Thursday, May 23, 2024

John is out spraying this morning, applying the post-emergence pass of herbicide to the earliest-planted corn fields.  He is quite careful in his applications; winds in excess of 10 mph limit what he will do.  And even if the wind is <10, he is quite cautious if it is blowing in an unfavorable direction near a homesite or a neighbor’s sensitive crops.  Still, he has been able to use big parts of 3 days this week to spray corn.  If he can get his goal for today accomplished, he will be caught up on the corn spraying, and be able to clean out his sprayer system and convert over to spray some post-emerge herbicide on soybeans.  Even if the fields that remain to be planted are still too soggy to do, he has been able to make good progress on his spraying tasks.

I have been hearing some reports of other farmers in other parts of Indiana who are wrapping up their #plant24.   That’s good news for them, but we are not able to wrap up just yet here.  I’m sure that day is coming.  We will try very hard to be ready for it!

Our yard is drying out now, and when I mowed this week, it didn’t make any muddy tracks.  But last week, oh, boy!  The mower was a mess when I got done.  After every mowing session, I blow off the clippings and other debris from the whole machine, then give it a good wash (especially the yellow wheels!).  That keeps our mower looking pretty good…maybe not quite #Andyclean, but pretty good.

Yeah, it needed a good cleaning!

There is a crew here today (finally) from DC Metal to do some repair on one wall of our shop.  We have noticed that this has not been solid or sturdy for quite some time.  They are peeling off the exterior siding, and they have discovered some termite damage.  No wonder it didn’t feel sturdy!  Those components are being replaced, and then a new steel skin will be fastened with screws into place.  This repair is needed and welcome today.  We’ve been waiting for months for this to happen.

Beginning to peel off the exterior wall.

The damaged boards are exposed, and are getting replaced.

Progress…

…almost done.

Brandon says he will go to the Huey farm this afternoon and plant what he can get of the last field of corn.  He will have to go around the muddy parts, and return there another day.  He says most of the soybean field just across the dirt road is too wet for the soybean planter.  Looks like I’ll spend another afternoon mowing roadsides with the bush hog.

Brandon is headed to the corn field this afternoon…

Three weeks until wheat harvest?   It is more yellow than green now…