Wednesday, March 16, 2022

Brandon is planning to start applying the first field of anhydrous ammonia (NH3) tomorrow.  NH3 is our source of nitrogen for our corn crop.  We have a meeting with a specialty crop consultant scheduled for the morning, and then Brandon will give it a go after that.  Many fields are just a bit ‘heavy’ yet, but he has found two that he will attempt tomorrow.  That will actually be the second bit of fieldwork for 2022, because yesterday, John ran the sprayer and applied a herbicide and growth regulator to the wheat crop.  By the way, the new sprayer tender trailer worked very, very well– a testimony to John’s thoughtful work through the winter to get it set up.

The CIH STX 420 Rowtrac is hitched up to the blue NH3 applicator bar–ready for tomorrow. You can also see that we have brought home the soybean air drill from its remote storage location.

John sprayed the wheat crop yesterday… it’s greening up really nicely. Looks good for mid-March.

We parked the sprayer tender trailer for easy access for the sprayer.   John just pulls up along the driver’s side of the trailer.

Also today, the first load of components for a new grain bin arrived.  John unloaded the bin sheets and parts of the unloader system and placed them inside a building– we certainly don’t want those bin sheets to get wet from any rain; that would damage the galvanized surfaces!

Greg, the delivery man from Kiesel Enterprises (the bin-building company) helps get the stacks ready for the forklift.  Brandon discusses the process with him.  Roof and flooring are coming tomorrow.

John takes a pallet of components to be placed into storage until the construction crew arrives.

It’s a beautiful spring-like day, 70ºF (21C).  The morning clouds have disappeared, and the skies are a clear and brilliant blue.

Busy things are on the horizon.   Great days.