Update for Monday October 2nd
With harvest out of the way, we are busy working on any remaining fall work. The weather was warm and sunny most of last week which allowed us to make some significant progress. Over the weekend we got some moisture which has now put any field work on hold for this week until it dries up. Only a few fields need to be harrowed yet, and some other more significant projects are also progressing well, but we have at least a week or two remaining to get everything completed that we want to. Forecast is for more wet weather this week but next week looks to be warmer again with limited moisture.
Fall fieldwork is an important job to get done in our area. We run over everything with a heavy harrow to help break the straw up and also helps to lift any “chaff” off the ground. The combines do an excellent job of chopping and spreading, but we have found if we don’t get the fields harrowed in the fall they take too long to warm up in the spring, and when you harrow in the spring it tends to “ball up” and leave piles. If we have a drier spring we can get away with not having to harrow the field in the spring prior to seeding – that is a field by field decision. Some fields have a significant amount of water that runs through, which then pools up in the field when it backs up, and that leaves a “ring” around the areas that it pools. Those fields we do need to harrow in the spring.
The harvest equipment was also blown off with our industrial air compressor, and the outside panels washed. During harvest we have backpack blowers that we use to blow the machines off every night – which helps reduce the amount of straw/chaff build up on the machine through the season. There is still a lot of straw that accumulates – and it is important to get the machines as clean as possible prior to putting into storage. This is a big task, and takes at least 2 full days in order to do get to an acceptable level of clean. We take our combines in for a “winter fix” where they go through the machine completely and check for repairs and do any updates that are required. Having a clean machine for the mechanics to work on is also appreciated.
Besides that we have been fairly busy hauling grain, with some of our contracts being called in early. We like to get as much hauled out and fill the contracts we have in place for the fall months prior to snow falling. Everything takes more time when there is snow on the ground…
The 2023 season is coming to a close, so the updates will not be as often through the balance of the fall and the winter.
