Saturday, March 23, 2024
We made some bits of progress this week. It feels like ‘baby steps’, but it is progress. The nights have been too cold to allow us to move ahead with a ‘green light’. In fact, the cold mornings, caused me to wait until early afternoon on Thursday and Friday to run the sprayer in the wheat fields. Warmer nights would be preferred to apply the herbicide and growth regulator (Palisade)–plus a micronutrient copper, but the heavy growth of winter annual weeds in the wheat made it feel urgent to make the application. So, we sprayed in the afternoons when it was about 50ºF… and hope that the application will be effective. We were also constrained by the weather forecast which predicted high winds on Saturday and Sunday…and rain coming Monday night…all of which would not allow the sprayer to run. The wheat herbicide application for the entire wheat crop was completed yesterday evening. Check an important task off the “to do” list!
Spraying some pretty nice looking wheat near Wheatland on Thursday.
Brandon and John are running NH3 on the corn fields. The cold temperatures also hamper their progress, reducing the pressure in the ammonia tanks, slowing the flow to the applicators, and therefore, they must drive more slowly. But they have been moving ahead, trying to locate fields with dry enough soils to keep going.
John applies anhydrous ammonia (82%N) at the Pond farm Friday.
Every bit of work we can get done in March is kinda like a ‘bonus’, and should help us get the planters going sooner in April. And speaking of planters, the corn planter was delivered to the farm yesterday! Last piece of the puzzle is now in place.
Our friend Gene Williams pulled the new corn planter to deliver it here from the dealer at Ireland, Indiana on Friday afternoon.
We are delighted that the Purdue Boilermakers won their first game in the March Madness tourney. We are hoping this is their year for tourney success. They’ve had a wonderful, interesting, and fun season… but a team’s success is measured by how far they go in the NCAAs. Go Boilermakers!
Have a good weekend.
