Reaping What We Sow

The hand-cranked corn sheller started in the 1800s as a tool to shell ear corn. Ears are fed into a mechanical cylinder with ridges powered by a hand crank. We use this rig in late August and early September to shell hand picked ears.

                              

Then we test the corn moisture off those hand picked ears. This tells us what fields are close or ready to harvest. With our newer genetics and a dry September, I think folks will be surprised at how fast and how far this crop will dry down. 

We built our first small pit for an auger hopper in 1980. It was easier as a drive over. It was also safer when our kids were smaller. Since Jan and I harvested together back then, she had a couple in the combine and I'd have a couple unloading. Thirty years ago when we'd clean the rotten corn out for a new season, I'd tell my kids, "Boys, this is what beer is made of." Hoping to dissuade them trying alcohol. Today I tell that same thing to my grandkids.

Jan has gone above and beyond making meals for us this summer. This past week she brought lunch up just east of our place to the Morgan farm where Jeremiah is helping us build a small electrical building and a Mexican crew is putting up a bin.

We have started combining this past week. Grain moistures through the combines are running 20% to 26% on 106 to 108 day maturity and coming down every day. Quality is excellent and yield is very high. I think early planting, plenty of nitrogen, and fungicide treatment have all paid off with our wet summer and dry fall.

Most of our corn crop still goes straight to the processer in Eddyville. Marketing is a challenge this year with prices down 40% from the high a couple of years ago. It takes a different mindset. Our best sales for this crop were made from August to November of 2023. We have also sold some 2025 crop for next year on small rallies. Truly a risk any way you look at it.

Phantom yield loss is a phenomenon we've observed in fields we pick early. And then come back and finish a field when the grain is ten points drier. Yield reductions occur as corn dries down in the field after reaching maturity. We're not talking wet verses dry bushels. This loss is more than head shell, stalk lodging, and pest damage. And is hard to explain. Some studies suggest this loss ranges from 1 to 2 bushels per acre for every percentage point drop in moisture content. Farmers face a trade-off when deciding whether to harvest early and add to drying cost or wait.

We are harvesting a crop we planted five months ago. I can still remember warning our kids about choices made in life. Like the beer story earlier I'd say, "Remember, you always reap what you sow". Our sowing and reaping happens in crops, thoughts, and actions. We usually think of this warning in a negative sense and facing consequences. But this also has a very positive side as a promise of blessing for sowing wise choices. Brothers, Karl, BJ, and Kurt are wrapping up an afternoon together on the edge of the field after an early Eddyville close. 

The Bible talks a lot about planting and harvesting. And sowing and reaping. In my early mornings this past week the phrase, "Blessed are the meek" came to mind. Meekness is not weakness. It's authority under control. It's a willingness to submit or defer to others. It's the opposite of overbearing, arrogance, and pride. What am I sowing? What will I reap? How about you?