Thursday, February 8, 2024

The S780 combine came into the shop today to get washed.  It is certainly warm enough (61ºF, 16ºC) to wash outside, but oh, the wind is so strong!  So, after Brandon had completed the compressed air cleaning, he has it inside today to do the washing part.  He will have it sparkling like new when he is done.  It will qualify as certified #Andyclean!

Brandon is just getting started. But by tonight, it will be ‘like new’!

Yes, we use #Andyclean soap for our clean-ups here!

Bill took two loads of corn to ADM at Newburgh today.  I got to assist him by doing the loading from #3 overhead load-out bin.  I thought the corn really looked nice filling up that Wilson trailer.

Sure looks nice going into the truck today…

Nutrien got started yesterday applying the first pass of two applications of nitrogen to our 2024 wheat crop.  They ran out of daylight yesterday, and today, they discovered 3 fields that were still too soft (muddy) to drive across.  We are hoping that those can be completed early next week.  We are using a special liquid nitrogen formula called NexBlu-S, which is approximately 28% N, and it a few pounds of sulfur.  They are also adding a biologic additive called Blackmax-22 that increases the ability of the soil to make the nutrients readily available to the wheat plants.   Also, in certain fields, they are including a tiny amount of Boron.  Greg from Nutrien has recently taken tissue samples of the wheat plants, and after analysis, it helps inform what each wheat field requires for best production.  It is all very prescriptive, depending on what each field needs.

Zach does an excellent application job here at the Steen farm.  You can see the dark-colored streams of N coming out of the nozzles, feeding this wheat crop.

More corn will be going out tomorrow.