Plant Preview 2019

Time sure flies lately. I think I've been in the tractor(s) every day the past couple of weeks. Between anhydrousing, seeding, picking  rocks and harrowing, and no "rainy day breaks" it keeps me busy. Not to mention a few minor breakdowns that used up a lot of time. I mean 3 days to plant a 120 acre field is a bit much. I could have done that in a day even with the old 22 foot Seedrites in a good day. Flat tractor tire, blown hydraulic hoses and intermittent electric clutch failures on the air seeder kept things interesting. Plenty of video shot either in the cab or outside but no time to do much editing. And I refuse to upload raw, unedited video to youtube.

Still no rain and it gets drier every day. Well we did get that little spit on Wednesday that laid the dust and messed up the cab windows but it didn't do a thing for soil moisture. Lots of money going into the ground in hopes of rain.

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.

Lowering My Expectations

Been doing that all day. I'd originally figured to be satisfied finishing the 60 acre canola field today. But in the sunshine and optimism of the morning I started to think it should be possible to also finish the 40 acre wheat field if I worked late. A hundred acres in a day with 28 feet is not beyond possibility even for me on a good day. However, today was not a good day.
A series of holdups, complications and just the usual myriad of little things needing to be done made for a late start in the field.
And after running five minutes or so I was stuck in the mud. The only big pulling tractor I have was 9 miles away and I don't think the little old tractors would do much in that mud. Lucky I was able to unhitch the air seeder and get the tractor out, then using the nylon tow strap, carefully extricate the air seeder from the mud. Giving up a few more acres to high water levels this year I guess.
For some reason the seeder planted heavier than planned and I ran out of canola seed with maybe two acres left to go.
Change over to oats just to use up the leftover seed so I don't have to store it til next spring. Planted 14 acres of oats and that was done. Then change over to wheat with all the numerous adjustments and clean outs that entails. It was 8:00 and threatening rain but I figured a couple of hours might just see me finish the field. It was not to be. After 14 acres it was spitting rain so I decided to do a quick top up on the seed tank and then run the other tractor and hopper wagon back to the shed in case it rained harder (no tarp on this wagon). On checking the seed tank I was shocked to see it still almost full of wheat. Apparently some careless operator or gremlin had not got the drive chain on the sprocket. Looks like I will be going over that same ground again tomorrow, this time with the seed shaft turning out wheat hopefully.
Ok, I am done for the day and the field is not finished. If it rains, it rains.
On the positive side, I did not drive over my toolbox again and did not have any more flat tires or blown hydraulic hoses.

Years ago I would never have dreamed I could carry $600 worth of canola seed on my shoulder. Good old roundup ready canola.

Days Go By

Days go by so quickly now it seems. As I sit here catching up on email and eating a late (11:00) supper I guess it is not surprising that time passes quickly this time of year. It is almost a blur of activity and I will forget just what I did when if I don't at least make some note of it.
Second day back in the field after a break for rain last week. Planting wheat but finished the field and changed over to canola in late afternoon. I took this "seeding selfie" while standing on the tank watching the fertilizer fill up.

I edited the original in windows paint to be right side up but blogger does not recognize it. It is too late and I am too tired to investigate the alternatives to edit here. 

It got really quiet in the evening so when I shut down the air seeder I took the opportunity to burn the last of the flax straw piles. 

It produced much light and smoke and made for an interesting photo. 

Dust In The Wind and other meanderings

Thats the song that came to mind looking at this picture from today. The rocks are so thick in some parts of this field that I need the rock picker following the air seeder as in this photo . Well ok, not quite, it just happened we were close together at that point in the field and I took a quick photo.

That relentless wind of the past few days just won't quit. Field surface is getting dry and I stir up quite a dust with the air seeder planting canola. The price of said seed is a bit astounding .. If anybody had told me years ago that I could lift over $500 worth of canola seed without extreme exertion I would have never believed it. $7000 worth of seed in the back of a thousand dollar pickup, amazing.
Oh well, making a little progress even though I seem to be a ten oclock scholar most days not getting the seeder in the ground til way late in the morning. Seems I spend as much time getting ready to work as actually seeding. Fuel to haul, seed and fertilizer to load and haul miles between farms eats up a lot of time. A couple of my weedy fields I actually try and avert my gaze as I have to pass by them as I know the weeds will get to grow a little higher before I can get to them.

Seeding Begins

This is where I spend most of my daylight hours lately. Its late but still within the normal planting window of opportunity.