The Courage of The Early Morning

That is the title of a book by Billy Bishop , the flying ace of World War one. I must have read it years ago and the title stuck in my mind and usually I'm reminded of it on the rare occasion I actually do get up early in the morning. Once I'm up I enjoy it though. On a day like yesterday when there was fog in the hollow indicating a fine day to follow, without the annoying and soul destroying winds that plague us all to frequently, it was worth getting up at 5:00 am.
It was because of those wild winds, which made it inadvisable , or just plain crazy , to try and spray crops. Some mornings it was even windy by sunrise. Not June 7 though. I got in a good day of crop spraying. Put over 30 road miles on the tractor running back and forth for tanks of water/glyphosate, and probably more miles than that in the field. And only a gentle breeze at most.
No time to stop and take photos as I'm always under pressure spraying crops but I did take this quick shot over the steering wheel while driving by the "big slough" over on Winstanley Grove. So named back in the days when most sloughs dried up except this one.

You can see the rows of canola plants looking good. Looks like canola planted on summerfallow is superior to what I planted on flax stubble this year. In the years when it rains every other day the canola will germinate quick. But in this , the first dry spring we have had in years, any seed planted in dry soil is taking a long time to germinate (waiting on rain).

Lucky Again

At least for the short term. I finally went last night to check the first field of canola I seeded. I expected to see a big bare patch that would need re-seeding with something.I had made a mistake setting the sprockets on the air seeder and the canola seed ran out way faster than it was supposed to. Luckily I stopped to check after 20 acres expecting to still have enough to do another ten acres. The tank was empty!! And  I did not know for how long it ran that way so no way to go back and re-seed at that time.
Looking last evening I could only see a small triangle of unseeded ground. Not worth a 12 mile round trip with the air seeder.
Lucky too that the canola is actually emerging considering how little rain we have had. Driest May in 45 years they say. This field (on summerfallow) is doing pretty well for emergence compared to the other field planted on flax stubble. That one is a lot drier and some of the canola seed is just waiting for rain to germinate. That makes for an uneven crop.
Its been said that we are only ever two weeks away from a drought in the growing season in Sask. Hard to believe after the past en years of mud and excess rain but I guess it had to happen.

Also see me rambling on about seeding, weather, etc. in this latest video.

Done Seeding and.....

We have caterpillars. Tent Caterpillars in hordes like a science fiction movie. If you are the type that has a phobia about creepy crawlers you won't want to visit my hundred acre woods. And the other woods around it. The poplar trees are literally stripped of leaves and the branches hang with webs from the worms. They have spread out into the fields too but hopefully don't eat crops.

Caterpillars coating the tires of my truck today. 

They rode along on the booms of the sprayer this morning. Even a 6 mile ride down the gravel road did not shake them loose. 

The whole month of May has been pretty much a blur of activity and here it is over already. I was surprised and glad to see canola coming up today. I did not expect to see it til a rain fell but I guess there was enough moisture in the soil to sprout it. That glyphosate burn off was a good idea and sure set the weeds back, giving the crop a chance to get a start. Say what you will against Monsanto but their products work and make our life easier here on the farm. 

As expected there is a tremendous crop of volounteer flax coming in the canola crop but roundup will take care of that. 

I pretty much pushed the limit on the glyphosate burn off on the last field of oats I planted. 3 days of non stop wind kept me from spraying and I was afraid the oats would be out of the ground before I got it done. Which would very likely kill the oats. But the weeds were so bad that I figured take a chance as there would not be much of a crop if I didn't spray to kill the twitch grass etc. 

Been a long day having been up since 5:00 for an early start on chem fallow. I need to do the same tomorrow to finish up the last 60 acres. Then a short break before the canola is ready for it's first pass with glyphosate (roundup). Probably next week. 

Drone View Planting Canola

Been a little busy the past few weeks trying to get a crop planted. With the usual hitches , breakdowns and general setbacks it takes a long time. I think time passes quicker the older I get. I did manage to get most of the crop in the ground by the 24th of May which is kind of a random target date I like to be finished by. Still got a few garden things to plant. That first row of potatoes has been in the ground near a month I think and a few of them are growing.

I've been too busy to fly the drone but my nephew was able to use his to get some great video of my running the air seeder this past weekend. Out among the scenic sloughs of pothole country. Hopefully it will be nice and yellow this summer with blooming canola.

Frost

I guess its not unusual for us to get frost overnight in May and we had it last night. Ice in the cattle trough and cat dish this morning. Lucky I have no crop up to damage yet. There is talk in some areas that emerged canola suffered some damage from frost. It takes time to show.Re-seeding might happen for some.
Got in a good day of seeding wheat here (my first) after getting a couple of hundred  acres of canola planted. We are seeing a little dust behind the air seeder which is something we have not had a lot of in the past wet (mud) years.  That canola in  the dust will need a little rain shower to help it germinate. It might happen on the weekend.
I had a little help  in the field today

Mary running the 2090 and harrow packer.

While I seeded wheat on canola stubble. Good looking sunset. Should be a nice day tomorrow.

Windy Day

It was a good day to be in the shelter of the poplar groves of the hundred acre woods today. Wild East wind just won't quit. Nice enough working indoors in the cab but anytime I get out it nearly takes my hat off. Toque and jacket in the morning but AC needed by mid  morning.
Making progress slowly although I am a week behind where I should be thanks to the flax holdup. Finally got all the straw burned, field sprayed and now anhydroused.

Not without holdups and problems but overall not bad. That flat front tire on the tractor was repairable and back in service the next day. Thank goodness for the reliable services at the local Co-op that help keep the wheels turning. They got that leaking hydraulic hose fixed up for me too.
Have to say the soil conditions are the driest I have seen in a while and it is a nice change not fighting mud and stuck tractors. That might change in the next few days if the forecast it right.