We skipped a week, but Farm Week in Pictures is back. Last week was pretty much all pictures of the same thing that I’m saving for a different post in the near future. The scenery is changing a bit as we move from planting and fertilizing to other tasks around the farm. Take a look and see what we’ve been up to lately.
Keep it Clean
Now is the time of year we clean up the perimeters of our fields. We make one pass around each field to keep encroaching weeds and brush at bay. 2,4-D is our tool for this job. This herbicide won’t kill grasses which is just fine. We keep the slopes of ditch banks clean during this process as well so the erosion fighting grass is what we want to see. Corn is a grass so the spray won’t hurt the crop as long as I don’t soak it. Soybeans on the other hand will get pretty well torched so we pick our weed battles in those fields, and we definitely will hold back if the neighbor has soybeans growing. In the winter we will trim overhanging branches, and throughout the year we’ll pick up fallen limbs that block the path of equipment.
This is our fence row spraying set up. Just a stainless tank with a 12V pump and an old air ride semi tractor seat for the man with the spray gun. Works pretty well!
Patch Work
This county owned and maintained tile caused a sink hole about a month ago. We put in a call to get it fixed, but no work had been done and a big storm was approaching Wednesday night.
We decided to patch it up ourselves before the big rain. If we hadn’t the big rains that night would have surely sucked a bunch of soil away.
Get Loaded
Four loads of last year’s corn crop were sold and delivered to the local ethanol facility.
If you haven’t smelled ethanol being made you should. It’s like a giant bakery! Those storage tanks have yeast in them that ferment the corn. Corn that comes hear will leave both as fuel and feed. I’m not sure if the oil extraction capability of this plant is up and running yet, but that will make three products from each kernel of corn. Of course ethanol uses a good share of the corn supply, but I don’t think many people know fuel isn’t the only thing coming out of these facilities.
Oh, Deer
Near a wooded area deer have been snacking on some our our soybeans. I posted a picture on Facebook this week in order to debunk the claims I see that wildlife won’t eat biotech crops.
No Crossing Zone
Another biotechnology Facebook photo here. We split a field with corn on the East side and popcorn on the west side. Right now there is no such thing as GMO popcorn and Weaver, the company we grow for, sells to overseas markets that don’t yet want biotech imports. So how is it we can plant popcorn so close to field corn without worrying about cross pollination? Popcorn is dent sterile meaning it won’t be pollinated by regular field corn which is also know as dent corn. The regular corn on the left is 46R11 GENVT3P. It is resistant to glyphosate (Roundup) herbicide and has multiple modes of built in insect resistance. I think I made the comment earlier in the week this corn is “about as GMO as you can get right now.” Also of note is how the popcorn has droopy leaves compared to the upright leaves of the field corn. Upright leaves capture more sunlight and most hybrids today have been bred with upright leaves. Leaves are developed through traditional breeding methods. The popcorn market is quite small relative to the corn market, so you can imagine the resources for improved development in field corn can be ahead of popcorn breeding. Nevertheless popcorn can be our most profitable crop.
Planting Again
We stuck a few more soybeans in the ground this week. Read all about it in Planting 2.0.
First in the Field
This is a shot of the first field we planted this season. This corn was seeded on May 6th. Almost canopied over the rows and a beautiful dark green.
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I think you need a cup holder on the fence spray rig.
Didn’t know popcorn was dent sterile but makes sense.
Nice pictures….