Tuesday, March 29, 2022
For the past 3 nights now, we’ve had a low temperature of 27ºF (-3C). This causes some concern about the condition of the wheat crop… we are getting to the stage of growth where freezing can cause severe damage. We have our Nutrien advisor checking it out, and our Dyna-Grow wheat consultant from Kentucky will be evaluating it soon. They are both relatively optimistic, but the exact condition will need specific examination early next week. We will know more for certain then. Meantime, tomorrow’s temperature is predicted to soar to 75ºF (24C), and then by the weekend, highs will be back down in the 40s. The temperature is like riding a roller coaster! We experienced some minor damage to wheat a few years ago when we got some frosty weather in mid-April, but we have never lost a crop… yet. Until we get better information next week, we will keep our optimism that it will turn out all right.
Wheat from this morning. Looks okay at the moment, but next week we will cut into the stems to examine the growing point of the plant. That will show us the true condition.
The wet weather of last week still keeps us from resuming field work this week. But we are working on some more equipment. The JD 9360R tractor came home yesterday from the dealer’s shop, and with it we brought back home the JD 2510H applicator bar. We had taken it to the dealer’s lot last summer when we traded it for a new anhydrous ammonia applicator. But, that new one is delayed, and a “build date” is not even on the calendar. So, we will utilize the old one once more. John is prepping it, attaching it to the JD 9520R tractor and making all the necessary electronic and hydraulic connections. It does take a while to get it “set up”. It will be ready when the fields are dry enough to return to work.
Now that all the wires and hoses are connected, John is setting up the screen in the cab with the appropriate run pages. He is also downloading the prescriptions that control the variable rates of application for each field. Those prescription maps are sent wirelessly from the office computer to the tractor.
Rain is predicted for tonight and tomorrow. If the meteorologists have it wrong, as they sometimes do, and we miss the rain, we could probably return to applying NH3 by Thursday. That would be good. As it nears April, it begins to feel more urgent to get going!
Another factor affecting our decisions is the late-in-the-calendar-date of Easter. April 17 is later than any Easter in my memory. Ross’s birthday is April 15, and to have Easter occur after his birthday seems really late. It is rare that we get much of the field work done before Easter, and so we are probably looking at late April into May to do our planting.
I recall the spring of 2012. We got a lot of work done in March, and we finished all the planting by April 13. We thought we had really hit a ‘home run’ with that early planting. But it turned out that the summer became the ‘great drought of 2012’. That was the lowest yielding crop in my farming experience… now covering 47 years! Yeah, this will be the 47th crop in my farming career. After all those years, you’d think I’d be better at this job!
Plans are underway for Easter Sunday at our church, Wheatland Christian. Again, there will be an early “sunrise” service, a fellowship breakfast, and then special event during the regular morning service. We are looking forward to what our Maker has in store for us that day!
Gotta take time today to service the mowers… they will likely back in action by the weekend. Mowing will make it feel more like springtime has arrived!
