Tag: Harvest

The frustrations of a farmer…

Every harvest year, every farmer around the world has some frustration, whether it be from lack of yields, uncooperative weather, not enough help to get everything done, unexpected life happenings, etc., etc. For us at Center View Farms, it is commonly mechanical problems.

Every year the combine that we give a thorough check up pre-harvest, has an issue. This year it is an unload auger problem and quite a serious one. Last year we had a similar issue but was fixed in a few days. This year, it has taken us out of the field for 4 and it is still not fixed. We are concerned that our soybeans are now overly dry and will start shattering, losing thousands of bushels on the ground. As of today, we don’t have a serious problem of shattering, but we will need to keep checking our fields daily for any signs that it is getting worse.

We hope the combine will get fixed up today…what a debacle! On top of this, the weather has been so beautiful and more than cooperative, that to waste days just looking at the ready soybean fields is heart wrenching.

The corn is drying nicely in the field and will be ready when we finish soybeans if all goes well today and this week. Wish us luck!

Ready, set, go!

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The 2012 harvest is under way! Our first frost arrived on Sunday, September 23, and helped ensure the beans were dead and dry. Last week they looked dry enough, but the stems were still green and pretty tough to get through. We did start combining some corn late last week, but we were not excited about drying it. For now, the 3,000 bushels we did harvest are drying in our holding bin by some high pressure fans. Cool nights and low humidity days assist with the drying process.

It has only been day 2 of the soybean harvest, but yields look pretty good! I think we received some sufficient moisture in August in our area which really helped the soybean plants after a high temperature and super dry July. I rode in the combine today and was surprised to see prime moisture levels and positive yield results…at least better than expected. I suspect this fall will be ideal harvesting weather as the drought continues on.

I feel a little left out of the harvesting process this year, but know that I will get my fill of sitting in that combine or tractor for many more years to come. Jesko is doing a fine job of filling in for me this year, as driving a tractor is his most favorite activity. We’ll see if the monotony gets to him…