Haying again!

After some slow drying days, the men are out raking and baling hay again today.  They hope to get a lot done before the next rain.  We have a good chance in the forecast for Friday evening.

In the meantime, Quentin has been working on the combine, getting everything ready for corn.  Harvest is coming more quickly than we realize!

It's beginning to look like fall

The corn fields are beginning to look very fall-ish!  The corn is drying up fast and harvest will be here before we know it.  Quentin has started talking about getting the combine and corn header out and ready to go, but I know they would like to finish haying first.  Paul mowed some hay yesterday so they may be able to get back to baling later today or tomorrow.

Podding beans

We went to tour a few soybean fields yesterday.  Most fields are podding now and have some at least around the bottom of the stem.  (They flower and pod from the bottom up.)  The earliest beans have pods all the way up the stem now.  The pods are still pretty flat, but they look great.  The last soybeans planted are still flowering and should be putting pods on soon.  Quentin has been out scouting for podworms.  They have been spotted in some fields around the area already this year.  Last year, we sprayed for them and may have to again this year.

Persistent rain

The rain showers are persisting at just frequent enough intervals to keep the men out of the hay field.  I think they have around 100 acres left to hay and would be thankful for a dry week to finish up.  The early season corn is starting to dry up fast.  The later season still looks pretty green, but will be turning soon, I'm sure.  The beans are putting on pods and soaking up moisture and sunshine!

More rain!

We were not expecting much out of the latest cool front, but we had 0.4" of rain yesterday and another 3" this morning!  Not great for the hay, but the soybeans are very happy!

Hot days!

We are having a lot of hot, humid days!  The soybeans are holding up well, but could use a rain soon.  The men are plugging away at the haying.  They had a couple delays.  A cloudy morning with sprinkles slowed drying one day and a hydraulic hose broke on the mower yesterday, but they are going full force again today.  We do have some rain chances over the next few days and hope that we get some moisture for our soybeans!

Back to it

Back to raking and baling today!  We are supposed to have a stretch of dry weather this week so they should be able to get quite a bit done. 

Soon we'll be ready for more rain!  I've decided farmers are a very demanding group.  Rain.  Not too much rain.  More rain.  Dry out a little.  Not too dry.  More rain.  Seriously, though, it has been a great year weatherwise so far.  We're excited for harvest.  I have seen some early corn (on a neighbor's field) that is drying down already.  It won't be long before harvest season is here!