Friday, September 13, 2024
Hurricane Francine has finally reached southern Indiana.
This morning we are receiving a nice, gentle rain, .79″ (20 mm) so far. We are so grateful for this rain, for we haven’t had any appreciable rain since July. It was so very dry that the county banned burning. But this will help in three ways: 1. It reduces the fire danger. 2. It will help the double-crop soybeans (DCB) finish off. and 3. It will help when we are planting our 2025 wheat crop; there should be moisture now to get it off to a good start. Thank you, Lord, for this rain.
We started our fall harvest on Wednesday, and we had two really fine days of work. We started in corn, and the yields seem a tick better than 2023. The moisture was 16-19%. Then, yesterday, we switched over to cutting soybeans… we should have started sooner… the moisture level in the beans ran 8-10%! But it really feels good to get started and the rain today is a plus.
The two S780s are poised Wednesday morning to start #harvest24!
Wednesday in corn:
Yesterday in soybeans:
Working right at home yesterday, I stopped and went in the house for lunch!
New team member Brandon D is operating the grain cart. He has done quite well. It’s a hard job to serve two 12-row combines in corn, but he kept us going. And, best of all, he made no spills to clean up!
Having two combines that are the same is a plus. We can share AutoTrac lines which makes for more efficient soybean harvesting. Plus, this year, we have adopted a new JD technology called “AutoPath”. This puts down a digital record of the passes of the corn planter, and then it creates guidance for the combines when we harvest. When you make a ‘breakthrough” to start through a field, AutoPath guides you into the correct row, so that when you finish out, there are no “rows of shame” left over… you’re harvesting a full 12 rows each time! We are really pleased with AutoPath to harvest corn.
Larry Corn is back with us again this fall for his 57th year on this team. His experience and his cooperative spirit are so very helpful.
Have a lovely weekend! Enjoy the rain!
