The end

Harvest 2016 is officially over!  Quentin finished harvesting the last few acres of corn down at Rose this afternoon.  Whew!

Reflections of a grain cart driver

As the season draws to a close, and my grain cart days come to an end, I thought I'd take a moment to reflect on my time in the tractor this year.  (After all, I have nothing else exciting to post today.). So here are my top ten life (tractor) lessons learned:

10.  The first rule is "DO NOT GET STUCK".  Really?  You would think it would be something more like "Don't hit anything" or "Don't miss the truck when you unload".

9.  Always wear appropriate footwear to the field.  Even if you think you are just there to drop off a lunch or water jug, be prepared to spend at least two hours and don't wear flip flops.

This was not in my afternoon plan

8.  I am never, ever getting a manual transmission vehicle.  My left leg is completely incapable of easing gently on and off the clutch.  I always thought it was a coordination issue, but I may need to do some strengthening excercises.  I wonder if the IRS would recognize a leg press as a business expense.

7.  Do not get stuck in the mud.  I cannot tell you how many times I heard this.

6.  If your father-in-law tells you one thing and your husband tells you something different, you should probably listen to the one you have to sleep with at night.

5.  Driving a tractor is kind of fun...until you've been at it for more than 8 hours.  I have new sympathy for the time Quentin puts in during planting season.  It is hard (and exhausting) to sit still for that long!

4.  If you eat your sandwich in the tractor while watching your husband eat his sandwich in the combine as he unloads, date night obligations are fulfilled.

3.  If you want an added challenge, throw a two year old in the passenger seat.  For even more fun, pile in his older sister.  If you can ignore them moving your seat up or down and honking the horn, they provide good entertainment.



Expert navigators

2.  The appropriate driving speed is the speed that gets you to and from the trucks in time for the combine to dump on you.  You waiting on the combine...ok.  The combine waiting on you...NOT OK.  The latter will result in a phone call from your impatient husband.

1.  DO NOT GET STUCK IN THE MUD!!!!  Seriously.

Switch back

We had a dreary day here with some light showers.  Quentin used the time to blow all that dust off the combine and start switching it back for corn.  I'm not sure who needs a bath worse...the combine or Quentin.



Dusty, dusty

In the books

Soybean harvest is done for this year!!  The men were happy to wrap it up this afternoon.  There are rain chances in the forecast tonight and tomorrow.  The last field was not fun to harvest.  It was on Watts' near the creek.  Clearly the water had been up over the beans.  They were covered in dirt!  The dust was so bad that Quentin couldn't see where he was driving, especially as they were finishing around dusk.

There are still around 15 acres of corn in the field where there were wet spots earlier in the harvest season.  It will not take long to finish up, but we will have to wait and see how much rain we get out of the front coming through.

Planting and harvesting

The clouds were hanging around yesterday morning, but the sun came out around 11am.  Quentin and Paul tried the beans early afternoon, but the moisture was too high.  Instead, they switched to planting rye cover crop on some of the old corn ground.  They tried again around 5pm and were able to cut for a couple hours before the moisture settled back in.  The sun is out this morning, and they hope to get an earlier start today.

The earlier planted cover crops are doing well.  Quentin is harvesting the soybeans on which they had an airplane fly on the cover earlier in October.  With the warm fall, the cover is doing almost too well.  Quentin said the rye is tall enough to interfere with the harvesting a bit.  They run the combine header so low with soybeans that the rye is getting a little trim.

Rye-radish cover flown on Winfrey's

Dreary day

It is a dreary day here today.  We had a light shower this morning and more chances of rain throughout today and tonight.  It is enough to stop the men from getting out the combine, but not enough to keep them out of the field completely.  They have decided to focus on planting a few fields of wheat today as long as the weather holds.

Yesterday, they were able to finish up on Chambers' fields.  They moved everything back under cover yesterday evening in preparation for the rain.  I think they have 100-120 acres of soybeans left to harvest and about 15 acres of corn.  A few days of good weather should allow us to finish up.

Ready to combine!

Quentin hopes to get a full day of combining in today.  There is sunshine and a nice breeze this morning so he is out getting the combine ready early.  He'll start on Osterloh and then finish Chambers' fields.  He has Harry Frank's and some after wheat beans left there.  I'm not sure if he'll be able to finish everything today or not, but he'll do what he can!