Thursday, September 14, 2023

The pace here seems slow this week.

But there are things happening.  A crew from Midwest Ag Services (MAS) at Rockport, Indiana are here this week to perform a repair on our wet grain tank.  The bottom ring sheets are being replaced, and a new inside slanted barrier put in place to keep grain from resting against the ring.  It will be better when it’s done.  They were a bit tardy in getting here to do this repair… John contacted them in March! But we are grateful they are here now, and that this repair will be complete before we begin harvesting corn on Monday.

This hopper tank will be in much better shape when the guys from MAS get done.

Ryan and I took the morning yesterday and spread out seed on the new waterway over at the Harry farm.  This is where Shepard Construction did the conservation work in July and August.  I had drilled rye over the waterway and the remainder of the field that was not planted to double-crop soybeans (DCB).  Ryan and I took turns with the hand-cranked seeder, walking along and spreading the fescue seed.  It went on pretty well, and we are hopeful that some gentle rains this fall will help the fescue get started and established.  My hope is to mow that waterway each summer to keep it clear from woody sprouts and other objectionable growth.  Also, to my surprise, much of the rye that was drilled several days ago has emerged and is growing!  I thought it was just too dry to get it started.   Not all of it is growing, but certainly more than I expected.  This is a good sign.

You can see some baby rye getting started here in the new waterway, and across the remainder of the field.

New employee Ryan takes a turn at cranking on the fescue seed.  Some gentle rains will be needed to get this growing.

We have purchased a new-to-us JD C12F corn head.  We spent yesterday afternoon making the calibrations and doing some small repairs.  The main drives on each end of the head seemed particularly noisy, and so the dealer provided some new chains and idler sprockets that were installed.  This did not diminish the noise as much as we had hoped.  We decided to run with it as is, and we have the assurance from the dealer (Hutson, Inc.) that they will make certain this header will perform as needed.   That assurance is definitely helpful.

We are going to start corn harvest on Monday.  The first day or two are always a bit tentative as we move into the harvest.  We are expecting the moisture content of the corn to be <25%.  If it is not, that will cause us to move ahead more slowly.  Even so, Bill Berry and Larry Corn will arrive here Monday when we go to the field.  We are looking forward to getting started.

In examining the earliest-planted soybeans, we are still several days away from cutting.   They seem to be maturing more slowly than in other years, but maybe that is just our impatience to get going!  We need to get the soybean acres around Wheatland harvested asap, for that is where we intend to plant our 2024 wheat crop.

The local electric utility (WIN Energy) crew came this morning to install a new meter base for the farm.  They had the power off here for a couple hours while they did their task.  They must have been doing some training also, for they brought 2 big bucket trucks and 5 pickups full of linemen!  It was a busy sight here this morning!  The power is now back on without a hitch.

The MAS guys brought a ‘cherry picker’ boom lift vehicle to assist their work on our wet bin.  When they are not using it, we have their permission to use it.  Brandon had it out early this morning placing some sealant around roof vents on most of the grain storage bins.  He also used it to do some painting on a structure that supports a conveyor high on our bin #10.

Brandon is doing some high-altitude painting

As the week winds down, we are appreciating the pleasant weather.  The nights are now cool, in the low 50s, and the days in the upper 70s to low 80s.  Really comfortable.  Perhaps the cooler days will slow the dry-down of the crops, but dry-down is occurring.  We would really appreciate a good rain.  The DCB are showing signs of drought stress and could use a good drink.  We will also need some rain to get the wheat started when we plant it at the end of September or early October.

Once we get going with harvest, I may not be posting as regularly here.  But if you’re on Twitter (or X as it seems to be now) you can find me @CarnahanDennis.

Have a lovely weekend.