One warm day

Posted on December 4, 2024 by casifarm

Wednesday, December 4, 2024

We’ve had some really cold nights, but today is an exception.  Right now, it is 47ºF (8C), and it is predicted to plunge into the teens tonight!  In any event, the snow is now all melted away, and the lane and farm lot are kinda messy… just as it happens every time a snow melts away.  But if it really does get down that cold tonight, all that mess will harden and the lane will become dry again.

A nice, relatively warm day, but the wind is picking up…

The trucks are busy today with delivering loads of corn to GPC at Washington and soybeans to ADM at Newburgh.  They drive very slowly in and out the lane, but the county and main roads are clean and dry.

John is working to keep the overhead load-out bins filled and ready for the truck drivers.

It is a sunny and pleasant day in SWIN, but we are prepared for the temps to dive down tonight!

 

 

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Flip the calendar page

Posted on December 2, 2024 by casifarm

Monday, December 2, 2024

Well, we’ve entered the last month of 2024.  The calendar pages seem to flip pretty quickly.  We had our first snow on Saturday evening, and it’s still there this morning.  Looks nice.   But it will likely melt by Wednesday.

It wasn’t a big snow, but it was pretty.

The guys are going to be out in the trucks this week, delivering the corn and soybeans for the December contracts.  Even with the snow, the roads are clear, and the lane will be okay too, as long as it’s frozen.

A load of soybeans headed out to ADM at Newburgh…

Pat and I welcomed a new granddaughter last Monday, the 25th.   Emmeline Philippa Carnahan was born to Ben and Kierstin.  I got to see her on Tuesday, and Pat is up there helping them through these first days of parenthood.  This Christmas will be a bit extra-special with little Emmy around!

 

Happy Grandpa

Happy Grandma

I dragged the Christmas tree up outta the basement, and got it set up and decorated.  A few other decorations came up, too.  It just takes a little longer to do all that these days…I’m slower!  But the final result wasn’t bad, and it’ll be all (well, almost all) done when Pat returns home.

Took me a while, but I got it done!

I’m working on the cash flow for 2025.  I began that in September, but now I can refine it with more accurate, post-harvest numbers for inventory.  We can now define the cost numbers fairly well.

It’s quite cold out there this morning, 16ºF (-9C).  The little bit of snow, 2-3 inches, will help protect the wheat from the cold.  It acts like a white blanket of protection.

Brrr! The best thing is that the wind is calm. I don’t mind the cold if the wind is not blowing. But if it’s windy, have mercy!

As we enter the Christmas season, it’s good to remember why Christmas is important.  Our Savior came.  PTL!

Have a good week.

 

 

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Special Video

Posted on November 25, 2024 by casifarm

We were honored to be included in the production of a video to promote Knox County, Indiana Agriculture.   This effort was the work of our local Knox County Indiana Economic Development Corporation, in conjunction with The Pantheon, a local business incubator.

They hired a gifted local media specialist, Aaron Pea, to create this production.  I think he did a pretty nice job!

John is the narrator of the county fair portion, as well as the final section on ‘heritage’.

I have to admit, I got a bit misty-eyed at that last part.

Take 4 minutes and give it a look…

 

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Late November the pace slows a bit

Posted on November 25, 2024 by casifarm

Monday, November 25, 2024

Pat and I returned last Monday evening from a week down at Disney.  We had the best time, enjoying the Christmas decorations, some rides, and great restaurants.  We even attended two after-hours parties, one at Hollywood Studios, and the other at Magic Kingdom.  The “Jollywood Nights” party at the Studios was great fun.  There was an ice-skating show, (yes, ice skaters in Florida!), several music venues, fireworks, special event stage shows, and really cool snack choices.  We thoroughly enjoyed that evening. We dressed in 1940s style for the JN party.

Jollywood Nights was fun

A couple nights later was the “Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party” in the MK.  We’ve attended that one several times in the past, and this one was just as special as any other MVMCP.  Great stage shows, a fabulous Christmas parade, and holiday snacks are offered.  Plus the fireworks for that event are even bigger than what they do on the 4th of July!  We had a delightful time at Disney once again.

Entering MVMCP.

My favorite part of the “Once Upon a Christmastime” parade.

Sitting on the curb on Main Street, USA at MK to wait for the fireworks

We like Epcot,too!

Back home this week, we have been preparing for the end of the farm’s fiscal year on November 30.  We had a lengthy meeting with our accounting firm on Tuesday, and now we are prepared with a strategy for finishing out the year in a proper way.  The final results were a bit better than we anticipated at this time a year ago, and we again anticipate that one year from now, it will likely be a somewhat tighter financial picture.  But this year we celebrate the results, and express our gratitude for the way the year has turned out.  And a lot can change over the next 12 months!

Yesterday, I used the warm (60ºF 16C) and sunny afternoon to no-till some rye on top of areas where Dustin Hatton ran his bulldozer to repair terraces, and build a new WASCoB.  Was it perfect?  No, but almost.  Is it late in the year to get the rye started?  Yes, but it will eventually sprout and provide some protection to the soil in those areas.  I got that task at the Ross and Huey farms wrapped up before dark, cleaned out the box of the drill, and brought it back home.

Working at the Ross farm, the soil was in better “plant-able” condition than I might have expected. So, we got it done!

Today, the guys got the little 1560 NT drill cleaned up and stored away for the season.  In doing so, they also got the 6145R its final wash, along with the 9R540.   They look pretty sharp when they are clean and shiny.  I hope they pass the #Andyclean test.  The new building provides us plenty of room to make sure all our machines are under cover for the winter.  One final machine is yet to go into storage. Our R4044 sprayer is at Sloan’s in Vincennes to be inspected and winterized.  Then, it will come home and get placed inside the new building.

The 9R 540 is shiny and stored away for the season.

The 6145R is also shiny and ready for the winter

The new JD 2633VT tool narrowly fit inside this older (1970s) building today. It’s great to have it under roof! I thought we may need a shoe-horn to get it to slide in there!

I got the yard mowed at home today, just before lunch.  It was looking a little shaggy, and I was happy to get it trimmed up one last time before cold weather.   Yes, cold weather is coming by the end of the week.  60º (16ºC)  today, highs at freezing on Friday!   Nights are predicted at 15ºF (-9º C).  Brrr.   But the calendar tells us that cold weather is not an unusual thing.  Late November can be bright, warm, and sunny, but it can also be gray, drizzly, and cold.

I got that ‘last mow’ done before it rained this afternoon, and before the really cold weather arrives.

We anticipate a happy Thanksgiving this year.  One special thing this year is a new granddaughter coming any day now. (maybe even today!).  As always, we have so many reasons to express thanks to God for our blessings, and it will even more special this Thanksgiving.  It is my goal that this attitude of gratitude is not just a one-day event, but that it becomes a regular part of my daily life.  1 Thessalonians 5:18.

Have a good week.

 

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Clean up continues

Posted on November 11, 2024 by casifarm

Monday, November 11, 2024

Veterans’ Day 2024.  It is a day my mom called ‘Armistice Day’.  I’m not sure when the title changed, but it is an important day to remember… to salute those who have served the country in our military.  I had an uncle and cousin who served as MPs in the Army.  My BIL was in the Navy.  Our family’s participation in the US military is perhaps rather limited, but our appreciation for those men and women is not limited.  We celebrate and honor them today.

Grain deliveries continue.  The GPC contracts for early November are filled, and now a contract of corn must be delivered to ADM in Newburgh.  The two Brandon’s just returned from their first trip there this morning (takes about 3 hours to make the round trip).  Now, they are working on the final touches of washing the older S780 combine in the shop.  They will have that shining like new by the end of the day.  I think it’s their goal to get that completed today.  After this combine, only the 9R540 and the 6145R tractors remain to get shined up.

The older S780 is just about ready to come out of the shop after its clean-up

Ray from Hutson’s is here today to replace the reverser gearbox on the feeder house of the new S780.  It was sorta cantankerous all during harvest, hesitating to return to normal after running the feeder house/header backwards to clear an obstruction.  He was here initially to replace some inner shifting mechanisms and forks inside the original gearbox.  That repair was unsuccessful, so Deere has recommended that he replace the entire reverser with a new one.  (Sure glad that one is paid for by warranty!).   When finished, he will test run it with a corn head attached.  It should be just fine when he gets done.

Ray is a great mechanic.

Th local economic development organization is developing new promotional materials for Knox County, Indiana.  Among the agricultural portion of that, they wanted to highlight a farm family.  We were chosen for that, and they sent a photographer to the field one afternoon to capture some pictures.  Here are a few of them.

Pat and me

John and Ashley
Kate, Molly, and Ella

Emily, Hudson, and Brandon.

and here’s a group photo of the team that was in the field that day…

added into this picture is Brandon Dreiman and Larry Corn

The photographer shot lots of stills and video to use in his creative project.  It was kinda neat to be involved.

We have an unusual thing happening here this fall.  The azaleas are blooming again!  I’ve never seen this happen in the fall before, but I really enjoy it.

No, it’s not May, it’s November!

Lookin’ good!

Thanksgiving is rapidly approaching, and we have many reasons to express our thanks to God.  Pat and I have another granddaughter that is coming that week, and we are eager to meet her!  It’s going to be an extra-special holiday season this year!

Have a great week.

 

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Many projects in November

Posted on November 4, 2024 by casifarm

Monday, November 4, 2024

It’s a gray and windy old November day, but there is a lot of activity today at Carnahan & Sons.  The two Brandons are currently delivering corn to GPC, but they are also engaged in washing up the equipment.  Currently in the shop is the older S780 combine, just at the beginning stages of getting washed.  It has already been blasted with compressed air, getting the big chunks off before it gets wet.  The newer S780 is now completely clean, it looks like new, and it would certainly qualify as #Andyclean!   It has been parked in the new building, ready for the winter.

Loading the Pete for the next trip to GPC

The Tony truck is ready to pull away on its next trip

The older S780 is ready for its turn to be washed.

Brandon D did a fabulous job washing the newer S780, and it is now stored away in the new building.

We have Dustin Hatton at work with his bulldozer and excavator at the Dunn farm, repairing a grass waterway.  There has been a sharp erosion take place there over the past few seasons, and he is going to make it look good again.  He will also do similar work at the Ross farm and also at Huey.  When he gets ready for it, I’ll take the little JD 6145R tractor and old 1560 NT drill to plant some rye on any soil that he has disturbed, hoping to protect it from erosion this winter.

Looks like Dustin will soon be ready for me to plant some rye on this waterway project

We have made our hybrid and variety seed selections for 2025 corn and soybeans.  We met with our representatives last Thursday.  It took about 3 hours of discussions to arrive at a final plan.   Some hybrids of corn will cost a bit more than 2024, but overall our seed expense for ’25 will go down a tiny bit.  Every little nick in costs helps the cause.

Much of the fertilizer for 2025 corn and soybeans has already been applied.  A few fields were slower to get the soil test results back, but those are now on hand, and most of the remaining fields can now be applied.  Nutrien is working on that today.  That is also costing a bit less per acre than in 2024

Tomorrow, we will be working at the local polls in support of John who is a candidate for South Knox School Board.  I held that office for 5 terms, but retired from that in 2016.   I am confident he will be a good school board member, willing to do whatever it takes to be prepared and knowledgeable in that role.  It could be kinda unpleasant for John’s volunteers (including his mom and me) to stand outside the polling places tomorrow… the weather is forecast to be very windy (like today) but with the added challenge of rain!  Even so, we will greet the voters tomorrow on John’s behalf.   His is one of the very few contested races in Knox County.  The ‘early voting’ turnout has reportedly been pretty big already.

Have a good week, and if you haven’t already, go vote tomorrow.  I’m the kind of guy that prefers to vote on election day, and I plan to do so early tomorrow morning.

The sunsets here have been extra-special here for the past several days.

Friday evening

 

 

 

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Clean-up has begun

Posted on October 29, 2024 by casifarm

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

The great post-harvest clean-up has begun.  It takes a few days’ work to get the machines and trucks back into like-new appearance.  And the combines especially this fall were so very dirty, you really couldn’t tell they are John Deere green.. they are black from the tar-spot-dust of the corn.  The unusually warm days this week (80ºF+) are helpful when we wash equipment.  Rain is predicted for Thursday, and cooler days after that.  If it gets too chilly to wash outside, the machines can be brought inside the shop to scrub and wash.  The compressed air cleaning is already done.

Near the end of corn harvest, the combines were a nice shade of black.

Brandon has turned his attention to the headers, first removing debris with compressed air, then washing with a brush and soapy water.  He has serviced the Tony truck, preparing it for the winter grain delivery season.   Brandon D is in the Pete, delivering grain this week… corn in the mornings, and soybeans in the afternoon.  John has worked for two complete days washing the grain dryer.  He is very thorough in his cleaning of the dryer, and that will extend its useful life significantly.

Brandon scrubs the RD40F header with a soapy brush, the last step to cleaning it before storing it away for the winter.  The MacDon header was next.

The RD40F washed and stored

It is SO windy today, that Brandon opted to wash the Demco 1322 grain cart inside the shop.

JHD 9520R tractor is getting washed inside the shop today.

I have done some work with the JD R15 bush hog and I have also taken some time to repair tile risers that are broken.  I zip-tie the broken parts back together, in hopes of getting them to last a while longer.  It has worked okay so far.  I’m also working in the office, preparing information for our fiscal year end on 11/30.  All those projections take a long while to define and refine.

On Thursday, we will meet with our seed salesman along with the area Bayer rep to decide about our line up of seed choices for next year’s corn, soybeans, and DCB.

The post-harvest period from now until the end of November is a bit packed with activity, but not as hectic or pressure-filled as harvest itself.  This harvest started on September 11 and wrapped up on October 24.  Six weeks and one day, with only two days of rain delays.  We worked no Sundays.  It feels good to have harvest behind us.  Soybean yields were below our trendline, we think due to the very dry August.  But the corn gave us the best yield ever.  Plus, over 80% of our corn crop was dry enough at harvest to go directly to market or to our storage. (we had corn as low at 14% moisture in the field!)  The DCB were not a record, but above what we expected.  All in all, a very good result, and we are grateful.  The Lord has provided quite well…again.

I better get back to work on the FYE.  Have a great day.

 

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#harvest24 in the rear view mirror

Posted on October 25, 2024 by casifarm

Friday, October 25, 2024

Yesterday afternoon, we completed all of the 2024 harvest.  We had to harvest around  some acres of replanted corn at the Huey farm, and we went back there to get it.  By about noon, we had dropped the last of the corn into the trucks.

The last of the 2024 corn crop goes into the Tony truck.

Of course, it took a few hours to get the trucks unloaded and the machines moved home.  But by 3pm, the combines were out in the yard by the silo getting cleaned with air.  They are now back in storage, awaiting their day on the wash pad.  We must get them cleaned up and looking like new as soon as practical.

As we look back on the fall harvest, we brought in our best-ever corn yield.   The DCB were the second-best ever, and the soybeans fell a bit short of our expectations.  The fall was a mixed bag of results, reflecting the super-hot-and-dry month of August.  But overall, we are very grateful for the crop results.  Plus, the month of October brought mostly sunny and dry days, and that facilitated a more timely gathering in of the crops.  We have experienced muddy autumns in the past, and a harvesttime like this one is much preferred!  PTL!

Our new full-time guy Brandon D has been terrific.  He ran the grain cart, which I think is one of our more difficult tasks, without a hiccup.  It’s hectic to keep up with 2 12-row corn combines, and he did it well.  Not one spill.   I think that’s a first for Carnahan & Sons!  As we like to say, we prefer accuracy over speed, and he did both.  He was quick without being reckless or irresponsible.  He has become a valuable member of our team.

Here is a perfectly-loaded trailer of corn. Brandon D fills them full without spilling

Brandon Dreiman

 

Our part-timers were special too.  Larry has been working with our family since 1967, and he planted our wheat crop.  He also helped driving the trucks, once the wheat was completed.  He can do just about anything.  Bob came for many days and drove trucks to help bring in the crop.  Bill was also helpful, and there was never a morning too early for him to get started!  He is now retired from truck driving, and his work here was greatly appreciated.  We also had a young fellow named Brandt who helped with truck driving for one critical day. The team at Carnahan & Sons is highly skilled, cooperative, and pleasant.  It is satisfying to work together.

Larry Corn

Bill Berry

Today, the work continues, with deliveries of corn being made to GPC, trying to fill our October contracts.  In between loads, Brandon is using his time to air-clean the grain cart tractor.  If you clean first with compressed air, then the washing part goes much better.

John ran the demonstrator vertical tillage implement, a 43-foot JD 2660,  for parts of a few days over the DCB acres, finishing yesterday evening.  That new machine worked great, so now we are making arrangements to add it to our fleet.  It will be a good upgrade from our disk.  It proved itself to be far superior in incorporating the seed/fertilizer mixture for wheat planting.

 

Today, John is working in the shop, replacing the starter on the Gator.  It’s amazing just how much we rely on that little machine, and when it’s not working, it can be a bit frustrating.  But John is good at this kind of stuff and tackles it with his normal enthusiasm.

It was a very extensive task to replace a starter on the Gator, but John tackled it with no hesitation.

In this post-harvest period, the work will change to corn and soybean deliveries, cleaning the equipment, and preparing the books for the end of the fiscal year (11/30).  Each one of these tasks requires a lot of work.  But you do what you must, and take it one step at a time.  These things won’t get done overnight, but they will get done.

Have a wonderful weekend.

 

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DCB started

Posted on October 22, 2024 by casifarm

Tuesday, October 22, 2024

We began the harvest of double-crop soybeans yesterday around noon.  It took that long to get the morning dew burned off!  We had a good day of harvest, with yields being mostly better than expected.  Of the 4 fields we harvested, 3 of them yielded above typical DCB.  This was a pleasant surprise, because our regular-season soybean results were hurt by the very dry August.  It’s good to get that kind of surprise every now and then!

Working at the Steen farm yesterday evening…

It will probably take us 3 or 4 more days to work through the DCB.  There is a small (30%) chance of rain on Friday.  If it does rain, that’ll slow the DCB progress, but it will be a help.  October has been a wonderful month to work at harvesting, so dry and warm.  But a nice little rain would help boost the start of the emerging wheat crop.   Really, we can’t lose, either way.

We are eager to try the demonstrator vertical tillage tool in the post-harvest DCB fields. It performed very well in the planting of much of the wheat crop.  We think this will help manage the mat of crop residue in a better way to allow the field to warm and dry next spring.  I think we will test it a little bit this morning.

Brandon D is delivering soybeans to ADM in Newburgh this morning, and Brandon K is delivering corn to GPC in Washington.  This helps use the morning productively until the dew burns off and we can start again on DCB.

Have a good day.

 

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Light at the end of the tunnel

Posted on October 21, 2024 by casifarm

Monday, October 21, 2024

We are nearing the end of #harvest24.  The regular-crop soybeans were finished off on the 14th, one week ago.  Then, we turned our attention to the remaining corn fields.  We marched through that until we got to the final field at the Huey farm.  Down there were some acres that we replanted in June, and we had to go around those patches.  Therefore, we have about 15 acres of corn left to harvest.

We intend to begin with the double-crop soybeans today, and work our way through those.  It could take 3 days; it could take 5.  With a heavy dew each morning, it will be difficult to start in those until about noon each day.  We will see how quickly we move through those.  After those are done, it is my thinking that we will return to that little bit of remaining corn, at least by next Monday.  The weather is predicted to remain dry and warm through October, but they tell us an arctic blast is coming in November.  Brrrr!

It is always a plus to finish off harvest in October.  You can usually have reasonable working days through this month, but when November arrives, you never know what is coming… in the past we’ve had Novembers that are sunny and warm, and some that are rainy and bone-chilling cold.  We will see.  In any event, we should be done with harvest before November arrives.

We have about 3 conservation projects lined up to work on this fall.  We have made arrangements with Dustin Hatton to work on terraces and waterways at the Dunn farm, Huey farm, and Schutter farm.  Not a big amount of projects, but the outcome of these will improve the conservation in those locations.  I’ll probably plant rye as a cover crop over the top of any dozing work Dustin does this fall to protect the worked areas.

Nutrien is applying fertility needs for 2025 already.  As we clear off the current crop, they use the soil tests and apply the needs for next year’s crop.  In effect, 2025 has already begun!  So, as we think about the end of harvest, our minds are already engaged in planning for the 2025 crop.

The weather for this October has been exceptionally nice for our field operations.  You can take the trucks in the field anywhere you need.  It has been more pleasant in the field.

We are grateful for this fall’s harvest. PTL!

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