We’re done! October 16th and the corn and beans are in the bin, and the wheat is in the ground. Amazing, last year we hadn’t even started at this time. We started on September 18th this year and finished in almost exactly a month.
Yields were below average this year. Not getting any rain in August and September killed us. Prices are way above average, so it’ll all work out ok.
My biggest frustration was our yield monitor quit working on the 3rd day, so we weren’t able to gather almost the entire season of yield data. I should’ve packed it up and shipped it in for repairs the first day it quit, but I spent a few days going back and forth with the local software ‘expert’ and then a few days back and forth with the local hardware ‘expert’ before discovering they knew, well, nothing. It’s enormously frustrating to fiddle around with expensive electronic gadgetry that was carelessly built and not supported by the manufacturers.
My biggest, umm, what’s the opposite of frustration? Success story? Joy? Anyway, we installed sensors on the dryer augers so that if the augers failed then the dryer unloader would shut down and not run corn out on the ground. These sensors worked splendidly. We had a couple of auger failures and each time the system worked and we had nary a kernel of corn on the ground. Kudos to Matt Rider of Rider Electric in Columbia City for designing and installing it.
While the dry weather this summer hurt yields, it sure made harvest pleasant. We could drive the machinery anywhere and not worry about getting stuck or damaging the soil.
I didn’t see lots of wildlife this year, at least not lots of variety. I saw lots of deer, lots of woodcocks, hawks, bunnies, just one coyote, an owl. We need more predators, 2 or 4 legged, to take care of the deer, they’re becoming a pest.
The crops are in the bin, and now since the dry weather is persisting, we’re on to getting some long overdue soil samples taken, applying fertilizer, and spraying winter weeds.
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