Friday, October 2, 2026
It’s a drizzly morning after a rainy night. The clouds make the sky gray, and the temperature is much a cooler 66ºF (19C) today. We received .82″ (21mm) of rain during the night. It was welcome. We had a good week of work cutting soybeans. This rain will be perfect to launch the newly-planted wheat.
It was great weather, sunny and warm, to harvest soybeans this week. We got all (well, all but one) the fields designated to go to wheat ‘uncovered’. We then were able to go to the fields near White River and cut much of those acres. It felt especially good to finish off the Freddie farm, our most distant location, about 13 miles away.
At 7pm last evening, we pulled back into the main farm with the combines and grain cart. We had finished harvesting the last of early-planted fields of soybeans–even the ones down along White River. The damage was less severe to those flood plain fields than I expected. Of course, there are acres of beans we had to ‘cut around’ that we replanted (some flood plain fields had as many as 3 replant sessions). And there were drowned-out dead areas. But those that we did harvest were not bad. I think the average will be near 60+ for the acres we cut– much better than the zero that might have been! After 4 flood events this summer, our expectations were quite low, but we had a nice surprise! I estimate that we can return there to finish off cutting the remaining replanted soybeans in about 10 days.
I really like it when Pat can bring me a nice home cooked meal to the field at noon.
I can get a pretty clear view of the header when the wind is blowing towards me…
But if the wind is at your back, it’s hard to see; that’s when you rely on your AutoTrac and the combine’s warning systems…
Opening up a field at Steen…
Early cutting at the Nellie farm. At the far end of the field, you can see our levee, which is right on the bank of White River…
Larry had a good week planting the 2027 wheat crop, which he has now done for more than 50 years! Our local Nutrien dealer blends the wheat seed into the granular fertilizer and then broadcast the mixture across the fields. Following that, Larry runs our JD 266oVT vertical tillage tool to incorporate the blend into the soil. After experimenting and learning about the workings of the 2660VT last year, John and Larry settled on a working depth of 3 inches, and that made the fields look beautiful behind him. He has over 600 acres of wheat planted, with only one 115-acre field to go. We must go back to that field to cut the late-replanted soybeans before he can plant it.
Larry works at the Herman field…
Today, the guys are busy delivering corn to GPC at Washington and soybeans to ADM at Newburgh. They’re busy. John is clearing out the corn from the grain dryer, and keeping the overhead load-outs filled. I’ve had a bit more office work today because it’s payday for the employees. And the monthly Nutrien bill just came in.
The JD RD40F header needs some parts installed into the feed drum. I’ve had some ‘fingers’ break off when there has been a chunk of wood slip into the header and ram into the feed drum in the middle. If you examine that video above, you can understand why I don’t always see the debris that may make its way into the header! The summer flooding floated in some wood debris… chunks that can cause this trouble. The one I remember the most this week was about 8″ in diameter and 4′ long! Oh, how I wish I had seen it before it banged into the feed drum!
As we drive by our double-crop soybean (DCB) fields, we see the first indication of the leaves turning from green to yellow. It will be wonderful if we can get to them this month, rather than in November. You can never predicted SWIN weather in November. It can be sunny and beautiful, or it can be gray and damp and unproductive. The more we can get done by the end of October, the better!
Today’s rain is welcome. It gives us a little break from the field work, lets us do some little repairs that we’ve put off, and it gives us a chance to make some much-needed grain deliveries.
We met with our crop advisor this morning. He was hand-delivering the invoices for the wheat that was planted in September. (Since the location is nearby, he’d rather bring them to us than put them in the mail…to make certain they arrive here…on time). He says the fertilizer prices have stabilized somewhat. He will be assembling the annual spreadsheets that show the recommended analysis for each field, along with the associated cost. We will use that as a basis for creating the fertility plan for 2027 corn and soybeans. October and November are very busy planning months. It’s 60 days to the new year, but most of the 2027 wheat crop is in the ground, and planning for next summer’s crops is underway. The cycle never stops.
I started the number crunching today with our 2027 costs per bushel. The numbers are more defined for wheat than for corn or soybeans. Soon, better numbers for fertility and crop protection chemistry will come in from our crop advisor at Nutrien. With those we can refine the cost figures and make some determinations about 2027 crop planning. We try very hard to nail down the cost numbers so that it makes marketing more confident.
Have a wonderful weekend!
