Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Well, we started the year off in a good way, when this morning, I went into the office of our internet/email provider… and the owner himself set to work to get our email going again. We access our internet wirelessly by connecting to one of Towerbridge Technology’s network of tower antennas scattered across the region. We had been experiencing an ‘outage’ of email connection, both on desktop office computers and our iPhones–anything that had an address “@carnahanandsons.com”. Mr. Trotter even went the extra mile to come directly to the farm office to make certain our settings were in sync with the system! Even though I was disappointed not to have email for over a week, it was nice that we got reconnected today. So, if you’ve been emailing us, now we can respond. Boy, oh boy, do we get dependent on having email. I was beginning to think the Russians had taken it over!
I also got notice today that the new soybean planter has arrived at the dealer in Vincennes, Alliance Tractor. We placed the order for that machine back in July… with the downturn in the farm equipment business, you’d think that John Deere could have cranked out this new machine sooner! There is a special accessory that goes on the fill conveyor that has not arrived, so it is not ready for delivery here to the farm just yet. With that accessory, I should be able to fill this air cart from a hopper-bottom trailer, not the old orange 10-wheeler we’ve used for years. I’m looking forward to this new machine, for it is equipped with section control! That should result in some significant savings (8-9%) on seed costs. The old drill, even though it was a 2013 model, could not be ‘retro-fitted’ with the section control system. And the seed opener systems on the previous drill were quite worn. These improvements will result in a better “stand” of beans, and some savings, too. How many weeks until that new machine goes to work? 11? 12? 13? The weather will tell us.
John was at the dealer to pick up a part for the 9360R tractor, and he snapped this picture and texted it to me. This is a 2017 JD 1910 air cart (350 bushel capacity) with 50-foot 1890 NT drill. This will plant 60 rows with each pass. We will be pleased to get this thing home and under roof as soon as practical.
The last of the 2016 soybean crop is being delivered this week to ADM in Newburgh, IN. It’s a happy and sad thing all at the same time. Good that the bins are swept clean, but bad that there are not more soybeans to sell!
We started the day with a thick fog and 51ºF (11C). It has been raining off-and-on (mostly on) through the day. The temperature is on the decline, and predicted to bottom out at 25ºF (-4C) tonight. To tell the truth, I’d prefer the temp go down in the 20s and stay there for several weeks. Frozen soil makes for cleaner and firmer farm roads and farmsteads. But, we do not get to choose, we only get to work around whatever comes.
Basketball is moving on apace, our South Knox HSBB team plays at Princeton tonight. I won’t be able to make the trip down there, for I have an elders’ meeting at church. But I’ll tune into the radio broadcast as soon as I can!
Hope you’re fitting 2017 into your life in an easy manner by now.
