New video up on YouTube

Posted on January 3, 2019 by casifarm

Thursday, January 3, 2019

It’s taken me a few days to splice together some video from my phone and do some editing work on it.  Although I’ve done this before using iMovie in our Mac, I essentially had to re-learn it all over again.  Adding some text was hard to figure out.  Then, when it was ‘finalized’, it would not upload directly to YouTube…I kept getting an error message.  So, I exported it to my auxiliary hard drive, and uploaded it on the YouTube site from there.

This is our video record of seeing the new John Deere combine arriving at the farm.  It is always a great day when some new machine gets delivered… somehow it just never gets old.   I guess that’s the ‘kid’ in me.

The new combine brings us some new technology.  Among other improvements, these three are the highlights:

1.  Active Yield.  Automated yield measuring that does not require calibrations.

2.  Combine Advisor.  Automated internal separator adjustments that match settings to the instantaneous conditions, making for better grain samples.

3.  A Gen 4 control/display screen.   More complex than the GS 2630, but also more intuitive to command.

Each of these will require some additional training in order to make proficient use of them.  I have already begun to review the owner’s manual (it is thick as on old Sears catalog) to help me be up-to-speed when harvest time comes.

As the video closes, you’ll see the trade-in leaving the farm.  That S680 has been a very good machine…not flawless, but very, very reliable.   It was a powerful upgrade from the one it replaced, a JD 9770.  If this new 780 turns out to be as good as the 680, we’ll be happy farmers.

We have also upgraded our CIH combine from an 8230 to a new 8250.  We should roll smoothly through the next several harvests, thanks to this big investment in harvesting technology.

The new 8250 in our shop to install the 2-way radio and other accessories

It pretty much fills up the shop

Now the green and red sit side-by-side waiting for the summer wheat harvest

I hope we can get some video of these machines in action next June during wheat harvest…

 

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2018 comes to an end

Posted on December 31, 2018 by casifarm

Monday, December 31, 2018

On this last day of 2018, corn is being delivered to market.  Brandon has 5 trips to make to GPC today, and he had no difficulty getting the appointments.  It’s just that it is a bit unpleasant to be out today… foggy and rainy.  Even so, he is making the trips and John and I are keeping the overhead load-out bin filled and ready.   He is using the new Wilson trailer, and he says it tracks nicely behind the Peterbilt.  Yes, the new trailer is getting dirty today, but we didn’t buy it to leave it in the shed–it’s a tool to use!

Loading the Pete and its new trailer this morning.

The occasion of a new year is always a time to look back… and look ahead.   We recall the highs and lows of 2018, and anticipate what the new year holds in store.  Some things can be predicted:  the holidays and birthdays and other occasions.  The planting of yet another crop of corn and soybeans, and ultimately the harvest of those plus the wheat.  But much of what 2019 will bring cannot be foreseen.  Therefore, we place our trust in our Maker, who never fails to keep us in His care.   We hope you will have a blessed new year holiday, and many happy days throughout 2019.

Happy New Year from us at Carnahan & Sons!

 

 

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I’m living in Man-Cold Land

Posted on December 29, 2018 by casifarm

Saturday, December 29, 2018

When winter arrived, a man-cold arrived with it.  I don’t know why, but those seem especially draining on me.  No fever, but aches and runny nose and watery eyes.  It gets me down quickly, and this time, I’m not bouncing back very fast.  Given my many previous experiences with a man-cold, I went to see my doctor (a nurse practitioner, really) Thursday before Christmas, in hopes of heading this off like Barney Fife would do — nip it in the bud.  But her shot and medications did nothing to relieve my symptoms.  I sniffled through Christmas, limiting my exposure to outside cold and inside hugs with the granddaughters.  I did not want to give them my dreaded illness.  Because I was not sensing any improvement, I called my NP again last Thursday, and she was so booked up that she could not be seen for 6 days!  (I guess I’m not the only one packing around this mess)  So, I decided to go in to the local Quick Care facility, run by the hospital.  The wait there was nearly 2 hours.  I got a shot of steroids, and some more antibiotics.  I may be in the beginning stages of starting to feel some relief.  I just can’t recall having a head cold stick around for about 2 weeks!

The steroid shot has a side effect on me–interrupting my sleep at night.  Well, the last couple nights while lying there wide awake, and between intermittent prayers, some song lyrics came to mind.  I share them here:

My Winter Man-Cold Land
Sung to tune of Winter Wonderland

Winter hits, with a man-cold
Pretty quick, it gets real old
The watery eyes
The sneezing and sighs
Walking through this winter man cold land

Runny nose.  Are my eyes red?
All I want, is a clear head
I’m blowing my nose
That’s just how it goes
Walking through my winter man cold land

Waited a long time to see the doctor
And she says there’s not much she can do
Go a second time to see the doctor
To hear her say, “Be glad it’s not the flu”

Spending days, by the fire
My red nose, glowing brighter
Recuperation
Is not very fun
Walking through my winter man cold land

—

Yesterday, Brandon took the new trailer on its ‘maiden voyage’ with the Peterbilt to ADM at Newburgh, Indiana to deliver some soybeans.  I didn’t feel well enough to get out and take any pictures; I just watched him out the window as he passed by on his way out.  I’m spending most hours in my big recliner, and keeping out of the chilly outside air.  I don’t want to do anything that will prolong this man-cold!

Here’s hoping and praying that the New Year ’19 starts off with me feeling better than I do today.  I hope you’ll start off the new year in a wonderful way.  May you be blessed as we get settled into 2019.

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First day of winter…brought an upgrade… was it an early Christmas?

Posted on December 22, 2018 by casifarm

Saturday, December 22, 2018

Yesterday, the first day of winter arrived, and it sure felt like it!  Although the temperature was in the high 30s, the strong 20 mph (32 kph) wind just put a chill on your face when you went outside.   The day began with some drizzle in the air, and you might have seen some flakes (just a few) during the morning.  The rainfall nor the snow was not enough to measure on our weather station.  Just a chilly day, with a sharp wind.  My cheeks are chapped and red this morning, and I’m in the grip of a ‘man-cold’.  The congestion and runny eyes and nose are uncomfortable and unpleasant, but I’m still able to keep going.

The highlight of the day, for this old farmer anyhow, was taking delivery of a new combine.  This was the 2019  JD S780 that John and I traveled to Moline, Illinois to view at the Gold Key event on back on November 30.  Took just about 3 weeks from then, to get it to the dealer, get it set-up, and then delivered here.   Hutson’s at Jasper, Indiana was the dealer and their transport specialist Gene Williams was the delivery guy.  It’s always a happy day when Gene is bringing us something new!  He was accompanied by salesman Shane Knoy as his escort, for they hauled the machine here with the duals already on the combine!   Gene broke apart his low-boy trailer and and removed all the tie-downs securing the combine to the trailer.  Then he drove the 780 down for its official arrival at our farm!   We moved it to the shop, in order to install the 2-way radio, and some other accessories.

The S780 arrived, and we set about to get it released from its tie-down chains.

Santa Gene is the delivery guy and Santa Shane is the salesman for this combine. They made this Santa delivery a few days early! Merry Christmas! It is a happy day for this old farmer. We are so blessed to have newer technology, and hopefully more reliable, machines with which to do our work.

The S780 is in the shop a couple days to install the 2-way radio and other accessories, before it goes out to its storage spot, waiting for the wheat crop in June!  The dealer has a couple more items to install:  the cameras on the rear and in the grain tank.

John attached this extra toolbox . We have used it on a couple previous machines. It stores some spare guards and sections and bolts, and the accompanying tools for the draper header. Stored in this manner, I can quickly unpin this box and carry it to the header for convenient repair work when there is a broken section or guard.

This new combine also features ‘combine advisor’, which uses these cameras (blue arrows) on the clean-grain and tailings elevators. It reads these inputs, and adjusts the inner threshing components to achieve the grain output and quality for which you’ve set the machine. Hopefully, this will make me a better combine operator!

It was interesting to watch them load the trade-in S680, and tie it down.  It was even more interesting to watch it be hauled away.  That combine has been a pretty good one, and the farmer who buys it will hopefully have more good experience.

The previous machine, a 2014 S680 was loaded and ready to leave the farm. We hope the new combine will be as reliable as this trade-in. It was one of the last of the 2014’s before they switched to Final Tier 4 engines. Never had to put DEF in this one. But the new one will require it.

 

As we enter the last weekend before Christmas, we will be assisting today at church with a funeral dinner for a beloved saint, 91-year-old Joan Long.  Such a dear, sweet lady.

Merry Christmas to you all.   Just as the old hymn says, this might be a good occasion to ‘count your many blessings’.

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New trailer and other news

Posted on December 19, 2018 by casifarm

Wednesday, December 19, 2018

Shop work happening today at Carnahan & Sons.  The new Wilson Commander trailer has arrived at the farm, and Brandon is busy attaching some accessories, and putting a polish on the aluminum parts.  He says it will make it easier to keep it shiny in the future.

The first glimpse of the new Wilson trailer as Brandon was hooking up to it at the dealer in Frankfort, IN.  This is our first trailer with a stainless back wall.

Brandon polishes the aluminum frame. Even though it is brand new, it takes on an even better shine!

John is also helping polish up this new trailer.

We are taking the time to spruce up the Peterbilt that will pull this new trailer.  It is getting a wash job, some repairs to the suspension controls, a couple new shocks, and new rubber on the drive wheels.  This should make for many miles of pleasant grain hauling.

The Peterbilt truck got new tires yesterday. Those will last a long time for us.

Another milestone:  Today marks the payment day for the annual installment on the Burke farm.  We bought that place back in ’12, and it has been a great place to farm ever since.  See the post on this website for November 7, 2012 to read about our acquisition of the Burke farm.

We continue our preparation for Christmas; most details are falling into place.  We now know when John and his family and Ben and fiancee Kierstin will be here.  As the older family members now, we have to have flexibility on when the family gathers.     Pat and I were very protective of our Christmas mornings back when the boys were still at home… but now, we accommodate our sons’ schedules and other holiday demands on their time.   The fact that we can spend some time together celebrating is more important than if it occurs exactly on Christmas day.

Looks like there will be no snow here, so a ‘white Christmas’ is not likely gonna happen.  Oh, well.  We remember the ‘reason for the season’– no matter what the weather.

Have a great rest of your week.

 

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December day

Posted on December 17, 2018 by casifarm

Monday, December 17, 2018

It’s a little bit of a slow day at Carnahan & Sons today.  Brandon is off to the doctor to get some attention to a finger  that got slammed in a door on Saturday.   Ouch!  The deliveries of grain are ‘caught up’ until the 28th.   The Pete and its trailer are in the shop today, for a wash job.  Tomorrow, Brandon will go to Frankfort, Indiana to pick up a new Wilson Commander semi trailer.  We upgraded a trailer, from the old ’96 model to a new ’19.  He’s eager to get that one home and start using it.

The Pete and its trailer are in the shop for a clean-up.

The new combines have arrived at the dealers… the CIH 8250 at JL Farm Equipment in Poseyville, IN and the JD S780 at Hutson’s in Jasper, IN.   It is an exciting thing to anticipate new machines arriving, probably before Christmas.  Each dealer has some considerable set-up and prep to do to be ready to deliver them here.   We are really hoping that the weather is nice on the delivery day.  It’s good to have a new machine arrive clean.

John speaks with Austin, who is the lead mechanic on the set-up of the S780.

The new 8250 combine has arrived at JL Poseyville, and will be delivered to the farm soon.

Some may wonder why we run 2 different colors of combines…. well, Ross prefers red, while I prefer green.  It’s nice that we can operate the machine of our choice.   We make it work… and with the adoption of Climate Corp’s, FieldView software system, we can seamlessly blend together the information gathered by each color combine into a single (and very useful) platform.

Pat and I just returned from a few fun days at Disney World.  We went down there to attend Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party.  It was really a wonderful time.

It was only 40 degrees on the night of the Christmas Party, but we bundled up and enjoyed it all. It felt as if the ‘snow’ on Main Street’ could be real snow!

It’s a clear and sunny day in SWIN today, 46ºF (8ºC).   The sunshine lifts your spirits, after a gloomy and rainy 3 days last week.  We received over 3 inches of rain, but with the way the terraces and fields look flooded, it seems as if we received more than that.  The flooding will float the crop debris into windrows or piles, that will require a little burning ahead of field operations in the spring.

We hope you’re all ready for the Christmas season, and looking forward to some special family time together.   It’s an old cliche, but remember most of all the ‘reason for the season’.

Have a terrific week.

 

 

 

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Sun returns

Posted on December 7, 2018 by casifarm

Friday, December 7, 2018

The sunshine has returned this morning.  After yesterday’s drizzly, chilly, gray day… today is refreshing!  The morning saw us send corn to GPC in Washington, IN, and the afternoon we will be sending some soybeans to ADM in Newburgh, IN.  The grain receiving system at GPC is highly regarded here:  they take corn by appointment!  Brandon goes online to their site and chooses arrival times.  Since it’s only about 15 minutes east of here, he can arrive easily on time.  This system eliminates the hours and hours of waiting in line to unload your truck!   By comparison, Brandon waited 2+hours in line at ADM in Newburgh the last time he went there.   I’m surprised more buyers have not adopted GPC’s system.

The Pete is getting loaded with soybeans today.

Another load goes out the lane!

We are nearing the clean out of our #9 bin of soybeans.  It will be our first bin to go MT (empty).   It’s always a good feeling to get a bin cleaned out, but it’s a two-edged sword, too.  When the last bushel goes out to market, it’s a relief, but it would also be nice to have some more bushels to sell!

We’re closing out this first full week of December with a sunny and cold day.  Right now it’s 28 (-2C).   Last night’s low was typical for this week, in the low 20s.  The thing that makes the temperature okay today is that there is no wind.   The past few weeks have generally been running below average, which for today in SWIN would be about 45ºF (9C).  It has given us ample opportunity to run the aeration fans on the grain in storage and get the grain cooled down.

Thursday morning, John and I attended a breakfast meeting put on by a local bank.  The meeting featured Dr. Michael Langemeier of Purdue  AgEcon department, who reported on his view of the agricultural outlook for Indiana for 2019.  His report was more bullish on soybeans than I expected, but his overall forecast was not very optimistic.  He is involved with Purdue Ag’s “Barometer”, where they survey 400 producers around the nation to get a read on farmer’s relative ‘feel’ about their economic conditions.  I’ll share one of his slides, which shows what farmers plan to plant to acres they are pulling out of soybean production.

One of the many slides from Dr. Langemeier’s presentation. If you plan to draw down your soybean acres, what is your plan to plant instead?

Took the opportunity to clean up the pickup.  Just feels better to get around when it’s clean.

Happy to have a warm shop to wash the pickup.

When this is clean, it makes me feel better!

John has replaced the slightly tattered flag atop the grain leg.  He uses a ‘wind resistant’ flag which gives it a much longer life up there.

John placed a new flag on the top of the elevator.

Have a great weekend everyone.  Hope it’s also sunny where you are!

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Gold Key Trip

Posted on December 3, 2018 by casifarm

Monday, December 3, 2018

Late last week, John and I spent a couple days in Illinois, making a trip to Moline to see our new S780 combine come together.  This program is something John Deere calls their “Gold Key” program, where the customer is invited in to see the Harvester Works (HW), and have some interaction with their particular machine.  Yes, we’ve been to Gold Key a few times before, but it is an experience that never grows old or ordinary!  In past trips, they timed your visit so that you arrive at the assembly line at the exact time your combine arrives at Station 22–where you get to start the engine for its first time.  On this visit, however, they had simplified the process (for them) and we saw our combine completed, and ready to ship.  It was outdoors, and an HW employee took me for a ride around the grounds in the finished product.  They brought it inside so that we could comfortably view it up close, and have the opportunity for some pictures.   It was a neat day to visit with the HW employees who build your combine, and see your new combine for the first time.   It’s like you can learn about your machine from the inside out.

Arriving at the Harvester Works, there are special parking spots for Gold Key Customers

Approaching the Visitor Center, you can see the remnants of the recent Quad Cities snow.

L to R. Stephen, our Gold Key guide; Colby, the supervisor of the Final Inspection area; and Russ, one of the technicians who makes sure there are no defects before the machines are shipped.

Inside the HW, we toured almost every aspect of the combine-building process.  We saw welders and fiber-optic lasers galore.  The painting process is amazing, as the components, big and small, are immersed in tanks of cleaner and primers.  The robots that apply two coats of that special green paint were very fast and efficient.   We saw the engines arrive from Waterloo, Iowa– just in time to be placed in the proper order for the assembly line.  The cab assembly was interesting and more complex than you can imagine.

The HW employees seemed to notice that visitors were around.  I cannot count the number of times we saw employees greet us and often say, “Thank You” to us.

John and I caught up with the 780 near the door where the combines go out to the ‘test track’ for their initial shake down.

At the final inspection station, inside the HW, Stephen presented us with the official Gold Key to the S780.

…and yes, it will work in the ignition to fire up the combine!

Later, we traveled with 2 other GK customers to the JD World Headquarters.  There, we toured the impressive building, and were treated to a terrific lunch.

John Deere World HQ, on John Deere Road in SE Moline, IL.

Once inside, we saw one of the many digital displays that made certain throughout the facility that the GK customers were warmly welcomed.

A chef prepared a delicious meal and dessert, just for the GK customers and our hosts. Salad, roast pork, and apple tart for dessert. Yum.

We made the trip back home Friday evening.   It was a special trip.  Let’s hope this new machine will have a long and happy time here at Carnahan & Sons!

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Flurries

Posted on November 27, 2018 by casifarm

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

There is snow in the air today.  Just a light amount of flurries, not a heavy snowfall.  We don’t expect any accumulation.  Still, it reinforces the chill in the air, and makes it seem like winter instead of late fall.  Snow in November is rare in SWIN.

It would be easier to see in a video, but the flakes are definitely there!

Today we’ll have a meeting with our accountant, and tomorrow another meeting with our agronomist from Nutrien.  We will finalize the pesticide and fertility plan for 2019.   Always something!

 

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Warm weekend, chilly Monday

Posted on November 26, 2018 by casifarm

November 26, 2018

What a difference a day makes… weather wise anyway.  Saturday, we were at 55F (13C), and yesterday, we hit 61ºF (16C)!  Yesterday had bright sunshine, but today is overcast, gray, drizzly, and gloomy.  The temp is 32F (0C) with 15mph winds, making it ‘feel like’ 21F (-6C)!

Brandon is delivering corn to GPC; he has a busy day with 5 trips to make.  Good thing it’s only about 11 miles away.  Ever since GPC arrived in SWIN, it has brought us a better corn market, often paying equal to the Ohio River corn markets, which are a bit over an hour’s drive from here.  The inbound grain system at GPC is rather unique.  You make appointments at a special website, (typically they are set for every 4 minutes), and thus long waits in line are eliminated.  John says that he once waited 8 hours at GPC to unload his truck, before this new methodology was adopted.  I’m surprised that similar plants haven’t adopted this model.  It sure makes for a more productive day…at least for those of us delivering to GPC.

Just takes about 4 minutes to load the trailer, but the guy outside on the platform has a chilly task today.

We got another USDA survey in Saturday’s mail, so I spent some time today filling that out.  It was similar to the many other USDA inquiries we receive during the year, so, we are getting familiar with the routine.  We can fill it out online nowadays, and that seems to go faster than the old paper document we had to compile and mail in.   Still, I have to gather information from the file cabinet and the computer to give them the information about acres and yields that they request.  I certainly don’t have it all memorized!

They still send a complete booklet of paper survey, but these days, I fill it out online.

We had a small family gathering for Thanksgiving on Thursday.  John and his family came for dinner (that’s at noon in rural Indiana).  The time was special, even if the group was small.   We all shared ‘what we are thankful for’… the girls’ answers were precious.   A nap was in the offing for part of the afternoon, and then some football on TV.   Pat’s mom came for a couple hours in the afternoon, but she was not feeling the best, and didn’t stay long.  John and Ashley had another family gathering that evening, so Pat and I were home alone the rest of the day.  The quiet was okay, too. Let’s you think…

Those of you dealing with heavy snow from the weekend, be careful and cautious.  Have a pleasant week!

 

 

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