Crops

[Al_Smith]

  Stone crock hootch .The juice would ooze out the bottom of the silo drains .The chickens would drink the stuff and stagger around like drunken sailors .

Seldom does anyone ensile corn around here any more .The dairy farmers are few and far between these days .

[beenthere]

The old timers had a way to put a jug in with the silage and make whiskey. Can't remember the exact process now, but it was pretty simple.

When a kid, we had a man come out every fall and set glass jugs around in the bottom of the silo before filling, and when it was emptied out after the winter, he'd come out and retrieve them. Don't know how he processed the juice that was in the jugs or if drank it straight, but he would volunteer to clean the last of the old silage and set new jugs (that part I liked).

[sandhills]

    I have never heard of corn squeezins made that way, might have to try it this year.  Don't think I'm man enough to actually drink anything that might accumulate in the jar though  .  Paul I know what your talking about, in 2002 we burned up really bad, that year I pulled that poor little 3800 cutter over about 600 acres (with a 2 row head) I've never been so sick of cutting silage in my life.  According to the insurance company my dryland corn would've made 2 bu per acre.  Right now feed looks to be a good commodity to have on hand.

[Raider Bill]

Mason jar, lid not screwed on tight, bottom of pit. As a disclaimer, I have not tried it myself.

Really!  Hmmmmm That's a new one for me too.

[Kansas]

I have heard of the mason jar trick but it wasn't the one I was thinking of. Probably same results. Did a little research, and the one I was thinking of was a gallon jug with a corn cob plugging the hole. The corn cob filtered the stuff that went into the jug. What I can't figure is they pack that stuff tight with heavy tractors. How do you keep from breaking them. In the old days, you could have set them in the bottom of an upright silo, and I don't believe they really packed those. Just the weight of the silage would settle over gradually.

I wouldn't mind trying it. Naturally, it would be for scientific purposes only.

[Al_Smith]

Those silos I refered to were not air tight like  the "Harvestors " .Just the average run of the mill concrete stave silos that were very common in these parts .

Kind of ironic because yet today those things dot the country side but the big dairy barns fell to ruin decades ago .

I never drank the stuff either but assumed it to be low alcohol like apple cider .The juice itself smelled so bad I couldn't imagine anybody drinking it .Of course a chicken doesn't have much sense to begin with even less when they're snockered on corn squezzens .

[Raider Bill]

I have heard of the mason jar trick but it wasn't the one I was thinking of. Probably same results. Did a little research, and the one I was thinking of was a gallon jug with a corn cob plugging the hole. The corn cob filtered the stuff that went into the jug. What I can't figure is they pack that stuff tight with heavy tractors. How do you keep from breaking them. In the old days, you could have set them in the bottom of an upright silo, and I don't believe they really packed those. Just the weight of the silage would settle over gradually.

I wouldn't mind trying it. Naturally, it would be for scientific purposes only.

Naturally......

[SwampDonkey]

As far as the corn around here, I don't think they grew much. About all I see this year is patches of sweet corn to sell to market. Lots of soya beans in it's place though and potato acreage is down because McCains cut everyone 30%, yet there is cleared land and new buildings to still pay for after they talked them into investing.  That's the way big outfits think you know, it's all about them and who cares about the cost to you. The big feed lot farmer over the hill from here sold his animals and got out. I could tell he was suffering when you see a man liquidate the woods when the price of wood is not so great then you can be sure she's about over. Not only that some farms they were just making payments to buy over time got snatched up by a big processor. I suppose the old lady wanted all her money now, not 30 years from now. Here husband was a farmer and died of a heart attack at aged 55, sad. But he had the sale agreement in the works before he passed. He wasn't even over weight nor a smoker. Stress I suppose. I thinned for him a couple years, probably 50 acres.

[paul case]

In the old days, you could have set them in the bottom of an upright silo, and I don't believe they really packed those. Just the weight of the silage would settle over gradually.

a neighbor of mine told me that his first job ever was packing sileage. in upright brick silos. he said that he would get in before they started loading it with the blower and stomp dance the stuff down all day. hot and itchiest work he said he had ever done. so i guess they did pack it down. pc

[Kansas]

I never knew that. That would indeed be a lousy job.

[WH_Conley]

Filled a few silos when I was younger. No stomping. When you went up to make sure the thing was filling evenly, always made sure the blower was running for a few minutes first. Heard of a couple back in the day that died from the gas. Don't know of any personally, just rumors.

[beenthere]

Have not heard of anyone packing the silage in the silo. Once the doors were all in and the blower set up, no one went in except to check on how full it was. Otherwise, would wonder after a few wagon loads, if the guy was buried. If a guy was in there, then a door had to be open and silage would blow down the chute. At least it was wet and not so dusty as blowing dry hay into the barn and mowing it back.
Had to climb up the chute and check which door would open, and look in. Or climb up the outside and look down. And right, wise to keep the blower running.

[pigman]

My dad told stories of packing upright silos with ponies. The silos were filled so slow with the machinery they had in those days that it took weeks to fill a small silo. If the corn was not kept packed each day it would rot. The blower pipe was connected  at the top of the silo to short sections of pipe that hung down the center of the silo. As the silo was filled sections were removed. That kept the human or animal packers from being covered up with falling chopped corn. It sill was a very hot and dirty job packing the  corn. Today, even with medium size machinery, a 20' X 70' foot silo can be filled in two days and the corn doesn't have time to rot before the fermenting starts to take place. There is an adjustable  distributor in the top of the silo that makes the chopped corn fall evenly in the silo. Climbing to the top of a 70' silo every few loads to adjust  the distributor kept the legs in good shape.

[Faron]

Ok, let's hear about getting those ponies off the top of that silo.

[Bro. Noble]

Before I was school age, The neighbors traded labor with lots of jobs.  One neighbor had a wood stave silo and filled it with a stationary chopper/blower.  The corn was cut with a corn binder and hauled to the silo.  Us kids were allowed to help pack between loads  

[trapper]

In spite of a late planting corn arround me looks good.  Fellow that rents from me says about an average yield.  Would of been a good yield but the cobs are not filled to the end.  He blames it on the hot nites we had this summer.  I have tried several times this summer to start lettuce in the garden.  It did not germinate because of the heat.
marv

[pigman]

Ok, let's hear about getting those ponies off the top of that silo.

Maybe the ponies in those days could fly.
Faron, I wondered the same thing. Dad said they just used a rope and pulley to let the pony down the outside of the silo.

[red oaks lumber]

 went to the corn fields tonight, ears are full to the ends, 40 row ave. just starting to dent. beans all look good. wheat has all been harvested lower than ave. yield.
 this coming wed. loading out 2 semi's of hay heading to oklahoma (donated for farmaid) if any others on here have extra hay look into helping our fellow friends down south

[Faron]

Ok, let's hear about getting those ponies off the top of that silo.

Maybe the ponies in those days could fly.
Faron, I wondered the same thing. Dad said they just used a rope and pulley to let the pony down the outside of the silo.

I'll bet that was one happy pony when he swung out over the edge!

We have pretty good prospects in my immediate area, I think.  We are needing rain for the soybeans.  Temperatures near 100 for the last few days aren't helping out one bit.  I scheduled a rain three months ago for Sunday.  Really.  Guys out west on an ag forum talked about old timers saying a rain will occur 90 to 100 days after a fog.  I have been keeping track on the calender on my phone for a couple of seasons.  So far it has hit every time.  Sunday will be 90 days since a fog, so we will see.  Another one is scheduled for Sept. 28.  Anyone heard of this?

[Coon]

Up around these parts the old farts say that you mark down the days that you have horror frost on the trees.  From there you count 180 or so days (can't remember exactly) and that day there should be rains.  I have checked with this and found it to be fairly accurate about 90% of the time.

We are getting close to first frost here.  Tonight the lows are supposed to be down to 6 degrees Celcius and tomorrow night down to 4 Degrees Celcius.  Hope we don't get it yet though.  Normally it happens around either the full moon if it falls near the end of  August or  the new moon in September.  It has also been know to wait till the full moon in September.  The New Moon is on the 12th and the Full Moon is on the 27th this year so we will just have to wait and see.