Saturday, September 14, 2013

The die is cast.  Ross has assured me that our combines will get going on Monday.  It’s an exciting thing to anticipate harvest, especially when we believe that the yields will be above average.  Some of the experts were predicting in July and August a record corn crop for Indiana.  Our expectations are not that high, but we do expect a good crop.

We plan to begin at the Cresy farm, in the first corn field that Ross planted.  If I remember right, that was April 23.  The next corn planting was on April 30… bean planting started on May 2.  I think some of those may be ready to cut next week.  We will change over at the first opportunity to harvest soybeans, for it must be a good weather day to conduct soybean harvest.  This principle applies:  if we have both corn and soybeans ready the same day, (and if the weather is sunny and dry) the soybeans will take priority over the corn.

The first day of harvest is typically a slow one, as we discover some little things we could not foresee.  Some would call it “working the bugs out”.  The yield recording systems on the combines will need to be calibrated, so that will take some extra time.   Our preventive maintenance has improved over the years, and the slowness of a first day may not be too bad this time.  Monday, we’ll know.

The temperature this morning sure feels like fall.  We awoke to a reading of 48F (9C).  Afternoon is predicted in the 70s, and the skies are a cloudless, bright blue.  I know the calendar does not get to ‘autumn’ until the 22nd, but by the ‘look and feel’ of the morning, it has arrived 8 days early.

To all the other farmers out there, may your harvest be a good one… and safe.