drag conveyor that will quickly load our bins #9 and #10A.  The combined storage capacity of those two bins is 90,000 bushels.  And the drag conveyor has a longer useful life, has greater capacity, and is gentler on the grain than the auger that has been up there for several years.  Jake says we’re second in line on his list of jobs to do.  It will not be required until fall harvest, but that will likely begin sooner in September than in other years.  Harvest over Labor Day will not be surprising.

Have a great week!