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Spring Planting 2011

Started by Norm, May 06, 2011, 07:41:42 AM

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Norm

Planting season is going full bore around here as the weather up until this week was too cold and damp to do anything. We started planting corn on Monday and by Wednesday got over 750 acres in the ground. Yesterday I started up with the seed drill putting in soybeans.



This is a JD 730 drill that is 15' wide with 7" spacing. We are planting 211,000 seeds per acre and run right around 9mph.

How are the rest of you folks that farm doing?


Kansas

The first corn is starting to come up finally around here. Kind of suprised because we had two nights down to 35 early in the week. But the cold seems to be behind us now. My guess is, about all the corn is planted in the valley. Mine got planted last week. They are just getting going on the soybeans. We really need some rain. I saw a couple of pivots running this week. Hard to believe 150 or so miles away,they are flooding.

Coon

Around here that 9 MPH would just mean STUCK.  That's if you even make it into the field.  Field work has not yet begun around here yet and is usually well under way by this time.  I keep telling all the farmers that they better switch over to growing wild rice cuz the conditions are more suitable.  :D 
Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
Husqvarna, Stihl and, Jonsereds Saws

SwampDonkey

Grains have been going in in some areas. The last few days we had rain, so not much planting. The fields around by home here are not even scratched yet, as long as Harv's Hollow has snow. It's about gone now, so probably this week grain will go in. Still kinda cold for potatoes, but very soon. Can't judge the farming by these "new" locals because they are always a late bunch. Father was always days ahead them at working fields.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Ron Wenrich

This past week was the first I've seen anyone in the fields.  Most are still not turned.  There has been the scent of manure in the air, so some of the farmers are taking to the fields.
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Kansas

Lots of times around here its hard to tell if a field is planted. Since nearly everyone went to no till, and if they are following corn with soybeans in particular, you have no idea just driving by that its been planted. Not until the beans are up about 6 inches or so.

SwampDonkey

Doesn't that make hard pan after awhile if the ground ain't worked which will likely affect good root development. All that heavy tramping with equipment has an impact.

Crop rotation has been a big soil saver here. If you grow taters year after year your soil will wash away and leave gullies a tractor will sit in. Lots of terracing has been done to, but that alone doesn't solve it. I can take you to a spot where it's terraced and the soil is washing over the land in the woods. It's not even 10 % slope.

We can't grow peas either it affects taters with a root disease, rhizoctonia. Used to grow hundreds of acres of'm for the processor (McCain).

Soya beans and corn are new around here, probably 12-15 years for corn. Maybe 10 years for soya beans. They cut those crops so late around here then dry it. I don't see the economics up here because to dry wheat it was too expensive 15 years ago. So everyone just sold it for feed or air dried it for local niche markets. Dad's wheat was sold to a local gris mill for flour and cereal. Dad and another farmer were the only suppliers he would buy from. Dad got awards for wheat and rye he grew, from the flour mills like Dover, but they wouldn't pay much so they didn't get none. Too much subsidy in the west on shipping and growing. No way to compete on your own dime.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Kansas

The whole idea, as best as I can tell, is no compaction. As a matter of fact, farmers that no till are anal about anyone driving in their fields. Which can make logging in the winter along them a bit tricky. When you figure they are running 12 or 16 row planters, a lot of that ground never ever sees a tire on it. Some guys run grain carts at harvest that are tracked to spread the load. I remember also how it used to be. When the wind would blow, worked fields put a lot of dust in the air. You don't see that anymore. Some of these guys have done it for a dozen years or so. I would guess 80-90 percent of all the farmground around here is no till. There are still a few that conventional till, but they slowly seem to be switching. I don't know of anyone that no tills that has ever gone back to conventional till.

In this area, it is nearly all a corn soybean rotation. Very little wheat is grown in this area anymore.

SwampDonkey

Your climate is a lot dryer, they have had to find new ways. They will have to work it once in awhile though, no matter how wide the equipment is there is still lots of tramping over time. We don't get much wind erosion, I've never seen clouds of dust unless it's a truck going down a dirt road. A little in winter time on the frozen dry ground until snow covers it, but not too much.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Jasperfield

I can drive the 19 miles to town from my farm and not see 75 acres you can even get a tractor on, much less 750 acres.

When you're growing that kind of acreage fuel, fertilizer, & seed quickly become huge expenses.

I hope everything goes well for you this year. You've started off right by planting corn in the first quarter of the moon, and Tuesday and Wednesday were in fruitful signs.

Gary_C

Quote from: Kansas on May 07, 2011, 07:02:00 PM
I would guess 80-90 percent of all the farmground around here is no till. There are still a few that conventional till, but they slowly seem to be switching. I don't know of anyone that no tills that has ever gone back to conventional till.

Most everyone around here that switched to no till has gone back to some sort of minimum till. Some even back to moldboard plowing. Yields have been down too much for no till here.

Biggest problem here has been residue management on corn ground. If you no till beans into corn ground, a year later you will still be seeing corn stalks left over from the previous year. Even bean stalks are tougher and longer lasting. Part of the problem is genetics with tougher stalks that don't decompose easily. (But they do stand good.)

So now most everyone is going back to chisel plowing corn ground to bury some of that residue. And some have even gone back to chopping stalks to help decomposition. But if you do chop stalks, you better bury some of that residue or the ground will not dry out and warm up in the spring.

I am just getting ready to start planting what few acres I still run. Got annhydrous put on just yesterday and should get the corn in this week, if the rains hold off. I have been hiring guys to no till drill my beans, but this year it's going to be hard to find anyone. Found a neighbor that can do it, but he don't want to drill into the corn stalks. May have to insist as I don't have time to do tillage now.
Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

SwampDonkey

Gary brings up a good point as well, and to work the humous back into the soil. Corn stalks do break down pretty quick the next season, but it also needs to be worked in to condition the soil good. There is one corn farmer here that grows for his cows, he spreads a lot of manure on his fields because his animals are in feed lots and not pastured. I see them hauling steady, and I don't think they use much fertilizer now. Hog farmer down the road the same when he was cropping beside the house he only used manure. That's worst than cow smell, but gotta do what it takes to cut costs.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Kansas

I don't know how the no tillers do it. I do know they talk pretty proudly about the percentage of organic material in the soil, so I guess it all breaks down eventually. A lot of these guys are farming 2000 or 3000 acres of river bottom ground, so it must be working somehow for them. About the only soil disturbance is some will apply anhydrous ammonia. Others want to go liquid so as to not disturb the soil. I imagine different soil types across the country make a difference too. I do know they save a pile of money on fuel not working the ground. I don't think they save a lot on equipment though. A 16 row no till planter and a tractor big enough to pull it has to cost a bunch.

Things have changed a bunch over the years. Friday we had to run our L190 New Holland skid steer over to a friends. They were loading the planter, and his L175 wouldn't lift the tote that had the bulk beans. Even with the 190, they had to bucket a little out before they felt safe enough to raise it up and open the chute to load the seed bins on the planter. I still remember not many years ago working for the local Co-op and loading bag after bag of soybean seed. Some of these farmers will never see a bag of seed during planting season.

Norm

We finished up beans yesterday but had to break out the 16 row planter to do so. The main driver wheel slipped the main bearing and kept breaking the roller chain so instead of waiting on parts we put some in with rows. Boy did that go faster than the 15' drill. I slept in this morning to catch up on some sleep. You wouldn't think it's work sitting in a tractor but with minor repairs and filling the drill 14 hour days take their toll on you.

Our farm was all done no till for years before we bought it, the yields steadily went lower and lower. I finally quit listening to the ISU "experts" and went back to disc ripping  in the fall and using a new implement for dealing with the ever tougher corn stalks.



It's made by Great Plains and is called a Turbo-Chopper. Our field cultivator is useless in corn stalks as they plug it up and you spend more time raising it to unplug and then it leaves big piles of stalks when you do.

We do no till drill beans into standing corn stalks and it works pretty well. On bean stubble we no till corn into it but still scratch it up once in a while. The theory with it is that the freeze thaw cycle in winter loosens up the compaction. It does help somewhat but it's no catchall for tillage.

Mark K

Norm- nice looking equipment. We run a similar setup as the last pic from what I can see or is that all discs? Ours has discs in front, viber shank next and a spike tooth behind while pulling an X-fold. Ours is a 25ft set. I just got back in for breakfast. Started zone tilling at 4:30 to keep ahead of the planter. Zone tiller is six row and planter is twelve, doesn't take long for him to catch up to me. Put first seed in the ground last Sunday between rain drops and sat most of the week. Started back on late Thursday and have 280 acres in as of this morning, around 800 to go. You guys run any zone tillers out there? Kind of saving our butt this year with all the rain. Makes our 8110 snort. I cant wait to be done, been out of the woods for four weeks because of the wet weather. Figureed we would be done by now.
Husky 372's-385's,576, 2100
Treefarmer C7D
Franklin 405
Belsaw m-14 sawmill

Norm

Here's a little better pic of what the turbo-chopper has on it Mark. Our tc is really heavy and I'm running a 225hp tractor with it but still could use some more horsepower.



I don't know of anyone local that runs zone tillage but it sure looks interesting. Hope your weather holds so you can get the rest of the crop planted.

SwampDonkey

I've seen similar equipment here to that Norm.

Potato ground has to be disked because of heavy truck traffic during digging and then all the rock picking by tractor. A lot of tramping, needs broken up frost or not. We then harrowed three times. When spuds are up the cultivating begins and is done three times to hill the tators up good. You can tell the farmers that don't hill enough, too much light burn. Some spraying is done while hilling.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Raider Bill

Norm,
You guys have cool stuff!

How is anhydrous ammonia put down in/on a field? It's a gas right?
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

Kansas

Anhydrous is a gas of sorts, but stored as a liquid. The meth heads bottle the stuff. It has a boiling point well below zero. Its knifed into the ground through tubes from the anhydrous tank pulled through the field behind the applicator.  Nasty, nasty stuff.

Mark K

Norm- that TC looks like it would do a good job on corn stubble. We are going to try to do more zone tilling in the future. Only using it on soybean ground, plugs up with stubble on combined corn ground. The farm just bought a new 8 row head with a shredder on the underside to chop up the stalks. We run the zone tiller on a 8110 JD and I would say it pulls harder than our seven bottom Kneverland plow. Ended up having to put a Black Knight power chip in the tractor to get a little more out of it. Seems a lot of farms in the area are switching to zone tilling. Dealers around here are renting units also. Wish we had it when we milked, would have saved a lot of time and fuel.     
Husky 372's-385's,576, 2100
Treefarmer C7D
Franklin 405
Belsaw m-14 sawmill

scsmith42

Norm, I'm just waiting for about 6 days w/o rain so that I can get my first hay cutting in.  The crop looks pretty good this year; I should be able to yield around 130 square bales per acre which is a great yield for around here.

Just need about a week w/o rain.

The weather man usually screws me... two weeks ago he teased me with a forecast of no rain for a week but I didn't believe the SOB.  Good thing too - it rained two days later!  :D

I've lost more harvests to rain than I've kept.
Peterson 10" WPF with 65' of track
Smith - Gallagher dedicated slabber
Tom's 3638D Baker band mill
and a mix of log handling heavy equipment.

SwampDonkey

I can look down the road a bit on the hillsides where the dairy farmer pastures his small herd. Sure is nice and green now, looks like a lawn.  :)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Norm

One of the things we are considering using here Mark is strip tillage. The biggest downside is having to use RTK and buying the implement. I'm going to have to look closer at the zone tillage you folks use.

Scott I think the only thing more nerve wracking than grains is hay. Seems the weather service that predicts global warming could get a forecast 24 hours out. We are a couple of weeks away from our 1st cutting of alfalfa. The plan is to cut every 28 days....if the weather cooperates.  :D

red oaks lumber

if i'm going to cut hay right now i'll need to use scissors! some seed getting stuck in the ground here but not much, to cool and still raining
the experts think i do things wrong
over 18 million b.f. processed and 7341 happy customers i disagree

Don_Papenburg

I finished up corn today .put in another set of sweet corn  today because tomarrow was supposed to be wet .  Weather  report tonight suggest otherwise .  I have about five more sweetcorn plantings  to go .    Will start beans next week . 
Frick saw mill  '58   820 John Deere power. Diamond T trucks

Faron

We have no tilled now for several years.  It brings a whole new set of challenges, but yields generally keep getting better, and equipment and fuel expenses are contained.  We now have a definite soil structure that tillage destroys.  We have been observing while we install tile, and regularly see soybean roots reaching down more than 36 inches in the ground.
Almost no crops planted here yet.  We started spraying yesterday, and after 25 acres, the PTO shaft on the sprayer came loose and self destructed.  :o  :(  Apparently the set screws on the newly installed pump were not tight enough.  I struck out on parts yesterday, and am off in another direction this morning.
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner.  Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote. - Ben Franklin

Weekend_Sawyer


I'm traveling too much these days to even attempt planting. This will be the first year in a long time that has happened.

I'll be making my salsa using eastern shore products. It works just as well but it's not quite the same.

Jon
Imagine, Me a Tree Farmer.
Jon, Appalachian American Wannabe.

SwampDonkey

I'll be planting my small raised beds again. I put down some weed control fabric around the frames and put down 25 bags (2 cu foot) of red cedar mulch so as to make it easier to keep the grass away and to mow around.

I told the boss I have to be superman to get all the work done this season, so I know what your saying Weekend_Sawyer. ;D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Coon

Well, the farmers around here are starting to scratch around a bit in some of the higher fields while the rest of them are still scratching their butts trying to figure out whether they will get the crops in this year or not.  Seeding is usually well under way by this time but not this year.
Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
Husqvarna, Stihl and, Jonsereds Saws

SwampDonkey

The local bunch are working the fields today. It's almost 70 degrees today.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Patty

Corn is up!! Amazing hybrids these days. We planted a week ago and the corn is out of the ground already.   8) 8)
Women are Angels.
And when someone breaks our wings....
We simply continue to fly ........
on a broomstick.....
We are flexible like that.

trapper

neighbour putting liquid fertlizer here yesterday  soil still too wet here  farmers getting worried  here  about not having crops in yet.  still some water in furrows in my fields. I only have 40 acres that a neighbor  cash crops.  beans, corn and winter wheat in rotation .
stihl ms241cm ms261cm  echo 310 400 suzuki  log arch made by stepson several logrite tools woodmizer LT30

chain

Best crop growing right now are potatoes, they're blooming and were planted in March. The cotton planters are having a fit as I've yet to see a stand anywhere I've been in the Bootheel of Missouri. If there is cotton, there will be some fields in Dunklin county which borders Arkansas; they have sandy soils. Possible some cotton near Sikeston on the ridge.

Corn has taken the biggest hit , our corn is drowning in seepwaters from the still high flood stage of the Ms. river. Many farmers have yet to put any seed in the ground as flood water covered thousands and thousands of acres, some say an area 40-60 miles wide and nearly a hundred miles long was covered by flood waters.....get this..these waters were on the protected side of the Ms. river levees!

Then, we had another windstorm in our Tree farm. Lost bunches of 12-16" SL pine blown down and a several oaks. Lucky the oak leaves were not full out or the wind would have blown many more over.

SwampDonkey

How the heck could you have blossomed potatoes now, it was snowing just a month ago at Bibby's?

Been wet here today and for the next few. Not much farming happening.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

chain

Quote from: SwampDonkey on May 14, 2011, 07:58:43 PM
How the heck could you have blossomed potatoes now, it was snowing just a month ago at Bibby's?

Been wet here today and for the next few. Not much farming happening.

I have some potatoes blooming in our garden also. Early variety, but most grown around here are for  potatoe chips.

Roxie

Corn went in about 10 days ago, and it's up.  The real event this past week was all the hay that hit the ground.   :)  We had a solid week of sunshine and that first cut is baled or stuffed. 

Say when

sandhills

We got started a week ago today on our corn, most around here were going a little earlier but it's been cool and/or wet all spring.  Been wet here since last Wednesday and haven't turned a wheel since then.  Very little corn up yet around here, most folks are that are still planting are on beans now.

scsmith42

Looks like warm weather is coming and the rains are leaving.  Tomorrow I start cutting hay.  Most likely I'll be baling it on Monday or Tuesday. 
Peterson 10" WPF with 65' of track
Smith - Gallagher dedicated slabber
Tom's 3638D Baker band mill
and a mix of log handling heavy equipment.

SwampDonkey

Yes, it rained in the am, but 3:00 pm it was partly sunny and reached 70 degrees.  8) It still looks unsettled though. :(
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Faron

Wet here and fixing to get wetter, I am afraid. :-\  What little has been planted has been mudded in.  I can't raise much in the mud. :(
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner.  Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote. - Ben Franklin

Handy Andy

  Here in Kansas, near I-70 and I-135, it's been dry as a bone.  Yesterday we finally got  1/2" of rain.  I didn't think it was ever going to rain.  The corn is up here, wheat looks pretty good in spite of the conditions. Pond water is low. Grass is short in the cow pastures. My first cutting of alfalfa is ready to cut, but doesn't hardly look worth running the swather. Maybe now it will thicken up.  The spring rains just fooled with us.  It would be wet for 3 days, but we'd have .15" in the gauge.  One good thing is I got my corrals cleaned up.  Smelled bad for about a week. Wish I could catch the gas and fill the propane tank.
  Norm, if I drove 9 mph, no way I'd get a stand.  Have to hold the speed down to about 5.5.  And I'm not planting any beans till between June 7 and 15, so they have some life left when we are waiting for the 1st of Sept rain. 
My name's Jim, I like wood.

Norm

The first time I ran the drill and was told what speed to go I thought no way will this seed right. Much to my surprise when they sprouted I had seed every few inches up and neat rows 7"s apart. Last year on one of my better fields they ran 66bu an acre. Of course the down side is having a planter that's only 15' wide.

Sorry to hear of the wet and dry conditions folks are having. Our forecast is rain and more rain but hope it doesn't turn into the monsoons we've been getting every year lately in May and June.

Kansas

We finally are getting some rain here in NE Kansas. I'm guessing everything is pretty well planted. Corn is up, so are a lot of beans. Close to an inch of rain overnight. My sister 80 miles east by Kansas City has experienced heavy rain for the last month. I missed virtually all of it.

Now the question is, with new crop corn at 6.00, do I sell some based on the crop insurance? Never have done that before. Be nice to at least lock in my costs.

Patty

Soybeans are popping up through the soil, and we planted the sweet corn this morning.  The rains are scheduled to come tomorrow.
Women are Angels.
And when someone breaks our wings....
We simply continue to fly ........
on a broomstick.....
We are flexible like that.

sandhills

We planted a little more corn on Tuesday, probably shouldn't have as wet as it was but starting to get nervous.  Had to work at the sailbarn yesterday and it's been raining off and on since then, suppose to keep it up through the weekend and it's plenty chilly yet to boot.  ::)  Hope the sun decides to shine next week.

Autocar

Here in Ohio I believe they said on the news that 7 percent of the corn has been planted and soybeans has been zip ! Last month we may have had two days with out rain this month so far it has rainned everyday We probably lost more top soil this spring then what we have lost in the last ten years. It is starting to get real serious on the time to get the corn in the ground.
Bill

Mr Mom

Autocar beat me to it but i can add that this time last year Ohio had 83% of corn in the ground.

Thanks Alot Mr Mom

SwampDonkey

It's been wet for sure. But in my area with one good day of sun it soon dries good. Our rain has been in dribbles with maybe a good soaking a week. But still a pain in the butt to get started planting. The ground drains good around here. My wood man could drive down to the barn today with a load of stove wood and hardly left a mark in the sod. Brought two loads up to the house to, so 4.5 cords in today. I have not tucked any away in the house as it's a bit damp down there and need to get warm enough to open the place up to dry the floor good. I do have 2 cords ranked outside to dry further for my fall wood. Two more loads, maybe tomorrow and I got all my wood.  8)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

doctorb

Norm-  and all you planters of crops-

What does it cost in fuel to get your ground prepared and get the seeds in the ground.  Do you guys figure that per acre? 
My father once said, "This is my son who wanted to grow up and become a doctor.  So far, he's only become a doctor."

sandhills

doctorb, I try not to it scares me  :-\.  Just kidding, that's one of the major expenses anymore that we have to figure on and one the reasons a lot of folks have switched to minimum till or no till farming.  I can't speak for any other operations but we have cut back on tillage a lot in recent years due to that and erosion so I guess you'd call us minimum till.  With my dad and I both running on a good day we will burn anywhere from 120 to 180 gallons of fuel, but we're a small operation (8 row equiptment, 150-200 hp tractors). Now my neighbors that just bought 2 new 36 row planters and 2 new 4wd tractors to pull them plus all the tractors/equiptment to work the ground ahead of them pretty much have a fuel truck moving all day. ;D

Handy Andy

  Dr B, the cost of working ground is really getting prohibitive.  Especially if you use a ripper in the fall after harvest, then use another smoothing tool 2 or 3 times over before planting.  If your ground stays relatively smooth,  you can let it stand over the winter, spray once in April, and then plant.  No till is really easy on equipment, cuts down on the hours in the field, and a planter or drill doesn't pull hard like a ripper or field cultivator.  The tool Norm is using looks like a cross between a disc ripper and a field cultivator.  Looks like a type of minimum till.
My name's Jim, I like wood.

Norm

My large tractor is 225hp and running the drill I get about 9gph while the ripper or turbo chopper will burn 6gph. Luckily for us we did contract and fill our bulk tanks before fuel really went up so our costs was something like $2.85. That is gone and I just had it filled up yesterday and it was $3.54 per gallon of dyed diesel.

I don't have the exact figures for this spring yet but between me and a buddy I farm with I'll bet we have burned 2000 gallons with field prep, planting and spraying. That was for approximately 1200 acres between the two of us.

scsmith42

Been mowing, tedding and baling since last week; should be completed this evening.  Looks like a strong yield too, around 130 square bales per acre from my best pastures (which is a really good yield for around here). 





When it comes to producing a horse-quality hay, the weather sure can be frustrating.  Fortunately, this year looks pretty good.

ps - that yellow stuff that you can see off to the left side in the picture is some insulation that rained down on the farm from the recent tornado's.  We've been picking up insulation, shingles, clothing, etc for the past month; I picked up a cardboard box from this same pasture that had been delivered to a guy in Sanford - about 20 miles away from the farm. 

I had to stop several times while mowing/tedding and pick up debris that I'd missed in the earlier cleanup work.

Peterson 10" WPF with 65' of track
Smith - Gallagher dedicated slabber
Tom's 3638D Baker band mill
and a mix of log handling heavy equipment.

sandhills

I have been able to run a whole 2 days in the last 2 weeks  >:(.  I still have 2-3 days of corn yet to plant but only have 60 acres or so of beans so they won't take long.  Just gotta keep telling myself we can't grow anything without rain, soon we'll be begging for it.

beenthere

With corn seed, when does one have to switch to a seed with a shorter growing period, being as there is a long delay in planting?
Seems a critical decision to have to re-purchase corn seed, or risk planting a longer season corn too late for it to reach maturity.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

red oaks lumber

up here corn needs to be planted by the end of may period, then everything gets switched to beans, looks like this year there will be plenty of bean acres getting planted :(. looks like later next week i'll cut 80 acres of hay then do some notilling and add a better grass mixture. that 80 acres will be turned into grass feeding paddocks.
the experts think i do things wrong
over 18 million b.f. processed and 7341 happy customers i disagree

Norm

Quote from: beenthere on May 26, 2011, 10:52:16 AM
With corn seed, when does one have to switch to a seed with a shorter growing period, being as there is a long delay in planting?
Seems a critical decision to have to re-purchase corn seed, or risk planting a longer season corn too late for it to reach maturity.

It's kind of a hard question to answer because of the different growing seasons for different areas. Most seed dealers will let you trade in the longer season seed on shorter maturities for little or no penalty. For us we would be going with 100 day corn by now and seriously considering switching to soybeans by the 1st week of June. Problem is if you've put down certain herbicides that aren't bean friendly or put in expensive fertilizer beans do not need you're kind of stuck going with corn. If you have crop and revenue insurance after a certain date it may be better to take the preventative planting payout. 

Faron

One and  3/10 inches rain Monday, and another 1" last night. :(  Although some corn went in before the storms, it was essentially mudded in.  Everything is sprayed and ready to go.  If we have to switch to beans, the corn acres will have to be planted to STD beans.  Did that on some acres last year, and had good luck.  The weather forecast is for 8 rain free days, so I expect there will be some long days by the middle of next week. I hope to run the planter around the clock in shifts.  60 acres of rye hay will have to be baled next week too.  :-\  Gonna brand cattle in a little bit.  Anybody wanna help?
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner.  Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote. - Ben Franklin

submarinesailor

Faron,

I would love to come over and help.  But momma has me completely riping out a bedroom and it's closet all the way to the bear walls and subflooring.  Than it's painting and bamboo flooring to get done/installed.  That's what my vacation next week looks like.

Oh, one more thing I forgot - a new bedroom door gets installed also.

Bruce

Amelia Farms

SCSmith,
Is that fescue you are cutting there? I am on my second season here with hay, not getting anywhere near the yield you are, but my fields have been neglected for 15+ years. Hope to have them back in decent shape int the next couple of years. I call my hay good donkey quality hay. :D :D
Woodmizer LT40, wish it was hydraulic.

sandhills

AF that is a good one !  :D

JV

Not much done in my area.  The silty loam and muck riverbottom south of us and the sandy soils north of us have some planting done.  Our heavier soils won't produce trying to do them wet, some have tried in the past.  I wanted to finish clearing some fence rows on one of the places so the renter could plant.  I got a 1/2 day in 2 weeks ago.  Looks like any ditching won't get done until this fall.  Might get some done after a couple fields of wheat are cut.  I guess we could aerial seed some soybeans, but rigging the parachutes on each seed could get tedious.   :D 
John

'05 Wood-mizer LT40HDG28-RA, Lucas 613 Swing Mill, Stihl 170, 260 Pro, 660, 084 w/56" Alaskan Mill, 041 w/Lewis Winch, Case 970 w/Farmi Winch, Case 850 Crawler Loader, Case 90XT Skidloader, Logrite tools

red oaks lumber

put the beans in a 50 cal. and shoot them in :D
the experts think i do things wrong
over 18 million b.f. processed and 7341 happy customers i disagree

scsmith42

Quote from: Amelia Farms on May 26, 2011, 02:09:17 PM
SCSmith,
Is that fescue you are cutting there? I am on my second season here with hay, not getting anywhere near the yield you are, but my fields have been neglected for 15+ years. Hope to have them back in decent shape int the next couple of years. I call my hay good donkey quality hay. :D :D

It's a fescue / rye mix.  The horses really like it too. 

The main reason that I'm getting the yields that I am is because 4 years ago I tilled 40 tractor trailer loads of compost into that 7 acre pasture.  The first year I lost the entire crop because it was too thick to dry!  The second year I cut a month early (1st week of April), and yielded 135 bales / acre.  Got a second cutting that same year in June of another 50 bales/acre.  Ever since my yields remain fairly high, and with all of the snow that we had this year it helped a lot.  Some years less than others, but all in all the compost experiment really paid off.

Peterson 10" WPF with 65' of track
Smith - Gallagher dedicated slabber
Tom's 3638D Baker band mill
and a mix of log handling heavy equipment.

Don_Papenburg

I am running the 7710 with a QR trans  in C4 at about 1550 rpm  pulling a 12 row vac. planter. Depending on the ground and amount of hill I can do about 2.5-3 acres per gallon.
So on the low side it would cost about 0.95  in fuel .  seed is just a bit higher then
chemicals and fert. bring the cost up to ouch . 
Frick saw mill  '58   820 John Deere power. Diamond T trucks

Bobus2003

On my boss's farm, we planted 180 acres of Corn.. 97% of it was either washed away or is under water in the last weeks several inches of rain. Now he's talkin of tryin to get in a quick planting of Soybeans

red oaks lumber

finished planting today. 8)
the experts think i do things wrong
over 18 million b.f. processed and 7341 happy customers i disagree

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