Reason 92

Why I Love Farming Reason # 92

My kids know what their parents, grandparents, and a lot of neighbors and friends do for a living. 

 

 

 

Day 9 of Planting

Today, I had to run Joe out to the field to start planting corn.  I jumped in the tractor and  rode a whole 100 yards with him.  It's been a long time - probably BC - before children - since that has happened.

Sometimes you just have to sit and tell Mom how it is.
 

 

 

The previous 8 days of planting this spring are chronicled on our FaceBook page - 2 Farmers & Their 3 Sprouts.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/2-Farmers-Their-3-Sprouts/121924591316104?ref=hl

Six Days

Six days until entry day of the Clayton County Fair.

Saturday Video

Farm Boy Creativity

I love farm boy creativity.  Take 1 very hot and humid day, add in a couple of boys and Mom never knows what to expect.

I wasn't sure what was transpiring when Son #3 wanted to know where to find the dish soap (Apparently he has never had a need to use it before now.) and his pop-up tent.  Then I looked out the window to see every hose on the farm connected together and going all the way from the seed warehouse across the farm yard, to the top of the hill by the machine shed.  Next, I saw Son #1 wandering from building to building.  When I asked what he was looking for I got the usual "not much" comment.

When they ran out of the house in their swimming trunks I figured they were going to have a water fight.  Well, they did a little better than that . . .  All I can say is that necessity is the mother of invention.

Silage tarps tacked down with tent spikes make
a great slip and slide.

Squirt a little dish soap on the plastic to
add some speed.

 

FUN ALL THE WAY DOWN!

No Planting Today

Last night we had heavy rains so we were not able to plant today.  However, there was plenty to do to get ready for the next opportunity to get back into the field.

Chuck loading and unloading seed for customers.  With the
delay in planting some customers are switching corn hybrids
to shorter season hybrids.
 

We were fortunate last night.  Areas to the north and west, Howard and Floyd counties specifically,received 6 to 8 inches of rain, while in central Iowa there were tornadoes and damaging straight line winds.


It looks as though the Midwest is in for another

tough night of storms so be vigilant and

stay safe.

Amos, the intern, washed up equipment after
7 days of hard running.

Travis and Dad hauled corn to the river barge terminal.

It was a good day to visit with the neighbors and see
how every one is doing.  Congratulations Ben!
Glad to see that the diploma was signed ;-).

Tonight we did something that we haven't been able to do in over a week.  It seems longer than that maybe because it's so important to our family.  We actually sat done at the dinner table and had supper together.  To celebrate I made the family favorite Puffy Pancakes.

I added this recipe to the Family Favorites tab at the top.

The 7th Day of Planting

It rained very early this morning so Joe and Dad did not get back into the corn planters until about 2:00 pm today.  But, that was ok.  There was time for church and laundry.  They already quit tonight do to the storms that will be rolling in shortly but there was still plenty of time today for Joe to get his "working look" on.

Really, he does clean up pretty well.

 



The 5th Day of Planting

There were spotty showers over the area last evening so we were not able to plant right away this morning.  It was a good time to fix and tweak the planters.

 
 
 











The following are pictures of my daily views during the spring planting season.  I spend the spring in the seed warehouse and office to keep our customers going with seed.   



My view from the forklift.
 

      My view in the office.

Son #3 told me that it's really boring being in the warehouse.   I think Morton agrees.

                                        

The 4th Day of Planting

Pit Stop!

Stan & Chuck filling the tractor with fuel and the planter with seed.

 

 

Derk is in the Hagie and ready to head back out to the field with another batch of herbicide (A herbicide is a crop protection product that kills the weeds so corn can grow and flourish without competition for water, sunlight, and nutrients).






Tonight #3 was just out of sorts.  I think everyone is a little edgy from trying to push as hard as we can.  So, I took him out to the field to ride with his dad for a few rounds.  He hasn't really seen or talked to his dad for about 4 days. 

 

 

All is better.

The First Day of Planting

Needed one more bag to finish up the field.

Working on planter plumbing.

Done with this field.

Weekend Activities

Friday night Joe and Dad snuck out to a field to try apply anhydrous ammonia (NH3).  They decided is was do-able but we needed to be selective as to where we going to go.   By Saturday morning everyone was pretty confident on how the NH3 was going on the field so we got two applicators going.

#3 and Grandpa knifing NH3



 

 

 

 

Stan and #1 knifing NH3 in another tractor/applicator. 
Stan said one of the best things about auto steer is being
able to eat lunch to still run the tractor.

 

 



We use NH3 as our main source of nitrogen for our corn crop for a couple of reasons.  1.  It's the cheapest nitrogen product on a per pound of nitrogen basis.  2.  In our soils, the crops responds best to anhydrous ammonia compared to dry urea or liquid 28%. 

 

 

Here is the monitor we use to apply the NH3.  The top number is the pounds of nitrogen applied per acre.  We are applying 135 lbs/acre.  That is sufficient for corn following soybeans.  The second number is the number of acres that has been applied with this tank.  So this tank has put out 20.08 acres with of nitrogen.  The third number down is one I don't consider to relevant unless your a techie like my dad.  And the bottom number is the speed of the tractor which was 6.8 mph.  the green picture to the left of the numbers is a picture of the field showing the swaths the tractor and applicator have made. 


This is the auto steer monitor.  It shows the path the tractor is on as well as where the unit has been.

 

The auto steer isn't 100% driver free, especially in northeast Iowa where farms are not square and farming is done on the contour along with terraces and waterways.  So the driver does have to keep the tractor directed but it does help the driver avoid overlaps.   And it also gives the driver more time to goof around in the cab with his grandson.

 The tool bar is 47.5 feet wide and has 4 auto shutoffs that shut down the different sections of the tool bar as the swath narrows or widens.  Again, this is something that comes in very handy when farming on the contour. 

 

 

 

To keep the applicators going we need to haul NH3 tanks from the fertilizer facility back to the field.  Babushka (my mom) was hauling with the help of son #2.  She drove with #2 hooked and unhooked the tanks.

 

The thing about spring is that when it's fit to "go" everyone goes.   Sometimes the fertilizer facility runs out of NH3 as the facility can only hold so much and so the operators try to keep trucks delivering product but one never knows for sure when the weather and soil with all be fit and so sometimes there is a shortage until the next tanker comes in.  But it gives Chuck and #1 a chance to visit with the neighbors while waiting.

While most of the crew was on NH3 detail, Joe sprayed our corn fields that are going to soybeans with burndown.  Burndown is slang term for the herbicides we spray on the fields to prevent weeds from coming up before and after we have the soybeans planted.  We notill our soybeans meaning we don't do any tillage to the field after harvest in the fall or in the spring prior to planting the soybeans.  This is a soil conservation practice.  So, in order to keep weeds from competing against the soybeans, we use herbicides.

 

So, what did I do this weekend?  Well, I tended the seed warehouse.  Unfortunately, alfalfa growers are discovering that the winter was very tough on alfalfa stands so fields need to be ripped and new fields need to be planted.   Son #2 and I also burned terraces.  Here are a couple of pictures of our handy work.

We burn terraces every few years to control certain insects like hopvine borers and common stalk borers that live in bromegrass but also love seedling corn plants.  Also, after so many years the old grass builds up just like in your lawn.  Since we can't run a dethatcher across the terrace like you would in the lawn, we burn instead.








Throw in a Junior High track meet and that about sums up our weekend. 

This week's weather doesn't sound conducive to spring field work so we will be looking for windows of opportunity to get more field work done whenever possible.

Until next time,
Suzanne

Maybe Spring Is Going to Arrive

It's still chilly outside this morning but signs of spring are starting to come through the long purgatory between winter and spring.



  

Thunder and Lightning are a week old. They
were born within hours of each other as a
low front went through. I love how
new borns are so shiny!

Derk helped me to get safety equipment installed
in the seed treating room.



The chicks are now in that teenage/awkward stage. 



The feather peonies and day lilies are
starting to slowly peek out.