It's been a wet couple of months. Crops in fields that were dry this summer are turning black from excess moisture. Soybeans are swelling and in some cases sprouting in the pods. Thanks for the picture Jason.
Many areas have received around 20 inches of rain since late August. As the quality of this big crop becomes progressively worse the soft fields are hindering harvest. If you look close in the pic below you can see a new crop of soybeans growing under the mature crop.
We harvested a corn field Friday and yesterday where much of the crop was standing in water. Ground that was not tilled much this spring has a firmer base than ground that was chiseled last fall.
Naturally the hardest job is to get the crop from the combine to the road. When our grain cart on tires sinks we rescue it by unloading it to the cart on tracks.
We've had folks ask why not wait till conditions are better. Good question. We have 3 reasons why we need to work at it when it's possible. First, the longer we wait the smaller the crop gets with weak corn stalks and soybeans falling out of the pods. Second, as you can see in the pic below the quality continues to deteriorate. Soybeans are sprouting in the pod and corn is sprouting in the shucks of upright ears. Cargill/Eddyville started rejecting loads of corn Friday for grain quality. Thanks again for this picture Jason. And finally and more importantly we harvest other folk's crop. That's what custom farming is. They have trusted their livelihood and their investment to us and we don't intend on letting them down.
This is how we picked corn when I was small. Dad used to like to pick on damp mornings because the ears picked cleaner. We would use picket fences to build storage 3 rings high and then grind it for cattle feed or shell it for hog feed. Mud was not a possibility back then. If it was wet you waited till things froze.
My first combine was an IH 715. I was 18 years old. Jan blocked traffic over the old narrow Des Moines River bridge just west of Belle Fountain Hill west of Oskaloosa so we could cross coming home from Knoxville having purchased it at Hines/Westburg Implement. Back in the 70s folks started using rice cane tires to help in the mud.
After a bad motor doing custom harvesting for Jan's Uncle Ed we traded for a New Idea from Carl at Drost Ford. It was not a new idea but a bad idea in mud. This picture was taken by the Oskaloosa Hearld along Hwy 92. Our landlords were Howard and Joann. The field is now a housing development called Otter Hills. Jan and I had our kids helping us all through harvest. My helper in the left corner of the cab is Mark who will be 40 this Thursday. My helper in the right corner is Becky. Her and Brian's daughter Hazel looks just like her mother in this picture.
After 10 years of driving a bad idea we bought a used IHC 1460 off of David, a custom operator in Vernon, TX. In the 1980s adding Mud Hogs became popular for fighting mud. A Mud Hog was a 4 wheel drive unit. We put 7210 hours on this combine before we sold it to Curt and Clint for salvage.
Our track tractor that was on the grain cart was getting metal filings in the hydraulic oil filters so it's currently being repaired.
So this past week we installed a PTO drive for one of our larger Cat tractors.
Tracks are by far the most effective and least intrusive at getting the crop out of a muddy field. Also folks are using a new LSW tire. It's a large low side wall tire that helps float over mud with less compaction.
As we have visited before all of our situations in life are determined by attitude. As I was driving semi yesterday to the field I decided we are going to continue to enjoy this season. The starting colors. The working together. The joy of having the privilege of harvesting a crop. The weather is out of our hands. The One in control of the weather is also in control of our operation. God knows our needs and cares about them. We are in His hands.
One year ago today Sydnie was baptized. Yesterday she gave me a big smile as she enjoyed helping her Dad as a one year old in her car seat in the semi.
Our children and grandchildren belong to the Lord. We get to love them, raise them, and enjoy having them as part of our lives. Enjoying family and supper in the field is something we all look forward to. Thanks gals for taking the time and effort to cook and come find us.
Just like the beginning of our and our loved ones lives are not in our control, also the end of our days is out of our hands. Lets make the best of the time we have here with the opportunities given us. Looking forward to a brighter week.
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