Tuesday, August 12, 2014
We met this morning on-site at the Lett farm with Greg Anthis of Crop Production Services (CPS). We discussed the strategy for the cover crops on the Lett and Watjen farm locations. After the conservation construction work there this spring, there is a special challenge for the establishment of cover crops this fall, especially for the hillside on Lett, where the corn planting was delayed into June. The harvest will surely be pushed back to near November, which will delay the planting of cover crops. We determined that we would attempt the cover crop planting in two stages: first we will fly on the cover crop seed on Watjen and most of Lett; second, we will plant the hill at Lett post-harvest. The cover crop that we will have flown on will likely be a mixture of radishes, cereal rye, and/or spring oats. The hill of Lett is where the bulk of the conservation construction took place in late May/early June. It will need some disking of the soil after the corn is harvested to smooth the surface. Immediately after that, we will plant wheat for the cover crop. Greg will communicate this plan to the folks at the Natural Resources and Conservation Service (NRCS) who are our partners in this effort to improve these fields and protect the soil.
We are still very much newcomers to cover crop management, so meetings like the one this morning help us get up-to-speed.
Yesterday, John and Brandon spent much of the day servicing the semi-trucks, preparing them for harvest time. They worked on the Pete and the red stripe Mack. The Vision and Vanna (our name for the ’96 white Mack CH) will be in the shop soon. The engine oil was changed, the chassis were greased, and the brakes adjusted. They should be ready to bring in the 2014 crop in just a few weeks.
School started this morning at South Knox, a few days behind the other schools in the area. There was no fog to cause a delayed start. It’s a beautiful, cool morning, and they say we’re heading for a high temperature of 75ºF. Feels like September, not August.
