One More Step Forward

All the pieces are finally coming together. This picture (taken April 24) shows the first day in the field for the JD 1610 anhydrous cultivator we have been working on. Except for a few leaks that needed sealing up it seems to be working out pretty well. Those narrow Bourgault NH3 knives with the carbide tips are easy pulling and don't disturb the soil much. Someone commented that those carbide tipped knives will still be working long after we are retired or have shuffled off this mortal coil. I hope they do last as they were quite expensive.
Unfortunately the weather has put a stop to field operations today with some light snow and temps down near the freezing mark. Kind of nice to have a day off for a change and of course a little rain will do us a lot of good. Grass and trees are starting to show some green but the cows still come home to eat hay out of the feeder after a day of foraging the field and pasture. Not enough grass growth to keep them satisfied just yet.
We are pretty much on schedule for this time of year. With a little luck and a few breaks (not breakdowns) I have hopes of getting the crop seeded by the usual time.
I've already put in a row of early potatoes in the garden. They probably won't show any leaves for weeks but at least its a start.

More spring preparations

Spring marches on. With almost record breaking warm temperatures it feels more like May than April this past week. No seeding going on in the immediate area that I have noticed but then it is still a little early. We know that Sask weather can lull us into a sense of security with beautiful weather and then turn around and hit us with a late spring snowstorm or frost and we might regret planting crops too early.
It has been great condtions for working on the big green machine, a John Deere 1610 chisel plow that we are installing an anhydrous fertilizer kit on. Its a lot of work and expense but at current rental rates this machine should pay for itself in about 3 years. And by that I mean the rental rates we won't have to pay. After over ten years of renting anhydrous applicators and paying as high as $3 an acre for the use of them, it will be nice to have a machine of our own that is always always available and kept in a good state of repair. Some of the rental stuff tends to see some hard use and a lack of maintenance.
Hopefully next week will see us putting anhydrous into the ground in preparation for planting. With a little luck ,,, seeding the first week of May.
As usual, plans subject to change due to weather changes. The cattle guys (including me) would like to see a little rain to get the grass growing, but not enough to seriously delay seeding crops