Saturday, April 14, 2018
As I listen to the sound of gentle rainfall outside, I’m thinking a bit of our day yesterday. It was good in most ways, and typical of a ‘first day’ in the field. The windy and warm conditions of recent days allowed us to begin nitrogen applications here at the home farm. Ross started first, and he ran with no hesitation, moving along all day and into the night.
Ross makes his way in the first field of NH3 application for 2018
I was operating the 9360R with a field cultivator ahead of the applicators, to smooth some of the erosion ruts that develop over the year on these old hills. While I did that, I was evaluating the effectiveness of the strips of oats we planted last fall to reduce erosion. It was not perfect, but I think it was helpful and worth the effort. So, we will plan to repeat that this fall.
I watched as John moved into the field, and then saw him stop. The malfunction puzzled him, and I could see he was on the phone. This applicator’s rate controlling system is made by Capstan, and called an “N-Ject” system. Chris from Capstan was very helpful with running down the source of the problem. What they discovered was that mice had chewed into a wiring harness inside one of the two protected boxes on his applicator bar. The wires were in good enough shape to function as needed when John performed his pre-check and testing, but they were not adequate to power the full in-field function.
Here is where the mouse damage was done. The only mice we like live at Disney.
He spent some more time on the phone, and with the help of Chris, found the necessary cables and connectors to replace the mouse-eaten mess. It took a while to collect the necessary parts, with most coming by hand-delivery by Chris, who came from the N edge of Tennessee! John was able to start his field work about 3 pm, and he was very pleased with the rest of the day’s work.
Once he got going, John’s day went pretty well.
The new (to us) 9520R tractor had no problem handling the hills
They were able to nearly finish the application on this home farm. We stayed in the field a little later than we may have otherwise because 100% rain was in the forecast.
I ended the day with a blown hydraulic hose on the field cultivator. As I had just finished my last pass of the last field, I was pulling out into a grass waterway to make my way up the hill, past the old silo, and into the farm lot. As I lifted the implement, I noticed oil spraying out. It was in one of the ‘raise’ hoses in the middle. I left the machine sitting in the waterway and walked home. When Brandon came by after one of his NH3 tank-shuttling runs to CPS (3 miles away), he went with me to help get the chocks under the lift cylinders of the tool. Thus, we were able to ‘limp home’. It’s backed into the shop this morning to replace that short section of hose. They’ll go to a local supplier and have one made.
Out of the morning rain, the field cultivator will get its needed repair this morning.
There’s the replacement hose that’s been made this morning. Soon, the field cultivator will be good as new.
All in all, not a bad ‘first day’. If we can get about 4 more like today or better, we can complete this NH3 task, and move to #plant18! There is still some hope that some of the planting can occur in April.
We were awakened about 4 am with the sound of thunder. The rain was beating against the windows pretty hard, but that pounding eased soon. We still have lingering sprinkles this morning, and it is a bit cooler out there. But the strong rain did not damage any of the fresh-worked soil areas I smoothed yesterday. Good.
Property tax bills have started to arrive. Looks like most places are just bare farm land, the assessed valuation declined, but the overall bill has increased slightly. The recent Indiana property tax changes are shifting the bill away from agricultural land to other property types. Last year, the bill actually went down compared to 2016. We understand the the A/V of farm land will decline again in 2018-pay-2019. These tax changes were a response to the recent sharp decline of farm profitability after the surges in land values in the previous years. I really do believe it is helping.
We hope your weekend is pleasant. Tomorrow is Ross’ birthday!
