Fall of 2022 Recap & Spring of 2023
It’s been awhile since I turned my attention to this blog, and lots has happened since the last time I posted. So let’s play the catch-up game and get you up to speed.
To back up to fall of 2022, harvest went well and after the last two years I think we were due for a “normal” year! After the down corn in 2021, we were heavy soybeans in 2022 which made us a little concerned about getting those harvested while we still had good weather. We ran all three combines in soybeans, which made fairly quick work of it. And besides getting a random day with a little burst of snow (don’t think we’ve ever harvested soybeans in a snowstorm before!) we had really good weather. Corn harvest went as well as soybean harvest. We ended up finishing on November 17th, one of our earliest finishes ever. With harvest wrapped up in a timely manner, we had time to wrap up tillage and even sneak in a little bit of tiling.
The dry trend of fall continued into the winter, and excepting one snowstorm around Christmas, it was a dry and mild winter. Besides the normal winter work, like hauling grain, our big winter project was installing a high-speed upgrade kit to one of the planters. This is the second upgrade kit we have installed, so both of our planters are now fitted with this technology. It’s no small undertaking to covert a planter. Pretty much everything has to come off of the planter, so that when you’re done basically all that’s left is the seed hoppers and frame. All of the wiring harnesses and row units are all new and have to be installed. Other than a few small hiccups, that project went well and the planter ran great all spring. Along with the upgrade kit, we also installed implement guidance on both planters. That gives us the ability to take advantage of John Deere’s AutoPath system. Instead of just creating one guidance line based on the tractor, AutoPath creates a guidance line for every single row. You then use those lines throughout the season, so no matter what application you are doing, the machine is exactly where it needs to be to be on with the planter. AutoPath is also the technology that Turn Automation uses, and it’s just the next step on the path to being fully autonomous. If you would like to learn more about AutoPath and Turn Automation, here’s some links to videos about it.
Technology has been the name of the game around here this year. And along with the new planter and guidance tech we’re implementing this year, we get some more of Bayer’s Short Stature Corn. We had a small plot of it last year, and in my last post I went a little more in-depth about the technology behind it. It’s basically corn…but shorter! This helps it stand up to windstorms and makes it easier for late-season applications. Last year’s plot was a success, it yielded slightly more than the traditional corn in the field around it. This year, we get to try it out on 160 acres, and we are excited to see how it works on a larger scale. If you are curious to see what it looks like from the sprayer cab, check out our Instagram or TikTok where I have a video posted about it. You can also read this article from Bayer to learn more about it.
https://www.bayer.com/en/news-stories/short-corn-is-smart-corn
Planting season went well this year. We had a round of severe weather early, around the end of March. We had hail, tornadoes, and damaging winds. Thankfully, we didn’t get any damage, but many people in our area weren’t as lucky. Once we got past that, we were able to put those high-speed planters to the test! We started planting on April 13th and finished on May 5th, our shortest planting window ever. Even though things had dried off, it was cold with temperatures getting into the 30s on some of the nights. We even got lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the northern lights! After we finished planting, temperatures got more seasonable, and we got some rain as well. A little more rain than we were looking for, however, and we did end up having to replant some wet areas. All of that is behind us now, as we are over half-way finished with side dressing nitrogen and wrapping up post-emergence corn spraying. We’ve had another change in the weather, with it turning unseasonably dry and hot. Things are starting to look pretty thirsty and we are hoping we get a rain soon.
That should get you up to speed with what’s been going on around here! I will be back around the end of summer for a pre-harvest update. In the meantime, don’t forget to follow us on social media for more frequent updates! I’m planning on starting a “basics of farming” series over on Instagram, so be sure to keep an eye out for that!