Tuesday, January 9, 2024
Yes, it’s raining today, and the prediction is that it will continue throughout the day. I can’t remember when we had an all-day rain. If you look at the ponds and creeks around here, the water levels are very low. We have had rain occasionally for the past several months, but the amounts were always .5″ (13 mm) or less. So, to see it rain like this is quite welcome.
.73 (18mm) so far this morning, and it’s supposed to rain all day.
They guys are working in the shop today. The Tony truck (a Peterbilt) needs a U-joint replaced, and they are installing a JD M-modem so that we can track it on Operations Center. That will make 3 of the 4 trucks with those devices installed. Our Mack truck remains in the shop at VoMac in Vincennes, where they are repairing the ‘brain box’ that controls the engine. The box had to be sent off to the factory for a special kind of programming, because it has some years on it (a ’94 model). They guys here will install a modem in it when it returns home.
The modem will go somewhere under the dashboard in the Tony Truck
Brandon works on the U-joint.
Recently, the farm acquired the ownership of Ross’ house and adjacent garage. John spent yesterday installing electrical power in the 2-bay garage. He had to rent a trencher to bury the nearly 300 feet of wire. (the soil was dry all the way to the bottom of the trench) That went in nicely, and he made the necessary connections into a disconnect box in the garage. Soon, the folks from Overhead Door Company will install new garage doors with operators. And then, next summer, we will get this building a new coat of paint.
Our local South Knox girls’ basketball team is now ranked #2 in Indiana in Class 2A. This is the highest ranking ever in school history. Our nearby rival, North Knox is ranked #1 in 2A. It is probably a very rare thing to have two rural schools in the same county with these high rankings. The season ends in 2 1/2 weeks, and the tournament starts the last week of January. We are hopeful for a long tourney run for our girls, but they will have to get past NK in the sectional to do so…a big order!
Final score of last week’s SK girls game vs. the Washington Catholic Cardinals. I think this set a record for scoring in an SK girls game.
No trucks on the road on this rainy day. Shop and office work. Yesterday, I got sent the seed sizes for the 2024 soybean seed. With this seeds/pound information, I can begin to write planting prescriptions for the upcoming soybean planting season. The air drill does not count seeds, but it meters the seeds in pounds per acre. This requires a new prescription for each variety for each field. It’s not hard work, just tedious, and best accomplished in several short sessions, rather than hours and hours all at once. I guess I have my job set before me on this rainy day!
Here is the information I’ll use to write the planting prescriptions in Operations Center. Seeds/pound for each variety, fields, and the soil survey for each field with the productivity rating I’ve assigned for each soil type.
Here, I am currently writing a prescription for a field at the Steen farm near Wheatland… you can see the soil types…
The forecast is that the temperatures will plummet into the single digits by the weekend. We have a small chance of snow on Friday, and we hope that is what comes. A white blanket over the wheat fields would be a welcome thing. But temps in the teens are not as severe as something below zero… and we’re not predicted to get that low.
Purdue plays at Nebraska tonight. I have an elders meeting at church this evening, but I should be back home in time for game; it is the late one, starting at 9 eastern time. Purdue will have to play well to win at PBA.
Have a good week.
