Harvest continued this week. We harvested all the soybeans we found were ready to cut aside from the few acres we had to leave because the ground was just too wet to drive across. We got into about 40 acres of corn in two different fields before we called it quits Saturday afternoon. Grain moisture is still high around 27%. It won’t hurt us to shut down for a few days while the warm weather dries things down.
2014 Harvest Continues
Dad took over the controls for a while when I went to lunch. I have to get photos of the combine while I can because I’m usually the one driving.
I packed up my quadcopter to capture some aerial shots and video of soybean harvest. The combine doesn’t seem so large from 400′ in the air.
Flying gives a great view of the grain tank!
While performing routine daily maintenance I found a drive belt had slipped off the machine. Two belts drive the same pulleys together so we must have been running alright with one belt for a short while. These belts stretched a bit and one had a few small chunks missing. We put brand new belts in their place.
Family Farm
The midday shift shows up to take my place in the cab while I eat lunch.
Covered Up
The cover crop mix we had flown on early last week is beginning to show some good growth. Plenty of annual ryegrass showing up in this spot! This will scavenge soil nutrients, improve organic matter, and promote good soil structure while feeding soil organisms.
Yield Monitor
So far the corn yields are pretty high. Even better than 2013 where we’ve been so far. And that’s why the price of corn has gone from $8.00 a bushel to $3.00. Not going to complain about a big crop though!
The Hook Up
Sometimes you have to find a spot near your field to hook the head up. Driveways and grass ditch banks aren’t always conveniently located.
Open for Business
https://storify.com/thefarmerslife/east-80-harvest
Trying a second corn field here in search of drier corn. Didn’t find it, but we did get the ends row off and split the field down the middle. This should help air move through the rest of the field and speed the drying process.
More sun and warm temps are in the forecast for next week. We hope to plant wheat next week, and get harvest rolling full steam at some point. Stay tuned!
It looks like it is going to be a late harvest everywhere. My Uncle in Eastern Iowa has done a few rounds in the corn but things are still too wet and probably will be for a week or more still. Even so he is itching to get out in the field and get the crop out. Hopefully we get done before Christmas!
Picking corn in northeast Kansas with 14 to 15% moisture.
Picked some 22% last week. Driest we had.