Friday, January 26, 2024
Yes, we’ve had a warmer week. The week started pretty cold, with temps near zero, but the past few days have had highs over 50ºF! And for three days, we’ve had foggy, drizzly, rainy skies. Each day brought about .5″ (13mm) of precipitation. Of course, the snow is gone now, and we have some messy conditions around the farmyard and the lane. So, we’ve gone from many days of below-average temps to a string of above-average temps.
Brandon has taken a few loads of wheat to Evansville and several more loads of corn to GPC. His shiny Tony truck is not quite so shiny now. He drives very carefully in and out our lane and around the farmyard, but still even with that, his truck gets dirty. I think it is mostly road grime, and not road salt, and that’s a relief… we like to wash off that salty stuff as soon as possible. The forecast is for mostly steady temperatures in the 40s day and night.
Our wheat crop is showing signs of some stress from the below-zero weather. There was not sufficient snow cover to blanket it, so there is some ‘freezer burn’ on the tips of the leaves. It also will need the first pass of nitrogen applied as soon as we can travel across the fields. Looking forward to that application, and a boost to the wheat’s healthy green color.
The new JD combine has arrived at the dealer; the one we traveled to Moline for the “Gold Key” visit. It looks kind of strange with the single wheels on the front, and all the wheels on backwards. It will require the wheels and tires to be correctly installed. The dealer will also install a couple accessories for the unload system and some cameras. Once all those things are added, and the machine is set up for June’s wheat crop, it will be delivered here… hopefully in a couple weeks or so.
There are a few incremental improvements on this new combine compared to our 2019 model. But the backward-mounted tires make it look weird.
We are still awaiting the arrival of our corn planter. The dealer still reports that it should arrive at their place on March 15. If that really happens, it will be in plenty of time to complete the setup and get it delivered here before corn planting time. We have a plan B in place just in case there is an unforeseen delay to that planter getting here.
I’ll be assisting Brandon today to load his truck with corn for GPC. I think he has only 3 loads to deliver today. It’s a gray day, but it’s not raining today.
John is bringing in a construction dumpster next week. He is going to go through the shop, seed shed, and another outbuilding to clear away some of the ‘stuff’ that will never get used. You know, sometimes you just stack stuff aside thinking, “I may use that or need that someday.” But in reality, you never do. It’s high time for a purging! It’s going to be a big job, but once it’s done, it will be a wonderful improvement! It has been years since we’ve undertaken this kind of clean-up. I’m looking forward the the result.
Have a great weekend.
