Too wet

A test cut on Kenneth's corn was 16.3 moisture.  The cutoff for dockage is 15.5 so the combine is parked for a couple more days.  It is getting dry and dusty here.  The soybeans could use a good rain, but we do not have a good chance in the forecast right now.

It's a go!

The moisture was good on the test sample so harvest officially began today!  We were able to finish one field of Marilyn's easily this afternoon.  It was slow at first, with lots of stopping and adjusting the combine, but picked up as we moved through the field.  Noah and I ran the grain cart for awhile so we liked the easy pace to get back in the groove.  As some of you may remember, Quentin's Valentine's Day present to me was a new(ish) tractor.  As it turns out, it really WAS for me.  I have two words for you...no clutch.  That's right.  There is a clutch, but you do not have to use it.  At all.  Best. Present. Ever.  We will continue the hunt for dry corn tomorrow on another field!

 

Unloading

Today?

Could today be the day?  Snouts down, headed for the field to cut a test sample.

Snouts down

Waiting for harvest

Now that the equipment is ready for harvest, we come to the hard part...waiting. We have heard whispers of neighbors trying the corn or hand-harvesting to check the moisture, but no moistures below 18% or so have been reported. We had another 0.4" of rain on Tuesday. The men are keeping busy with general equipment repairs and other miscellaneous tasks around the farm.  The red grain truck got a little extra cleaning when accidentally Quentin set off a fire extinguisher in the cab that evidently was missing its pin. (As luck would have it, I won a fire extinguisher to replace it at the Farm Bureau meeting the other night!) The sprayer was also overdue for a new tank, which will probably result in other repairs before it is all said and done!  

 

Trying to get the tank off the sprayer

Spraying beans

With the ground still a bit wet, the planes and helicopters have been out spraying fungicide and insecticide on the beans in the area.  Quentin did some scouting and decided to have a few fields done with a helicopter.  We watched from the safety of our house!

Helicopter spraying west of our house

Hot and humid

The days have been very warm and humid.  The men are getting ready for harvest.  The combine, trucks and tractor-grain cart have all been checked over and are waiting for the corn to dry down.  It is starting to look very brown in spots, but most fields still have a lot of green left in them.  I expect someone in the neighborhood to try it this week, and we will get an idea of the moisture then.

 

Marilyn's corn

 

Always something

There is always something that needs done to the combine before harvest.  This morning, it was a kitten removal operation.  Our mama cat decided to climb down in one of the augers and have her kittens last night.  It would be a great, safe place....if it was not almost harvest season.  Quentin had the combine out yesterday to begin prepping it for corn harvest, but he graciously put the work on hold this morning so we could locate and then relocate the kittens.

Plenty of moisture

We had two more inches of rain late last week.  The grass is green again, and the beans are happily flowering and even putting on pods!



Flowering beans

Growing beans

Time on the farm marches on.  The soybeans sure loved that rain we got over the weekend!  They are getting tall and flowering well now.  The corn is already drying up and marching towards harvest.  It will not be long until it is time to get the combine out again!

Getting tall!

When it rains, it pours!

We took a family vacation this week and came home to find 5.75" in the rain gauge!  I guess we should leave home more often...