Wind And Rain

Its been a challenge, as usual, trying to get crops sprayed on time. Well no chance of being on time any more but I'll get them done eventually. Wind blows like a hurricane some days so nobody in their right mind will run a sprayer and blow herbicide all across the country (and his neighbour's crops). We finally got a decent day yesterday and I got all of two tanks of heribiced sprayed on wheat. Might have made three but a front tractor tire developed a bulge that threatened to leave me stranded if I kept driving. Thanks to my "pit crew" we had a new tire on and rolling again about 3 hours later. Not easy changing a big 11.00x16 tire on the farm without benefit of proper tire changing equipment but we got it done.
Today, clouds and threatening rain means the sprayer gets a rest and I get to catch up on a few jobs that I haven't had time to do. As usual time flies when you are trying to do too much. I did take time to take this photo of a nice sunset last night. Actually I didn't take any time as I kept rolling right along as I took the picture.. Talk about distracted driving!

Wheat looks good from the ground but a drone view from last Saturday makes it look a bit patchy.

Happy Canada Day

Although it was already two days ago, here is a photo of what has become sort of a Canada Day traditional gathering of friends and family. It was pretty cool, cloudy and windy so I passed on the actual trail ride.

Funny , with all the threatening weather we have had lately, in fact there has been hardly any measureable rain. Just light showers that keep everything going but make it very hard to make hay. I was lucky enough to get most of what I have cut baled up last week. So far holding off cutting any more as there are showers forecast almost every day this coming week. 

Crops progressing nicely with canola blooming and wheat heading pretty much on schedule. I took these recent photos of wheat. Of course it was a good opportunity to exercise the 52 Merc. Can't let it sit too long and have the valves get stuck from inactivity. 

A Little Progress

Finally, a little progress in the saga of spring planting preparations. The first nice sunny (quiet) day in a while and as luck would have it, the day I was scheduled to haul wheat to the cleaning plant. Perfect timing as the roads had just dried up from the weekend rain. Still a bit wet to work in the field but one neighbour was heading out with the air drill in the afternoon.

This was supposed to be video but turned out to be a series of many still photos. Apparently I had the camera dial set wrong. It was supposed to look something like this but minus the snow of course.
Six trips and the cleaned seed is in the bin ready to go. Screenings hauled home and the truck in the shop for a well earned engine oil change. After 41 years and 115,000 miles the old IH still gets the job done.
Next, maybe hitch onto the anhydrous cultivator. Prices of anhydrous and all fertilizer has taken a huge jump in the past month so I was lucky to have mine pre-bought.
The forecast is for more unsettled and wet weather for the rest of the week. It could be another challenging spring in Sask.

Spring Harvest Wheat

Although I wasn't around to see it, my Dad often made mention of how he and my Uncle Sandy harvested a field of wheat swaths on April 17 of 1952. Harvesting wheat in the spring, while not unheard of, was not a common occurrence. Poor weather conditions the previous fall had prevented them from getting the wheat combined. Sandy had a new Case pull type swather that year and had swathed the wheat in preparation for combining with Dad's almost new Case Model A pull type combine. Those two pieces of machinery represented a considerable investment in those days. Farm loans were difficult or non-existent. Sometimes the dealer would extend credit for the customers that he felt were a good risk.
Spring harvest was an adventure with the fields still wet from the melted snow. With Sandy's LA Case pulling the combine and Dad's John Deere D standing by to pull the whole outfit through the worst muddy spots when required, they got the job done.
Dad said the Thatcher wheat was still surprisingly good in quality except for colour bleaching. Very dry at 11% moisture. I guess it helped make the payments on the new machinery. This photo shows the machinery and the wooden bin for the wheat.