Cover crops

We hope Quentin's cover crops take advantage of this nice spring weather.  The turnips and radishes have done their job.  They have winter-killed, as expected, but the rye is greening up and will provide the most "cover" on the ground surface.  He only has one field to "test" cover crops this year so we'll see if they do a good enough job to justify using them in other fields or in specific areas.

 

Much to be thankful for!

What a busy week!  We are very thankful that Quentin (safely!) finished up strip-tilling and putting fertilizer on all our fields.  He has a couple fields left for neighbors that want to use his services (or possibly trade services), but is definitely in the home stretch.

The cows are busy calving.  Most have been born with no problems, but Quentin and Paul did have to pull a calf earlier this week.  It was a stubborn one, but has survived thus far!  Paul had to bottle feed him one day and is still having a few problems with momma refusing to let the calf suck.  Paul pulled another calf this morning, but it went a little easier.

My refrigerator.  Note to self: Don't get Noah's milk and the calf's milk mixed up!

We have a chance of rain in the forecast Monday night-Tuesday.  Now that the fertilizer application is done we are really hoping for some moisture to settle the dust!

Still at it

Quentin finished Street's down at Rose yesterday and moved on to Steeby's.  He should finish that easily today and will start on Paul's fields.  We can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Meanwhile, Quentin has asked me to start packing ibuprofen in his lunch.  I think he'll be happy to have a break before planting starts.

With such a mild February, the wheat is starting to green up nice.  (I am considering planting my yard to wheat next year just so I can have a lush, green lawn so early in the spring!)  It is nice for it to have extra time to grow, but we are praying the wheat doesn't take off and then get nipped by a late frost.

Marilyn's wheat

Progress!

Quentin moved down to do the field at Rose today.  We were just by, and it looks likes he is making good progress on it!

Sunday refueling

Sunday!  A day of rest and refueling...literal refueling.  Quentin ran the tractor down pretty low by the end of yesterday and spent some time this afternoon refueling and greasing.  He was able to finish up on Chambers' fields easily yesterday and decided he could take some time to relax today, especially since the COOP is closed anyway.  Tomorrow, it's back to the grindstone!

Three years flies by

Today marks three years on the farm for Quentin and I!  I found this picture from one year ago today.  It was very, very cold that morning, and this brand new baby calf was brought inside our house to try and warm up.  Sierra "helped" nurse him and he was back with his momma by nighttime.  (Thankfully!)

 

 

Coincidentally, Paul told me this morning that calving had started.  He had two new baby calves and more on the way soon.  Luckily it is over 70 degrees today so the calves can stay out in the pasture where they belong!

 

Quentin is still putting fertilizer on Chambers' today.  He had another delay yesterday when the tractor had a flat tire.  It always seems to be something!  Praying for a smooth day today.

Strip-till



Quentin is chipping away at putting on fertilizer.  We had a light shower (0.1") Monday night, but it did not keep them out of the field for too long.  They also had some equipment issues, but were able to get up and running again fairly quickly.  Quentin hopes to have a good day today and plans to move over to Chambers' ground yet this morning. 

 

For those of you unfamiliar with our strip-till implement, here is a look at the field after they have finished.  The ground is broken up in strips, leaving as much of the surface untouched as possible.  At the same time, the fertilizer (both dry and anhydrous) is put in the strip down into the future root zone.  They will do this on all the fields which will be planted to corn.  With the GPS and related software capabilities now available, you can plant precisely in the same strip, which helps those seedlings get off to a good start.

 



Short day

It warmed up enough for the men to finish up on Kenneth's this afternoon.  The COOP closed early today so Quentin quickly ran out of fertilizer, but if they can get someone to fill them tomorrow afternoon they might try and run a bit more then.

Glad I don't have to drive...

I am VERY thankful that I do not have to try and drive this rig!  I am sure that I would either take out a fence or hit a tree line.  There is NO backing up, that's for sure!

Quentin started on Kenneth's field this afternoon.  He is just across the creek south of our house.  I can still see the lights going now, but I'm not sure how far he'll get before he runs out of fertilizer.  Tomorrow's forecast looks pretty frigid so we will have to see if they can run or not.  This morning was chilly enough.  I knew it was cold when they came in looking for my hair dryer to thaw something out!

And so it begins...

Quentin is out in the field with the strip-till rig, putting fertilizer on the corn ground!  The temperatures are still a little bit cool, and he wasn't able to get going until after lunch, but he finished one small field of Marilyn's and is on to another.  The next couple days look pretty chilly.  They will be short days, if he is able to go at all.  However, if we can miss the next rain (small chance of precip Sunday) next week looks warm and dry.  It would be a great time to really get rolling!

Home sweet home

The combine is back from its "check-up" at the dealership!  The mechanic had a long list of combines to work on this winter so we felt fortunate to get it back so soon.  Quentin and Paul are planning to do a lot of repairs/replacements themselves so they are glad for the extra time to get everything done before they get busy in the fields.  It may be a learning experience!  Quentin was looking through the pallet of parts they ordered, scratching his head, and muttering things like "What is that?" and "Where does that part go?"  Don't worry!  I have been assured that this will NOT be one of those projects where you take something apart, put it back together and then sweep the extra unknown parts under the rug.

Quentin was able to have the rest of the lime on Kenneth's and Marilyn's fields spread today.  The fields were a little soft still, but they were able to get out there without tracking them up.  Glad to have that job done!

Wet fields

The fields were just starting to dry out a little yesterday.  Quentin was having some lime spread, but the COOP truck wasn't working right and then the wind came up so they did not get much done.  Last night, we received about 0.5" of rain so it will be a while before they can get back in the field.  Meanwhile, we are happy that we are no longer living in Iowa.  We were able to avoid both the snow and the politics yesterday!