I don’t have a lot of pictures for you this week, but we did get a lot done. Filling out paperwork while prepping for taxes doesn’t make for very exciting pictures!
The combine finally got washed. Now the question is will it be working on our farm next fall or will have traded for a newer one by then?
We measured the grade of a length of drain tile running from a wet hole to a larger tile. Unfortunately we found that this line was installed nearly level. I guess that’s better than sloping the wrong way, but you can that about 2″ of sediment has built up in the bottom on the line.
We added a surface drain to that line hoping to prevent ponding in the low spot. Now we just need some rain to see if we made an improvement.
Dad and I dug up a nice radish in the field where we have an oats/radish cover crop growing. The radishes will absorb nutrients while they grow. After they die over the winter they will release those nutrients to the 2013 corn crop while leaving behind channels in the soils for roots and earthworms.
A piece of what has settled in that drainage line. Look close and you’ll find the blockage built up in layers over time.
Are you thinking about getting a bigger combine?Perhaps a S660,S670,9770,9870.I can remember when the 9600/9610 were the largest combines made.That all changed in 1999 with the 9750 STS
Right now it’s looking like we’ll go from our 2010 9670 STS to a 2011 of the same model. It might be worth taking a look at making the jump to an S series now though just to crunch the numbers. The advantage of a 2011 over our 2010 is that it can run a draper without buying additional add ons.
We are also looking at drapers and thinking about trading our 8 row corn head for a 12.