Rain Delay

Posted on May 1, 2023 by casifarm

Monday, May 1, 2023

Well, May has arrived.  And, today, planting is stopped.  The rainy period that began on Thursday night continues today.  No, it has not been a heavy rain, but enough to keep us out of the fields.  We are currently over halfway finished with planting.  So, that feels good to have a big chunk of the crops in the ground in April.  I’ll be out on the Gator this afternoon to search for a dry field where I could plant soybeans tomorrow or Wednesday.   Now that May has arrived, there becomes a bit more urgency to get the crops in the ground.  But it’s too soon to despair about it.  There will be a day.

None of the planted fields have plants that have emerged from the soil, but the upcoming weekend is predicted to be  in the 70s, so that should coax many of them out into the sunshine!

Brandon has used these damp days to track down a problem he was experiencing with the down-pressure system on row 17 of the corn planter.  He went as far as he could, chasing a broken wire… a tech came Saturday and replaced a small wiring harness… and voila!  Good as new.  We were so fortunate it was a small harness, not one that was long, complicated, and super-expensive.

Here is the wiring harness that was replaced.

John has the pre-emerge, burn-down herbicides completed.  In inspecting the wheat crop, it appears that the heads are beginning to emerge.  So, next week, he will be applying the final pass of fungicide and insecticide on the wheat crop.  Just think…6 or 7 weeks from now the combines will be running!

Have a good week.

 

Posted in Farm Days, News, Planting | Leave a comment

#plant23

Posted on April 26, 2023 by casifarm

Wednesday, April 26, 2023

We continue to plant corn and soybeans this week.  Even though the nights are chilly, with some frost, the days warm into the 50s and 60s.  The soil conditions are pretty good.  Brandon finished with the nitrogen applications yesterday, and switched his tractor back to the corn planter.  John wrapped up the application of herbicides to the corn acres.  Then he thoroughly cleaned the sprayer, inside and out, and today he will return to applying herbicides to soybean acres.  He has a lofty goal of getting that all done today.  The weather forecast shows rain again tomorrow, so it would be great to get those herbicides on today.

Here’s what it looks like from the driver’s seat of the JD 9520R tractor as I plant soybeans.

We will continue our planting and spraying progress today, and tomorrow until the rain comes.

It feels good to get some acres planted in April.

Posted in Farm Days, Planting | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Planters are started

Posted on April 20, 2023 by casifarm

Thursday, April 20, 2023

Well, the planters are finally started.  Brandon started with the corn planter on Tuesday, and got along pretty well.  Yesterday, he had an issue with a ‘brain box’ on one of the row units, but by speaking with a service rep at the dealer, he was able to get it going again.  He will finish planting this farm today (should, anyway) and then stop.  The cold weather predicted for the weekend still has us on ‘yellow light’ with the corn planting.

Brandon makes his first pass of #plant23

I got started with the new soybean air drill yesterday.   I was confident I knew how to set the seed depth and the speed of the blower that moves seed from the tank to the drill.  So, my attention was focused on the features of this drill that were new to me.  I had Davis Gress with me from Hutson’s to assist with the start-up.  I caught on to the “TruSet” down pressure system pretty quick, and then we turned our attention to the “Relative Flow” blockage monitoring system.  There were some problems with a sticky, black substance inside one of towers; it even blocked a ‘boot’–the part on the row unit that actually places the seed into the soil.  We discovered how this sticky black stuff had coated the electric eye in a couple blockage monitor sensors, and it took a while to clean all that stuff up.  Eventually, we got it going.  Then, we turned our attention to ‘tuning’ the section control, so that there was minimum overlap and no skips in the planting.   Eventually this led to us discovering a kink in one of the primary seed delivery hoses.  That choked down the air flow to that section, and delayed the delivery of seed to that section, relative to the other sections.  We located the replacement hose down in Poseyville, and John traveled down there to pick it up.   I planted the rest of the day with the section control turned off, just so I could get some acres planted.   Hutson, Inc. sent a mechanic this morning to replace the bad hose.  It was an eventful first day with a new machine.

This was Davis digging for seed to find out if the section control was operating properly. One section was not cooperating.

John came by in the Gator to observe the operation of the new drill.

Once we finally got rolling, the seed was going into the soil really well.

It was not a super-productive first day with the soybean air drill, but it can be expected to find some ‘bugs’ in the system.  Today should be a better day.

We are not concerned about the upcoming cold nights on the soybeans; they seem to tolerate it better than corn.

We will have to pause the corn planter in a few days in order to apply the nitrogen to the 3 remaining corn fields.  John is currently using the days when the wind is favorable to apply the herbicide to corn fields.  Tuesday was a great day for that, yesterday and today–just too windy!

It feels good to get the planters rolling.  Any crop planted in April is plus.  #plant23 is underway!

 

 

 

Posted in News, Planting | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Still kind of a yellow light

Posted on April 18, 2023 by casifarm

Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Today, we had to make some decisions about what to do.  The fields that still need NH3 in the river bottom lands (about 220 acres) are still a bit too wet to apply nitrogen.  The Saturday night/Sunday rain event kept us out of the fields yesterday (Monday).   We have about 1200 acres with soybean herbicide applied.  We must apply the herbicide to the corn fields before that planter can run.  It was very cold the past two nights.  These are all factors that must be weighed to figure out ‘what next’.  So, together we came up with a plan.  We stopped the NH3 machines, and unhooked the implements.  John is spraying burndown herbicide on the corn acres that have received nitrogen.  Brandon has hitched up the corn planter to the CIH 420 Rowtrac and is testing how that will work in the first field of #plant23.   I am now hooked up to the soybean air drill and I am finishing the setup of the air cart, no-till drill, and Fieldview iPad.  Tomorrow, Davis from Huston’s will be here to assist me to get started.  There is still a run page for the air cart that doesn’t look right in order to plant by prescription.  I tested the “Tru-Set” down pressure today, and learned a little bit about how much pressure to apply to the seed openers on the drill.  I still will have to learn tomorrow about the ‘relative flow blockage monitor’.   In the morning, I’ll calibrate the 3 seed meters under each seed tank on the air cart, and then I’ll be ready for Davis to arrive!

The cool nights have us a bit concerned about getting lots of acres of corn planted.  Cold and wet is not healthy for the little corn seeds trying to sprout.  It seems that soybeans can tolerate such conditions a bit better, so maybe after I get all set up and confident about the operation of the new air drill, I will go from ‘yellow light’ to ‘green light’!

Filling the seed tanks on the air cart today.  430 bushels on board now.

Brandon’s first pass with the corn planter at the Dunn farm location.

It feels good to get started with #plant23.  Sure, there are lots of rows to run down yet, and we will have to pause the planters to apply the rest of the corn nitrogen.  But it always feels good to plant some of our crops in April.  Early planting makes for a tick higher soybean  yields, and a better-manageable summer work schedule.

I’ll try to get some pictures of the soybean drill in operation tomorrow.   Have a good Tuesday evening.

 

Posted in News, Planting | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Yellow light

Posted on April 11, 2023 by casifarm

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

We got some field work in yesterday.  John went out to test the new ammonia applicator bar.  The field conditions were not as dry as we would prefer, but he felt it was important to give that machine a test.  He discovered some rings that guide and protect the liquid hoses that had “pinch points” in them, and those rings punched holes in 3 of the NH3 liquid-carrying hoses.  One of the pressure gauges up front is leaking.  And the frame does not appear to run level to the ground.  So, Devon is here this morning from Alliance Tractor (the dealer) to help solve the problems.

The gas went into the soil really well– no wisps of escape– but you will also notice there is no dust in the air!   Not great conditions just yet.

I took the field cultivator out to the Roberson, Dunn, and Cresy farms to do some smoothing work on new WASCoBs that had been recently built by our neighbor Dustin Hatton (see post for March 1).  I also used that tool to work in some erosion ruts that had appeared over the winter.   The areas where Dustin had run his dozer worked up pretty nice, but there were spots that were still a bit ‘sticky’.

Here is a wide valley smoothed up by running the field cultivator over it.

I am hoping that tomorrow I can get the sprayer started applying burn down herbicide to some soybean fields.  The field cultivator must do its work first, then the herbicide is applied ‘over the top’.  Soon after that, the planter can run!   But we are 7-10 days of field work away from starting the planters.

It was a pretty good ‘first day’ of field work, but because of the soil conditions being a bit wet yet, it’s not good enough to go full force on spring work.  The weather forecast is good for the rest of the week, and surely by then, there will be improved soil conditions in order for us to turn on the ‘green light’!    Until better conditions arrive, we will operate under a ‘yellow light’… inching forward, moving field to field, attempting to find suitable dry soils, so that our work is done well.

You know how fickle we farmers can be.  In 3 weeks or less, we will probably be praying for a rain!

On a personal note, my knee is now 17 weeks and 6 days post-op.  No, it is not pain-free just yet.  It does get my attention as I am walking, but there is no pain if I am resting.  (yay!).  I can go up and down stairs pretty well now.  But I notice that when I climb the steps up into a truck or tractor (those can be 12-16 inches) my knee lets me know about it!  But all in all, I think I’ll be able to move through this spring’s work, with not much pain or limitation.  PTL!

Have a good week.

 

Posted in Farm Days, Planting | Tagged | Leave a comment

MT

Posted on April 3, 2023 by casifarm

Monday, April 3, 2023

We are nearly MT (empty) of 2022 grain.  Brandon has been doing a good job marketing the remaining crop, and cleaning the bins.  All storage bins are now swept clean, and maybe one load of corn remains overhead in the load-out bins.  He just departed with what we think is the next-to-last load of corn, heading over to GPC.

John and Brandon have also been servicing the field cultivator today to prepare it for spring work 2023.   We will use that implement to ‘scratch in’ some small erosion ruts in advance of the ammonia applicators and the sprayer.  Those will be the final operations before #plant23 begins.  We will need 7-8 days of field work before the planters run.   We are hoping that those planters can be going in April!

Brandon works to lubricate the many grease zerks on this field cultivator

Our fields in the White River bottom lands are still covered with flood waters.  Those will dry quickly once the water recedes.  We received another quarter-inch of rain this morning before sunup.  So, we are not in the fields yet, but eager to get going.  The forecast is for another round of storms tomorrow, with some severe warnings in place.  There were some devastating tornadoes last Friday night in Sullivan County, just north of us, with many destroyed homes and farm structures and 3 deaths.   Our hearts go out to those families who are impacted by this destruction.  We have contributed to relief efforts for Sullivan, and the reports are that area is inundated with volunteers rushing in to assist.  That is a heart-warming and reassuring response to a genuine need.  PTL.

I ruined a tire on the Gator last Friday, and the rest were getting quite worn, too.  So we are replacing all four of the tires.  The new tires are a different tread design, and I’m hoping they will run more quietly on the road.  We shall see.

The Gator got new shoes on its feet today.

Although Purdue’s March Madness results were very disappointing, we are very pleased that Center Zach Edey has received numerous accolades for his play this year.  The latest one of the POY awards was the prestigious Naismith Player of the Year.  It is so satisfying to hear him accept these awards with humility, and how he expresses that he still needs to improve all facets of his game.  His mother Julia has also made public her response to her son’s achievements.  She summed up her numerous thoughts in just one word:  Thankful.  There’s a lesson in that for all of us.  Count your blessings!

The afternoon sky here is a brilliant blue, clear as crystal.  The temperature is a balmy 75ºF (24C). So pleasant, with a breeze of 11 mph (17 kmph).  This will really help dry out those soggy fields.  Our first 80+ degree day for 2023 is predicted for tomorrow!  Let’s hope that doesn’t bring in a storm.

Can you believe how beautiful this April sky shows today?

Enjoy your week.

 

Posted in Family Life, News | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

First fieldwork for 2023

Posted on March 30, 2023 by casifarm

Thursday, March 30, 2023

Yesterday, we started our fieldwork for this year.  Yes, Nutrien has already visited our wheat fields twice to apply nitrogen.  But yesterday was the first day this year that one of our machines hit the field.

Even though it was not ideal soil conditions, John went out in the sprayer to apply 4 important management tools to our wheat crop.  These things were all tank-mixed and applied together in one pass.  One:  a herbicide, two:  a biological root-growth stimulator, three: a fungicide, and four: a growth regulator limiting plant height.   With the current wheat crop growth stage, and with the winter annual weed pressure increasing, this application was beginning to feel very urgent.  Plus, more rain is predicted for tomorrow, and that would stop any field work progress.  The soil was a bit better than we anticipated, but still there were soft places in the fields.  John created some muddy track-ruts in a few places, but it is a relief to get this application done.  He had to stop at dark last night, but he is back out there at it again today.  He hopes to complete this application today, and then clean the sprayer systems out and get prepared to apply some burndown herbicide for the soybean crop.  We are just grateful to see this progress made!

John makes progress at our Leser farm

Also yesterday, our Dyna-Gro wheat consultant, Landon Taylor came up from Owensboro, Kentucky to review each wheat field and check the plant health.  Our wheat crop got off to a bad start because of the extremely dry fall weather.  It looked ragged and uneven, for the emergence of the seeds was patchy and spotty.  It took a late October rain to finally get it all started.  So, we were less than impressed with how the wheat crop looked during the winter.  But, after the split applications of nitrogen which were put down a bit earlier than usual in order to spur tiller development, the wheat crop is looking a bit better.  It is at the Feekes Stage 6 to 7 of growth.  The 2023 crop is probably not as nice as the ’21 and ’22 crops, but improving from its difficult start.  We will rein in our expectations and hope for a happy surprise in June!

Landon describes what he’s seeing 

The crew from Atkinson Trenching is here today to wrap up the installation of new water lines to the farm.   We will have a period of time with no water, but that should not take but a couple hours.  We are looking forward to that upgrade being done.

Brandon is down to the final bin of corn to clean out.  He really likes the “power sweep” in the new bin.  There is no heavy lifting of motors or augers in and out, it is permanently installed, and you just flip a lever to engage the sweep.

The sweep auger in bin 8 (the new, big one) doing its thing

Brandon and Bill are out on the road today delivering corn to ADM in Newburgh.  So, things are happening around here!

Yesterday, Pat picked up the sticks and limbs that had fallen into the yard during the winter.  She filled the Gator bed six times with sticks and branches and dumped them in a small brush pile across the driveway.  After that, I got out the trimming mower.  I use “seafoam” fuel treatment in the mowers.  I refilled the gas tank, and with just one pull, the engine fired up!  One pull!   I hope to mow the yard this afternoon, before another rain event tomorrow.

She fired up with just one pull!

On my knee replacement, I’m now at 16 weeks and 1 day post operation.  No, it’s not pain-free just yet.  I can walk pretty much okay without a limp, and I can go up and down stairs, even if it is a bit slow.  But I notice that climbing up into a truck or tractor where the steps are 12″ or more apart… that hurts!   I thought that by 3 months out, the situation would be back to normal, but not yet.  The knee doctor says it may take a whole year before all the pain goes away.  Even so, it’s better than before, and I’m able to do just about anything I need to do.

As March winds down, it seems like it’s going out “like a lamb”.  We are praying for favorable April weather to allow us to get going on #plant23.

Have a great weekend.

 

 

Posted in Farm Days, News, Planting | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Chilly night

Posted on March 28, 2023 by casifarm

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

This morning we see some sun peeking out occasionally, but we started with frost on the roof.  It may get up into the 40s, and we should have 3 dry days in a row.  Rain is predicted again for Friday.

Sunday afternoon was a beautiful day.  Warm, sunny, 69ºF (21C).  You couldn’t ask for a nicer spring day.  Then, Sunday night, we got some more rain… on top of the 4.3″ (110mm) that came Thursday and Friday.  Oh, boy.  The White River at Edwardsport is 7 feet above flood stage, but is predicted to quickly fall back to flood stage by the weekend.  The creek bottom lands around here are beginning to have the flood waters recede.   It is several days yet before any soil-engaging work can begin.  We are hopeful we can get into the wheat fields by Thursday to make a herbicide application.  That will be pushing it quite a bit, but this herbicide need has become urgent!

This graph shows how fast White River came up after the Thursday-Friday big rain event.

I spent about 4 hours yesterday with Davis from Hutson, Inc.  He was here to assist me in learning two of the new features of the new soybean drill… the N550 no-till drill plus the 1910 air cart.  I had to become acquainted with the set-up and calibration of the “Tru-Set” downforce on the drill, and the “Relative Flow” blockage monitor.  Davis was very patient and methodical with his training.  He walked me through the many steps of the set ups, and then through the calibrations.  It was more extensive than I had anticipated, but by the time he left, almost all my questions had been answered.  There were 2 questions about the operation of the Tru-Set that he  could not  answer, but he has sources up the chain of command at Hutsons and at Deere that he is confident he can discover what we need.  It was so very helpful to have him here while the weather has us stopped, rather than trying to get this machine set up and calibrated on the first day in the field.  Davis will return also on the first day that I take this soybean planter to the field… just in case there are some unforeseen details that need his expertise.  That is very reassuring for me.  Although I’ve been using a similar machine for many years, the latest improvements are significant enough that this assistance is welcome.  I expect a very seamless and relatively easy start for the first day of soybean planting.  God Himself only knows what day that will be…but we have done all we can to be ready for that day!  (There’s a spiritual lesson in that statement, too!).

In order to calibrate the row units, we had to unfold the drill. Then we could move the units up and down fully.

John is preparing  the sprayer for use as soon as the wheat fields will allow.  It might (probably will) leave a few muddy tracks, but the weeds need stopped immediately.

Bill Atkinson and his crew are here making more progress on the new water line installation.  When complete, the farm will have its own dedicated water supply.  It has been quite an undertaking, but will be very helpful once Bill is done.

We hope we can make some field progress this week, but time will tell.  Once April arrives, we will begin to feel more pressure to get going.  It is always better to get planted in April, and we will do our best to do so.  But in 2022, we began planting on May 2… and that turned out okay too.    God tells us not to worry, so we will trust Him again in 2023.

Have a good day.

Posted in Farm Days, News, Planting | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Learning curve

Posted on March 23, 2023 by casifarm

Thursday, March 23, 2023

In between showers, John has hooked the new soybean air drill to the tractor that will be pulling it in the fields–our JD 9520R.   There are several new features in this new drill and cart, and I need the machine connected to the tractor in order to make the calibrations, perform the set-ups, and learn the new things.   This new drill has “Tru-Set”, for the down pressure on the row units, it powers the down pressure in a new manner from the Power Beyond circuit, and it has an entirely new and different blockage monitoring system called “Relative Flow”.  I think I can become familiar with most of these things while the machine is parked here at the farm yard…the weather forecast is telling us we will have many days of heavy rain on the way.  I’ll use these days to freshen up my understanding of how these new features work.  I’ve read through the set-up pages in the Owner’s Manual for both parts of this new machine.

In addition, Davis is coming from Hutson’s on Monday to assist me through the set up and calibrations.  It will be a busy day!  I think there may be a software update needed in the cart.  We’ve discovered some cables and adapters on the tractor are now fully connected to power up the 5 cameras on the new soybean planter–one in each of the 3 seed tanks, one on the back of the cart, and one on the back of the drill.

Hooked up now, I can begin the learning process.

I’m grateful for John who did the hard part, removing the ammonia toolbar from the 9520R, and then making the myriad of connections of the new drill.

I’m still at the stage of life where learning these kinds of new things is still fun and interesting.  I suppose there will come a time when I dread changes like this, but I’m not there just yet.

 

Posted in Farm Days, Planting | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Spring arrives with something new

Posted on March 21, 2023 by casifarm

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Happy first day of Spring!  Even though it’s not as sunny as  yesterday, it’s still a nice spring day.  And even though I’m working through the dreaded man-cold, I’m also getting better.  A visit yesterday to the local NP got me a shot and some good medicine, and I’m slowly improving.  I still don’t have much energy, and it is easy to sleep often.  But I’m breathing easier, and there is not so much nasal drainage.  I think the yucky part of the man-cold is behind me!

Yesterday, while I was visiting the NP, Hutson’s delivered our new soybean drill.  It has a larger tank, and the drill part seems to have a stronger frame.  There are some new features I must soon learn:  the relative-flow blockage monitor, and the set-up of the timing for the section control.  Since the tractor that I’ll use to pull this drill is already hooked to the ammonia applicator, I’ll probably hook the 9360 tractor temporarily to this drill to connect the electronics and explore my way through the new features.  Yes, there’s a bit of a learning curve again, but I’m confident I’ll find my way through it.  The larger air cart will give more capacity, and should allow a full day’s work with one fill-up in the morning.  So, needless to say, I’m eager to put this new machine to work!

Once again, our friend Gene Williams brings us a new machine!

The new drill is parked for a while, it will be put to work in just a few weeks!  This model 1910 air cart has 3 seed tanks instead of 2.  More capacity, more flexibility, more productivity than the previous air cart.

The N550 drill (new model number) is a 50-foot, drill with 60 10-inch rows. I desired to go to a 60-foot drill, but the folded dimensions were too wide and tall to move around our narrow Knox County roads. So, 50 feet will do!

The service guys from Alliance were here  yesterday to apply a PIP to the R15 rotary cutter (bush hog).  They welded a small reinforcement to the frame/hinge.  While the R15 is in the shop, John took the opportunity to replace the blades.  Now we’re ready for some great mowing this summer!

This little U-shaped bracket was welded to reinforce the area where the wing axle turns up and down.

John is removing the blades from the center section. See the new blades on the right wing?

Although the NCAA tourney play of our Purdue Boilermakers was disappointing, we must reflect a bit on how our expectations climbed during the season.  They had many unexpected accomplishments, winning the Phil Knight tourney in Portland, moving from unranked to first in 32 days, winning the B1G regular season by 3 games, and winning the B1G tournament!  So, with modest beginnings, those guys still had a great season!  Gives us all excitement to see how it goes for next year!

One exciting thing this weekend was the play of local guy Adam Schenk in the Valspar Classic.  He led all through the 4 days of play, right up until the last hole on Sunday.  His best finish ever!  It was so exciting to watch him on TV, and to see him interviewed.  He grew up golfing at our local South Knox High School, and my youngest son Ben was a golf teammate of his, (Adam was 1 year younger than Ben).  So, we had great interest in watching Adam!    Congratulations, Adam…that first trophy is coming your way someday soon!  And to top it off, he and his wife Kourtney are expecting their first child in about a month.

Nutrien was able to apply the second application of nitrogen on the wheat crop yesterday.  There is now some urgency to getting the herbicide applied.  The weather conditions have not been favorable to get that needed practice done.  The temperature needs to stay above 45ºF  (7C) during the nights for 4-5 days.  Yes, we’ve had some really warm days, but not enough of them in a row.   Looks like it will all break loose one of these days soon, and we’ll have a multitude of tasks to perform all at once!    It’ll all work out…

Have a great week.

 

Posted in Family Life, Farm Days, News, Planting | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment