June 26, 2012
Jake Gingerich, Montgomery (Indiana) Welding, is here today with a crane to pull down the roof auger between bins 10 and 10A, along with the downspouts from the old and new elevators. In its place, he will install soon a drag conveyor with much greater capacity, greater service life, and more gentle handling than the old auger. This improvement will allow us to fill either bin with either elevator, giving us greater flexibility in their use. It will also speed the filling of each bin.
We continue to wait for a good rain, the temperatures late in the week are predicted to exceed 100F. Most corn is pollinating right now, and the high temps will have an impact on that. But last night was quite cool, low 60s, and it is good to see the corn ‘relax’ its rolling in the cooler nights. Surprisingly, the corn looks pretty good in the early mornings, before the heat of the day rolls up the leaves again. To be in an area of severe drought, we are not past the point where most of the corn could not recover with a good rain.
John is adding a weather station to the 4730 sprayer today. It will automatically determine the wind speed and direction, and the temperature and humidity. Then it will record that information digitally along with the spray records. It is important to have an accurate record of the weather conditions as any pesticide is being applied, and this will automate that process. Technology is a great thing!
The dry weather has almost eliminated our need for mowing; the lawn looks like late August, a crunchy brown. Even the weeds are growing more slowly in the drought. Our new landscaping at home is irrigated each night, and about 2x per week, we sprinkle the sod that was planted in the front of the house last fall. So, there is a small oasis of green among the brown!
After an early-morning meeting meeting of the WCC elders, I gathered some more financial information for our banker, in order to prepare for a renewal of our line of credit. Yesterday, I reported our planted acres to FSA and to our crop insurance agent. They recorded the fields and planting dates, but were not quite ready to accept our wheat yield data. It’s ready when they are.
Seems like there is always something to do….
