Friday, June 7, 2013
Another weekend approaches, and we still are unfinished with replanting. Ross was able to finish the application of Nitrogen to corn on Wednesday, by sidedressing the NH3 at the Commer farm. So, that’s a good thing to check off the list. The toolbars have been cleaned and stored away.
We have sunshine this afternoon, but the morning was wet. We received only .04″ at the home farm, but near Wheatland, the fields received .6+. Yesterday, we attempted to begin replanting at the Huey farm east of Wheatland… but after 35 acres, we came upon mud, mud, mud. So we stopped replanting, and we are waiting for drier soils, hopefully Monday… maybe Tuesday. Most of the replanted soybeans that were put in on May 30 will need to be done again… the 3rd time over. And about 120 acres more after that for the first replanting. We are certainly looking forward to finishing with the soybean planter for spring.
The wheat continues to ripen, and we estimate 2 weeks until the combines roll.
Our French visitor, Yvertin Jaquet, seems more comfortable here with each passing day, and his english is improving. While it is too wet to work in the fields, we take in some farm and non-farm sights. He has experienced the JD 4730 sprayer (french: automoteur), and I’m pretty sure he likes it.
Yvertin is becoming a fan of the John Deere 4730 sprayer, especially the AutoTrac feature.
He was able also to briefly experience operating the JD 9330 with the soybean planter on Thursday morning. He likes the AutoTrac feature.
In between field work, we have gone to visit the Indy 500 Speedway, and we took in a triple-A baseball game in Indianapolis where we saw a pitcher’s duel; the Indians vs. the Durham Bulls. The Indians won 1-0. Baseball and IndyCar were new to Yvertin.
Yvertin tries on an Indy Car for size
He seemed to enjoy the Indianapolis Indians game… and the hot dogs!
Today, we visited the dealership of Wright-Stemle in Ireland, Indiana. Yvertin received the red-carpet (or should I say green-carpet?) treatment at W-S. We toured the shop with Dennis Gress – Service Mgr., the sales floor with Andy Query, got introduced to GreenStar specialist Jason Lueken, and he met Randy Stemle-a principal owner of the business. They gave him a new JD hat and other gifts. Later, he accompanied me to Walmart, and the local Rural King store. Then, we headed to Lowes, where we viewed all the home improvement goodies and gadgets. This evening, there will be a cook-out at home–turkey and potatoes on the grill.
We ask for more dry days, as we approach the harvesting of wheat, and the end of spring planting (replanting, really).
