Working The Deer Pasture

As the picture indicates, this summerfallow field got a little out of control and the deer were finding it to be good pasture. It made for a nice photo as the sun came out from under the clouds about an hour before sunset. By the time I finished the field the moonlight was reflecting off the beaver ponds. It was one of the jobs I was able to get at while waiting for the weather to dry up enough to resume harvest. We have fallen victim to bad harvest weather. Rain. And then days of intermittent cloud, not enough wind to dry, just kind of at a standstill. Then when the crop is almost dry enough to bin safely, rain strikes us down again. Not a good place to be when over half the crop is still in the field.
And we are not alone. Similar conditions happening in the lazy farmer's part of the world . As we approach October with shorter, cooler days, less drying, the harvest window closes a little more each passing day.
The deer may have plenty to eat this winter.

Full Moon And A Frost

It happened here last night. First frost of the season on a clear full moon night. Crops are far enough advanced that it won't hurt them. In fact it will help kill any weeds or green growth in the crops. Nature's own dessicator is what I like to call it.

That 2 and a quarter inch rain over the past couple of days was a bit much but after the first half inch I guess it does not make much difference as the grain is soaked. So a few days off to spend catching up on jobs that got neglected when I was on the combine all day. And put another $500 worth of parts into the combine. That puts me up to about $4500 for this season and its not over by a long ways yet. It is expensive building a combine out of new parts

Crop yields are better than average so bin space is getting to be a problem for everyone. Terminals are short on space and not getting grain cars when they need them. Nothing new there. The big plastic grain bags are also almost impossible to buy for those that use them.

Of course good yields usually equal poor prices but we won't complain too much. I'll try not to get too worked up about that or any further combine breakdowns. Just keep thinking about the The Lazy Farmer . You know, this laid back easy going guy from the pages of the Free Press Weekly....

 

Harvest Progress 2013

Where I have been lately. Comments to follow later in another post.