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Some Rain! Heat in Forecast

No sooner did I update the website last week, and that night we ended up with a good moisture event across the farm! I will have to try that again next time it starts to get dry….

We were fortunate to get between 14mm to 26mm across the farm – once again the central and northern areas received the higher amounts, while the south was left with less. But it was much welcome, as it has slowed the drought stress that was really starting to make its appearance. Along with the rain, we did see some more lodging in our fields, mostly the barley. Most of it has rebounded and is partially standing back up – but it still could be an issue for harvest, as we were planning on straight combining most of it. Usually the areas that lodge (go flat) do not ripen as quick, and could delay harvest if we have to wait for them.

Starting to see higher levels of pests in our fields as we get closer to maturity. Seeing some near threshold levels of aphids in our oats – threshold is between 15-20 per main stem – on our earlier planted fields. They are mature enough that spraying is not warranted. In canola we are seeing higher levels of Lygus Bugs and also seeing some diamond back moth worms, plus high levels of flea beetles. We will have to keep a close watch on these fields as we are still at least 2-3 weeks away from harvest.

We are finally starting to bring some of our harvest equipment home. We had ordered John Deere X9 combines for this harvest – but delays at the plant have pushed back the expected delivery date to mid September. The straight cut headers are now pushed back to middle of October! Our local dealer is going to provide us with 5 – 790’s to use for this harvest. I can’t believe that these shortages and delays are still occuring. The cost to the local dealers is enourmous, and the inconvenience to us as customers is also significant. It has required us to purchase a second grain cart, and have to find 2 additional people for harvest to run the extra combine and grain cart.

 

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