Tuesday, January 24, 2023
I worked in the office all day Monday. I was able to write planting prescriptions for the 2023 soybean and DCB (double-crop soybeans, after wheat) fields. It’s not hard work, just tedious, and you just have to step-by-step grind it out. (Yes, it took me all day!) I use the Agrian program embedded within JD Operations Center to create these prescriptions. I must write a prescription for each variety and each field. With our use of 4 soybean varieties this year, that means each field must have one to four prescriptions prepared. Although we do plan which variety goes in each field, once spring gets here, our plan does not always work perfectly. Therefore, we need the additional prescriptions readily available to make those adjustments in-the-moment, when the reality of what variety we plant in a field must change from the pre-season plan.
Here is where I start in the Agrian program. This field has 9 different soil types, and each one is assigned a soybean seeding rate that is appropriate for that soil type.
Today, my goal is to prepare the fertility prescriptions for nitrogen for each of our 2023 corn fields. This is simpler, for one prescription per field is all that is needed. This should go a little faster today. However, at this moment, JD Operations Center is not cooperating. It is failing to fire up and let me go to work!
The little rotating circle won’t go away just yet.*
So, I wait patiently (mostly) to get started on the nitrogen prescriptions.
The weather forecast for tomorrow includes a pretty sure chance of snow, with some accumulation possible. John has prepared the JD 6145R tractor by attaching the snow blower… just in case the snow creates some difficulty to get around. A snow blower is rarely needed here, but when it does snow enough, it is a wonderful tool to have on hand. Dad bought that blower many, many years ago, and John has refurbished it, even modifying the spout to rotate using hydraulics, rather than needing to stop and get out of the tractor to turn the spout by hand. It looks like new, even if it is decades old. So, if the snow piles in here tomorrow, we are ready.
Ready for snow!
My knee is making progress. I had a (mostly) good and restful night last night– the first such night since the knee replacement–which was 6 weeks and 6 days ago. It is still swollen and gets pretty stiff. I still need to ice it 3-4 times a day. My hope is that by planting season, it will be about ready to go… others who have had knee replacements tell me the swelling and stiffness could last for several months. And every person tells me to keep up the rehab exercises. I have been doing exactly what the knee specialists have told me to do. I guess I just have days when I am a bit impatient. But, happily, the good days far outnumber the blue days.
The Tony Truck (07 Pete) still resides in the shop. All the necessary parts have been acquired (we think so, at least). So, we wait for Jake to come evenings and weekends to put it all back together. We are eager to hear that Cat engine roar to life, and to get the use of our shop back again!
There goes Brandon with another load of corn headed to GPC
It was a great thing to hear that our Purdue Boilermakers are ranked #1 again! Of course, we don’t expect to go through the rest of the season without another loss, but it certainly is a joy to experience this while it lasts. Let’s hope their tournament record this year is undefeated! If they do get to the Final Four, I just might have to make that trip to NRG Stadium in Houston to cheer for them in person! I know, I know…that’s a far from becoming reality, but I can dream!
Enjoy the rest of your week.
*and a note to close… 30 minutes later, Operations Center is now fired up and working!
