What's going on here
I thought I should update what is going on around here in The South of Iowa; there's only so much smarmy opinion one can take, eh?
Rain - The big news is that that it has rained, and will rain again today. We don't need any rain right now; keep it off until July or August, when the crops really need it. My corn fields are starting to look pretty messy with weeds. I haven't planted a single soybean yet, either. It's not too late for soybeans, but everyday lost means less yield opportunity.
Feed - I'm hauling feed on these rainy days. I delivered calf creep feed to a customer waaaay in the south of Iowa, about 7 miles from the MO border. I took it out to his creep feeders in the pasture. The cows and calves came up from their selected patch of grass in the pasture, probably being trained to know that a diesel engine means food. Sorry girls, this is for the kids. Fortunately, I got out of the pasture before it started raining real hard.
However, upon getting over to another location and while I was unloading another batch of creep feed, my truck's hydraulic system stopped working. A setscrew had come out of the PTO shaft, and now it was turning freely. This meant I couldn't fold the auger back in. And it's not a good idea to drive down the road with a 18' auger sticking out the back. The DOT boys might frown on that.
Then it started raining really hard.
I was able to get the truck up to the farmer's shop. He was not there, but his son and a friend (who just happened to be a mechanic...!) were there, and we worked on getting the truck going. It took a few hours, but I was glad they were there, very glad. I think the repaired system is better than before. And I made some new acquaintances and possibly customers.
Grain vac'ing - My father and I have been sending our soybeans to Cargil in Des Moines. We rented a grain vac and lined up another local farmer to haul our beans. We cleaned out one bin yesterday and estimated there was about 2600 bushels in it. That's good, as the crop insurance adjuster, late last year, estimated 2100 bushels in there. It's nice to have an extra 500 bushels.
We had to go to another farm and bin to get an extra 150 bushels to fill out the third load (each of the two loads had around 900 bu of beans on them). So, we moved the tractor and grain vac to the other farm. I got my JD 4450, brought it over, and hooked on to the grain cart. The bin site is such that it is impossible for a semi to load directly from the bin; grain needs to go into a grain cart, which is taken to the road where the semi is at.
So, we put about 150-200 bushels of bean in the grain cart, brought it out to the semi, and just as I turned on the auger to start unloading, my father runs up, waving his hands, telling me to shut down. I stopped, and he told me something big had fallen out of the auger into the trailer.
I climbed up there and found a couple of stowaways; a mother raccoon and her baby. They must have been sleeping in the unloading auger when I turned it on. They were dazed and a little bloody, but soon enough, they started waking up. I managed to lasso the baby and lower overboard, where Dad let it loose. We finally scared Momma overboard as well; she was seen running back to the barn.
Another South Iowa language peculiarity - "On me". Shortened for "On my property/farm/land".
You have to go in on me to get to the Gilroy bottom.
Can I go in on you to get my cattle out to the road?
The creek empties into the river on me.
That's all for now from The South of Iowa. Now, snotty opinion free! :)
Rain - The big news is that that it has rained, and will rain again today. We don't need any rain right now; keep it off until July or August, when the crops really need it. My corn fields are starting to look pretty messy with weeds. I haven't planted a single soybean yet, either. It's not too late for soybeans, but everyday lost means less yield opportunity.
Feed - I'm hauling feed on these rainy days. I delivered calf creep feed to a customer waaaay in the south of Iowa, about 7 miles from the MO border. I took it out to his creep feeders in the pasture. The cows and calves came up from their selected patch of grass in the pasture, probably being trained to know that a diesel engine means food. Sorry girls, this is for the kids. Fortunately, I got out of the pasture before it started raining real hard.
However, upon getting over to another location and while I was unloading another batch of creep feed, my truck's hydraulic system stopped working. A setscrew had come out of the PTO shaft, and now it was turning freely. This meant I couldn't fold the auger back in. And it's not a good idea to drive down the road with a 18' auger sticking out the back. The DOT boys might frown on that.
Then it started raining really hard.
I was able to get the truck up to the farmer's shop. He was not there, but his son and a friend (who just happened to be a mechanic...!) were there, and we worked on getting the truck going. It took a few hours, but I was glad they were there, very glad. I think the repaired system is better than before. And I made some new acquaintances and possibly customers.
Grain vac'ing - My father and I have been sending our soybeans to Cargil in Des Moines. We rented a grain vac and lined up another local farmer to haul our beans. We cleaned out one bin yesterday and estimated there was about 2600 bushels in it. That's good, as the crop insurance adjuster, late last year, estimated 2100 bushels in there. It's nice to have an extra 500 bushels.
We had to go to another farm and bin to get an extra 150 bushels to fill out the third load (each of the two loads had around 900 bu of beans on them). So, we moved the tractor and grain vac to the other farm. I got my JD 4450, brought it over, and hooked on to the grain cart. The bin site is such that it is impossible for a semi to load directly from the bin; grain needs to go into a grain cart, which is taken to the road where the semi is at.
So, we put about 150-200 bushels of bean in the grain cart, brought it out to the semi, and just as I turned on the auger to start unloading, my father runs up, waving his hands, telling me to shut down. I stopped, and he told me something big had fallen out of the auger into the trailer.
I climbed up there and found a couple of stowaways; a mother raccoon and her baby. They must have been sleeping in the unloading auger when I turned it on. They were dazed and a little bloody, but soon enough, they started waking up. I managed to lasso the baby and lower overboard, where Dad let it loose. We finally scared Momma overboard as well; she was seen running back to the barn.
Another South Iowa language peculiarity - "On me". Shortened for "On my property/farm/land".
You have to go in on me to get to the Gilroy bottom.
Can I go in on you to get my cattle out to the road?
The creek empties into the river on me.
That's all for now from The South of Iowa. Now, snotty opinion free! :)
posted by bgunzy at 6/01/2007 06:15:00 AM
5 Comments:
Just wondering what plantings are like out there. I'm in Ohio and we have been dry as a bone. Only a little under 1 1/2" since Easter at a couple of places I farm. Replanted a little corn that just never came up b/c it was so dry. Everyone in Western and Southwestern Ohio has been done planting for some time. What percent done are most folks out your way?
You're farming stories are always appreciated as I very much live the rural life here in the NE. I was surprised, however, to hear that you don't have beans planted yet. Our crops are up and have been begging for rain. It's been real spotty but we finally got a good soaker at our house on Wed night.
Corn: 99% done around here. Soybeans: Some are done, some haven't started, and some are about half way. I'd venture a guess and say 50-60% planted, with a large standard deviation.
I'm a bit concerned for those east and south of here, in Ohio, Kentucky, and Arkansas. If those regions are dry coming into summer, it means La Nina conditions are set, and that means drought.
It's raining as I type this. Dang.
I think our country needs a national irrigation pipeline to transfer excess water from one region to another. You guys in Ohio and Nebraska can have this stuff!
Corn is in at my place (in MO) and up really nice. About 3 inches or so. It is really liking this rain we've been getting every night. The spraying got done right before the last rain cycle started.
It looks like most everyone around here has the corn in (looks like corn is being really heavily planted this year obviously) and it looks like a lot of the beans are coming up well and quite a bit of them are in the ground.
The rain is causing some problems with field work. Looked like the neighbors down south of me were spraying with the airplane. I'm told that could be just because the guy likes to play with it though. We've had that done on our place a few times especially when the weather was bad and we had access problems to a certain field.
Oh and we also "go on" some one else's land to get a stray cow or they cross over "on me" to get to their back 40 when it is wet. It's the same down this a way.
Hi,
I am looking for some information regarding grain vac conveyor`s that provide faster service than the present one .Please some one help me out!!!!!!!!
Regards
kelvin.
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