Tag: Soybeans

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…

To harvest or not to harvest…yet, that is the question

It is that time of year again when the farmers get their harvest equipment ready and head to the fields. They are excited to see what their corn stands are like and most importantly their yields. And every year it seems like a race to the finish line. Farmers see other farmers in their fields and they become antsy even though they know their own fields aren’t quite ready. Maybe it’s that competitive nature, maybe it’s that “I can’t sit still and watch others work” mentality, or maybe it’s just their mind worrying about what might happen with the weather if they don’t get going.

Maybe I’m a little green, and all emotions aside, I think we are ok waiting one more week to see our corn get dry enough naturally in the fields without having to run any of it through the dryer. We are very close to the perfect moisture levels we need to sell and store our grain, that it seems a little premature to harvest.

In most years, our operation starts harvesting soybeans around the 29th of September. Do I think our soybeans will be dry enough by then? Yes. Do I think our corn will be dry enough by then? Yes. In a normal year, corn is not ready to harvest by the end of September. Its prime time is mid-October. Usually there is not a question as to what to harvest first. But as you know, this is not a normal year. The drought and high temperatures this past summer shortened the corn season and therefore made it ready to go a few weeks to a month ahead of schedule. While beans received adequate moisture in August here to remain on schedule.

Maybe we are too anxious to see what kind of yields we have. Maybe we are too worried about what could happen, the “what-if” syndrome, to think rationally. Maybe all the volatility in the markets and the world are making us a little crazy. Whatever it is, I think we need to look closely at our own operation and focus on just that…what is good for us.

As a side-line player this harvest due to being almost 9 months pregnant, I don’t have much say in when to say go. But from what I have seen from walking our fields the last few weeks, the preliminary reports from our combine and operator, and the weather outlook, I think we can gain to wait for one more week.