Short days again

The men are trying their hardest to get some beans cut, but they have had a couple of short days.  Yesterday was a short day, of course, since it was a Sunday.  This morning was foggy, and they were not able to start until around 2.  Then, the combine had a run in with a log that had floated up in the field.  Not good a good day.  They were down for a large chunk of the afternoon.  

We hope tomorrow will be a better day!  We have chances of rain in the forecast tomorrow night and also Wednesday night.  They may not be able to finish up Chambers' before the rain, but they will do what they can.

Cutting again

The men tried the beans yesterday, but the grain was too wet.  Today, the sunshine and wind dried things out by 11:30 or so, and they were off to the field.  They cut Marilyn's beans and have now moved over to begin on Chambers' ground.  They will be there for a few days, at least.  The next chance of rain looks to be on Wednesday so they should be able to get quite a bit cut before that.

 

 

 

A little wet

We are a little wet today.  We had about 0.4" of rain early this morning so we will be out of the field for a couple days, at least.

More rain?

There is more rain in the forecast for tonight.  We were able to cut Kenneth's soybeans today.  There are long lines at the COOP these days, which slows us down considerably, but we are chipping away at it!
 

Another field done!

Paul finished combining on Street's this afternoon.  It was short days and slow going over the weekend, but we are rolling along now.  Our favorite truck driver is even back from Texas to help out for a few days!  I think the plan is to start on Ken's field tomorrow as soon as it is dry enough to run.

Broke down

The combine spent much of the day sitting, unfortunately.  A tie rod on the back left tire broke.  There was a parts run, which led to a second parts run, which turned in to an extended parts run...well, you get the idea.  It was a long day.  By 4:30 this afternoon, it was up and running again, but that made for a short day of combining.  However, we are thankful that the parts store was able to track down a part on a Saturday afternoon...even if it meant driving to Missouri to retrieve it!
 

Plugging away

The weather has been cooperative this week, and the combine is chugging along.  Steeby's was finished by early afternoon, and then on to Street's down at Rose.

Soybean harvest

The soybeans were a "go" by late yesterday afternoon.  The ground is a little soft, but not too bad.  Hopefully, Paul can finish the field up at his house tomorrow and then move on to Steeby's.  However, we are expecting a cloudy day with a slight chance for rain so we will have to see how the beans dry out.

Back to harvest?

The soybeans are ready to come out of the field, but we are not sure if the ground is dry enough yet.  The combine has left the hay barn so I guess we will find out soon!  They will start up at Paul's house today.

 

 

 

Always something...

There is always something to work on at the farm!  Quentin has been giving the strip-till fertilizer applicator a tune-up.  If he gets a chance yet this fall, he strip a few fields before the ground freezes.  The rig needs some serious maintenance first.  With the soybean fields still wet, it is a good time to get started.

 

Wet again

We only had 0.5" of rain last night, but with the saturated ground, it was enough to make good mud puddles.  Harvest is still on hold.

Switching gears

The men are spending the afternoon switching the combine back over for soybeans.  It is nearly dry enough to try something, but rain is in the forecast for tonight again.

Flying on cover crops

Quentin enrolled a couple fields in a conservation program that helps with cover cropping expenses.  However, the program comes with dates and deadlines that don't always translate to good timing on the farm, especially with wet fields.  In order to get the cover out in a timely manner, he contacted a airplane service to fly the seed on a field that currently has beans on it.  They came out yesterday and the kids and I went to watch.  It sure was a quick way to plant!

Flooded again

We have been flooded again!  I'm not sure how much rain we had because our rain gauge broke in the storms, but at least 5 inches.  With the ground already pretty saturated, the water was over the roads again.  By the time we woke up this morning, it had gone down quite a bit, but based on the gravel wash and trash in the fields, it was up even higher than the last flood!

Quentin is using the down time to coordinate cover crops and analyze some of the corn yield data.  It's already time to start ordering seed for next year!

Almost done??

We ended up with only 0.2" of rain last night.  There was a heavy fog and dew this morning, but by 2pm the corn and ground were dry enough to roll the combine back out of the barn.  Quentin worked on the field by Paul's house and finished the "dry part" by early evening.  That leaves about 12 acres  there and about 3 acres down at Rose left to harvest.  We will have to wait for drier weather (or frozen ground) to finish.  There are chances of rain again tonight through tomorrow night.

It takes a village

We had a busy day yesterday!  We thought it might end up being a very short day in the field when rain showers began popping up mid afternoon.  We had a few sprinkles, but the storms slid around us.  Yeah!

Close call!  Afternoon showers just missed us.

Quentin was able to keep cutting on the home place, despite some soft areas.  He really wanted to get it cut, or we might have had to wait until the ground froze to get back in the "swamp" area.  The COOP lines were very long, and the combine had to keep shutting down to wait for the next truck.  Frustrating!!

If you have a village helping, however, you can get some things done!  Ken and Paul were on the trucks, and I was in the grain cart.  Grandma was on babysitting duty.  It looked like we might have to quit with just a few acres left last night, but a neighbor who had just finished his harvesting brought his semi over so we could load it up late last night.  We were able to finish the whole field about 9:30.  Whew!  It does take a village sometimes...


 

One more day

One more day of predicted dry weather!  Quentin had an early morning to try and get things going.  It is windy with very little dew so they can get started earlier today.  Paul is out drilling one more field of rye cover crop while Quentin and Ken get the corn harvest going.  Paul should be done soon so he can join them before it gets too busy.  They are trying the corn on the home place, but will move to the field by Paul's house if the home place is too muddy.  We will keep one eye on the sky (or radar) as the day progresses.  You don't want to be caught in the rain with a full combine!!

Racing the rain...again

We are racing the rain again.  There is a pretty good chance of storms later in the day tomorrow.  The men are scrambling to get done what they can.  They have about 150 acres of corn left in the field and will not be able to finish before the storms.  They will do what they can.

Quentin spent the morning getting the drill ready so Paul could plant cover crops on the one field of harvested beans.  It will be good to get that in before the rain.  The rye they put out in the field west of our house is already coming up.

Quentin and Ken are headed to the corn field on Osterloh this afternoon to cut.  It is still pretty soft in spots, but they hope to get it out today without tracking it up too much.  Even in the "drier" fields, I can see the tire tracks in the ground.



Making a few tracks in the fields

If they finish Osterloh, that will leave a field at Paul and Helen's and the "home place" on Chambers' left to harvest.  Hopefully, the rain will hold off at least until late tomorrow so they can get one more day of corn harvest in this week.
 

Short, but productive

We had a short, but productive day in the field.  We had a later than usual start with church and then a quick birthday party for Isaac (Happy 7th Birthday to our pint-sized farmer!)  The men headed to the field around 1:30pm and were able to finish on Austin Frank's around 7.  The COOP lines are getting long, and the ground is still a little soft, but we are chipping away at the corn!

Counting our blessings

Well, the breakdowns didn't stop with the semi yesterday.  As they were fixing the wheel bearing on the semi, Quentin noticed hydraulic oil leaking on the combine.  Then, when the red truck came back to the field, he noticed that a front tire on it was cracked all around the rim!  We were starting to feel like it was just not our day to harvest, BUT we still had blessings to count.  The hydraulic leak was a minor fix, the semi was fixed within a couple hours, and the red truck was up and running soon after.  Most importantly, Quentin noticed the red truck tire before it blew out on Ken cruising down the highway.  The day, while frustrating, could have been much, much worse.  Everything was back up and running before dark, and they were able to get a good chunk of Chambers' on Austin Frank's cut.

Trying to run

Harvesting on Chambers' ground again today.  It seems like we've been plagued with truck trouble all season and today is no different.  We've had a double blow out on the semi and then a wheel bearing go out, also on the semi.  Currently running with just the red truck, but we'll see how that works.  Quentin may try to borrow a truck from a neighbor not running today, or we may quit if we run in to wetter ground.