Wednesday, May 21, 2014
This morning, I went down to the fields near Wheatland to mow the roadsides. I think it just looks better… like someone is paying attention… when the roadsides are mowed by our fields.
With the tall fescue grass mowed down along IN 550, entering Wheatland, Indiana from US 50 has a better appearance. Our soybean field, the Newman Triangle field, is there on the right. Those soybeans have a good appearance, and they are liking this weeks’ warmer weather.
Hopefully, this mowing today will hold for about a month, or until after wheat harvest, before we need to mow again. Probably two more mowings this summer will keep it looking okay.
Yesterday afternoon, we had Ray here from Wright-Stemle. One of the transmissions on the 1910 air cart had developed an oil leak, so Ray was here to fix it. He removed the gearbox-like transmission, and opened it up. He replaced the seals around the leaky shaft, and then reassembled the unit. Looks like there’s no oil leaking now! Thanks, Ray.
The two halves of the transmission gearbox lie open on the back end of the service truck. Ray is opening a package of gaskets and seals to stop the leak that had developed in that transmission. His repair was successful!
Shepards have moved in one bulldozer to the Lett farm project, and have begun their repair/construction work. They will move in more machines soon… a tile trencher, a couple more dozers, and perhaps a dirt pan. They will build new WASCoBs on Lett and the adjoining Watjen farms. We are hoping to plant behind them as they finish each field. They have construction or repair work in 4 of the 5 fields of these two farm locations.
The minor flood on White River is receding, and should return inside its banks tomorrow. I’m hoping that Saturday will allow me to go to Nellie and Huey and finish up that planting. It could take until after Memorial Day to fully dry, and if I have to wait until then… well, it is what it is. It would be nice to declare the planting process complete. The wonderful news of 2014 is that so far, there is no replanting to be done! In areas of the Waldo and Cox and Roberson farms that had some creek water stand on them for a couple days, the soybeans are coming through, and actually look OK! I’ve learned not to ‘count my chickens’ just yet about replanting. But so far, so good. During the wet spring/early summer of 2013, I can recall replanting hundreds and hundreds of acres of soybeans…. some for the 3rd time! Planting season lasted until July 15, 2013. I’d rather not repeat that experience.
Wheat looks good, it’s flowering, and if you are nearby you can catch the sweet aroma of the pollination taking place. It’s not quite as lovely a smell as the corn at tasseling, but it’s pretty nice… better than fresh-cut grass! Look for wheat harvest news in about 4 weeks.
