Tuesday, June 5, 2018

John is out in the JD 4730 sprayer, hunting and pecking on places to apply post herbicide to soybeans.  He is working diligently to apply a blend of herbicides that includes Roundup Weathermax, Warrant, and Extendimax (dicamba).   The new label restrictions on the dicamba portion has him sometimes perplexed.  He has had occasions this week when he sprayed only a portion of a field, and marked it for a return when the wind direction was more favorable.  So, this June, it is a bit more complicated, but John is the kind of farmer who wants to get it exactly right… and be a good neighbor to the adjoining farmers.  He has communicated extensively with each one to understand what are the traits of the crops in adjoining fields.  And now he is working his way through not only the weed situation in our own fields, but also the label requirements to eliminate dicamba drift to any neighbor.

The crew is back from Montgomery Welding again today to install even more downspouts on the new leg.  The inner belt with buckets has been set in place, and it is operable.  We are confident this system will be functioning for our wheat harvest… only a couple weeks off.

The pipe to the number 4 bin is being lifted into place. It will be bolted into place at the top, then trimmed and fitted precisely to the #4 bin roof.

Brandon and I began yesterday to prepare the combines for wheat harvest.  The temperature never got out of the 70s, so it was really comfortable for doing that outdoors.  We worked on the JD S680 to install some filler-grates under the concave and some separator covers (12 of ’em) along the sides of the rotor.  The JD 640FD header required the installation of several lock-up bolts to make the cutterbar rigid.   To fully utilize the automatic header height in wheat, we will use the 3 ‘feeler’ sensors that we will unlock and drop into place as we enter each field.   We are still searching for a neighbor to bale up our straw, but if we find no takers, we will pull the choppers back into place on the rear of the combines, and chop and spread the straw.   It’s just easier to plant the double-crop soybeans (DCB) if the mat of straw is removed by baling.

We checked on the replanted acres from last Monday and Tuesday, and we are happy to report those beans are emerging and looking pretty nice.  The rain provided by tropical storm Alberto made the difference.

The soybean planter is ready for DCB and we have secured the needed seed for that.

We have many roadsides that are begging for the bush hog to come and make them look better.  That will probably not take place until after wheat harvest.

Pat and I had a pleasant time last Friday night when we met our son Ben in St. Louis and took in a Cardinals’ game.  It was great to be with Ben, even if the Cardinals had a lackluster night.  Ben is out there in StL for two full weeks of intensive training and testing– that is one of the next steps for him to move from First Officer to Captain for Republic Airways.   He is working very diligently to take that important step in his career as a pilot.

We attempted a ‘selfie’ after the game, out on Clark Street between the Stadium and Ballpark Village.

Brandon reports he had a successful weekend at a major horse show event in Cloverdale, Indiana .  And John and Ashley’s daughter Ella performed in her annual dance/cheer recital.  Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed that for sure.

Have a pleasant day…