Sunday, September 28, 2014

We are using this afternoon to harvest corn.  John says this will help him meet the scheduled deliveries of corn to GPC at Washington early in October.  The moisture levels have improved appreciably… now 17-18%.  The recent dry and warm weather have been beneficial!  You can tell the corn is drier by the sound of it running through the combine.  There’s a certain “ch-ch-ch-ch…” sound it makes… and that is a welcome sound.

This has been an amazing week, weather-wise.  The bright blue skies, warm temperatures, and dry conditions have allowed us to harvest soybeans Monday through Saturday, and deliver them directly to market to cover our forward contracts.  We are grateful for the excellent harvest conditions that promote ease of combining.  It also makes it easier to locate the trucks in the field near the combines, increasing the harvest time efficiency.

Here, the JD S680 combine gathers and threshes a 40-foot swath of soybeans. The soybean variety is Asgrow 3731.

Also today, Larry Corn is here, preparing the fields at the home farm for the application of the 2015 fertilizer and a cover crop of wheat.  He is smoothing the areas of erosion created in the spring/summer downpours.  The cover crop will protect the precious soil from further erosion.  That application will occur tomorrow.

We will return to soybean harvest on Monday.  We are grateful for these beautiful days of fall in southwest Indiana.