A Pickin' and A Grinnin'?

We were back to "pickin' " yesterday, but there wasn't much "grinnin' " going on. Corn Harvest 2018 started way back on August 31. We got one landlord's corn harvest completed that day.

And then it rained ... and rained ... and rained.

Not that we're complaining. Really. After a winter with no moisture of any kind -- neither rain nor snow nor sleet -- we aren't turning down moisture.

Randy tried to resume corn harvest after a 2-week hiatus on Monday. The corn is dry. The ground is not. He did get more harvested yesterday, but it also involved being pulled out of the muck several times with a 4-wheel drive tractor.

About the same time as he got stuck the first time, we had a breakdown with the disc. I was already going to Hutchinson to pick up my state fair photos. But, of course, the dealership in Hutchinson didn't have the needed parts.

So I had a lovely detour to Kingman on the way home. It could have been worse. The parts could have been out-of-state and we would be waiting on UPS to get it fixed. And it really was a nice day for a drive.

After filling the truck and combine, Randy switched jobs and baled sudan. The same deluge also soaked our sudan hay. Randy had abandoned one field of swathed sudan because it rotted after getting soaked repeatedly. He plans to let that field of sudan re-grow, and he'll turn cattle out on it this fall.

But he is trying to salvage some of the sudan. It looked like he was baling up the sun last night.

From stuck combine to sunset beauty, it's all part of life on The County Line.

Don't Count Your Chickens (Or Your Kernels)

" Don't count your chickens before they hatch."

It's advice that's become so ingrained that we all know the saying.

I'm thinking I need to add an addendum for my chronically-optimistic farmer: 

Don't count your kernels before they're combined.

A 2.10" rain last weekend practically had Randy dancing between the rows of corn. (Well, he might have if he were a dancer. Instead, he wanted me to come and take a photo.) However, since our dryland corn has never been a bin buster in the 6 years we've had it in the crop rotation, I'm tamping down any feelings of elation I might have until I can see the elevator receipts. And we've got a while until that happens.

However, there's no question that more than 2 inches of rain were a blessing on our farm. We got another 0.25" Tuesday morning.

 

Still, it came too late for some locations. Compare this cob to the fully-loaded one in the other photo.

The recent rains should help with filling milo heads.

 

And it definitely helped give our pastures another needed boost. Since the second cutting of hay is off the fields, we're hoping for some good growth for the alfalfa crop, too. 

Randy was excited enough about fall crops that he entered field corn, milo and forage sorghum in the Stafford County Fair. They all got blue ribbons. (Nobody else entered those categories, but who's counting?!)

April Showers Bring Fall Corn?

If April showers bring May flowers, we hope May showers bring fall corn. (And those May showers sure don't hurt the wheat crop, alfalfa or pastures either!)

Randy started planting corn on April 24 this year, later than normal. I took these photos the afternoon of May 2, the second day when our part of the state had the chance of severe thunderstorms. Thankfully, we got 1.40" of rain, but missed the hail, tornadoes and high winds that other parts of the state experienced. It rained Randy out before he could finish the field, but he got done yesterday afternoon.

The rain certainly gave the newly-planted corn a boost. So does the nitrogen fertilizer Randy applies  to promote germination and early growth.

This year, we planted 280 acres of corn, a little less than last year. I'm sure that seems like small potatoes - or small sprouts - to anybody who has circles of corn. Since we are an all dryland farm, wheat remains our primary crop.

On a walk last Friday, we checked out the newly-emerged corn coming up in fields where he'd first planted.

Our walk also took us past a wheat field, where it was starting to head. The 2018 Wheat Quality Council's Hard Winter Wheat Tour was last week. And the 95 participants who traversed the state along six different routes found what we already knew: The 2018 wheat crop is behind schedule. Because most of wheat country has been in a severe drought since last October, the crop is shorter than normal and head size is smaller. 

Friday, May 4, 2018

The Wheat Quality Council's estimate for the 2018 Kansas wheat crop is 37 bushels an acre. Kansas Wheat reports that total production of wheat to be harvested in Kansas is 243.3 million bushels. If realized, this would be about 90 million bushels less than last year's crop and the lowest production in Kansas since 1989.

Monday, May 7, 2018

By Monday afternoon, many more heads were unfurled in the wheat fields.

My eternal optimist reports that the rains late in April and early in May should help some,  especially if we don't plunge right into summer temperatures. However, these days with 85-degree-plus temperatures won't do the crop any favors.

A 2017 Corn Report: Mother Nature Won

Mother Nature won. In the epic battle of Farmer vs. Mother Nature, she denied access to timely rain. She opted for 100-degree temperatures during critical growing times. She would tease us with rain clouds we could see on the horizon but kept the raindrops from falling on our parched fields.

So, it's a bit anticlimactic to report on Corn Harvest 2017. On second thought, let's just keep it lower case ... corn harvest 2017 doesn't deserve the capital letters. It was not a bumper crop. In fact, it was the worst corn crop we've had in the five years since adding it to the crop rotation on the County Line.

 

 Our 320 acres planted to corn yielded an average of 43.6 bushels per acre.

 

Since we are a totally dryland farming operation, we are dependent upon Mother Nature's rains and her heat index during critical times like pollination. She seems to be like the playground bully when it comes to County Line corn.

To compare with previous years, 2016's overall average was 71 bushels per acre. Our first year of corn production was 2013, and we had an average yield of 57 bushels per acre. In 2014, we had our best year to date, with an average of 108 bushels per acre. Overall yield average for 2015 was 43.88 bushels per acre.

The journey toward Corn Harvest 2017 began in April, when Randy planted the crop. (For a look back along the way, click on this link.)

April 2017:  The corn seed in the middle of the photo was at the end of the row, where Randy turned. Most of the seeds end up underground, where they are supposed to be, but I still liked the photo.

May 2017

We finished corn harvest September 25, but it would have been sooner had we not had some combine problems.

Our 320 acres of corn likely sounds like small potatoes - or small sprouts - to anybody who has circles of corn.

But we are primarily wheat farmers, and we were thankful for our second-best wheat crop ever here on the County Line.

After a nice, gentle 3.40" rain the week before, we started planting wheat on October 2. However, we've gotten 0.50" in the past couple of days, so we are at a standstill in that process. No complaining about moisture is allowed! We'd like to keep on Mother Nature's good side for this crop.

More on wheat planting to come ...

Corn 2017: The Journey Begins

The corn seed in the middle of the photo was at the end of the row, where Randy turned. Most of the seeds end up underground, where they are supposed to be, but I still liked the photo.

God says, "Leave the miracle part to me. 

I've got the seed, the soil, the sunshine, the rain and the seasons.

I'm God, and all this miracles stuff is easy for me. 

I have reserved something very special for you 

and that is to plant the seed."

--Jim Rohn, Author & Motivational Speaker

Two weeks ago, Randy started planting corn. He finished the last field on Friday, right before we got 2.20 inches of rain over the weekend. 

 

On the day I took the photos, it was one of those times when the blue sky was dusted with cotton-candy wisps of clouds, which beautifully offset the brown earth.

I wasn't Randy's only audience. Our cows in a catty-corner pasture came to watch the proceedings. I'm always amused by cow's curiosity. Thankfully, they didn't get any closer to the action.

Last Friday, we were in the corn field again. At the field where he had first planted, the green corn sprouts lined up like soldiers down rows of brown earth.

It looks like a good stand.

This year, we planted 310 acres of corn, a little more than last year. I'm sure that seems like small potatoes - or small sprouts - to anybody who has circles of corn. Since we are an all dryland farm, wheat remains our primary crop.

Randy says these photos make the corn look bigger than it is. Yes, it does, but I liked it anyway.

However, corn was a primary crop in this area when it was settled. The 6th Biennial Report of the Kansas State Board of Agriculture of 1888 reported that corn was the main crop for Stafford County, covering 48,030 acres. Oats were grown on 10,849 acres, while the winter wheat crop totaled 8,717 acres. Pasture ground was tallied at 13,446 acres. (Information taken from Stafford County History: 1870-1990.)

 

To give the corn a boost right from the start, Randy applies a nitrogen fertilizer to promote germination and early growth.

He also had the co-op spray a combination of herbicide and fertilizer. The herbicide will help control broadleaf weeds and some grasses, and the fertilizer was applied at the rate indicated by soil testing, so it varied from location to location.

 

Our planter was set at 18,800 corn seeds per acre. Each $200 bag has 80,000 seeds and plants 4.3 acres. By comparison, one bag of certified wheat seed costs $15 and plants about half an acre. A bag of milo seed costs $119 and plants 14 acres.

At another field, Randy did a little digging to uncover the seeds. They had sprouted, but they hadn't yet emerged through the soil. 

And now we'll leave the miracle part to God

Another To-Do Done: Corn Harvest 2016 Report

I like "to do" lists. Sometimes, I'll even add something to my "to do" list after it's done ... just for the satisfaction of crossing it off. (Forgive me my Type A obsessive behavior.)

In reality, I didn't have corn harvest on my "to do" list. I'm a cog in the wheel, but I'm not the orchestrator of all things harvest. Still, I like to think it was more easily crossed off my farmer's mental list with my parts runs and meal deliveries and my help moving from one field to the other. Since those "drop everything" times probably impacted my ability to tick off items on my own list, I guess I should have scribbled them in after the fact - just to make myself feel better.

We're all glad to move corn harvest from "to do" to "done."

This year, we had only 185 acres planted to corn, down from 243 in 2015. (In comparison, we had 1,559 acres planted to wheat this year. As I've said before: We are wheat farmers.) We began corn harvest on September 3 and finished on September 12.

For 2016, our overall average was 71 bushels per acre. It ranged from a low of 61 bu/acre to a high of 97 bu/acre.

This was our fourth corn crop, so it's a relatively new addition to the County Line rotation. So how did Corn Harvest 2016 stack up? Our first year of corn production was 2013. We had an average yield of 57 bushels per acre, with a low of 18 and a high of 78. In 2014, we had our best year to date. Our average was 108 bushels per acre, with a low of 82 and a high of 145. Overall yield average for 2015 was 43.88 bushels per acre. So, all things considered, 2016 was a relatively good year.

Randy was a bit disappointed by the yield, considering our wetter-than-normal summer. However, we had some weed pressure from herbicide-resistant weeds. Also, some corn was drowned out with rains. (Not enough rain ... too much rain ... rain at the wrong time: Farmers have a reputation for never being happy with the weather. It's probably deserved!)

But, since we are a totally dryland farming operation, we are dependent upon Mother Nature's rains and her heat index during critical times like pollination.

We raised enough to fill the corn contract we had with the Kanza Co-op, so that was a relief. Now, if we could just do something about commodity prices, we could look forward to wheat planting later this month with a little more confidence.

April 23, 2016

Our 2016 corn crop was the crop that almost wasn't. A dry spring had Randy considering not planting any corn. But some timely rain changed his mind, and we started planting corn in April. Compared to a wheat crop, corn provides a short time from planting to harvest.

So, all in all, it is good to have the 2016 Corn Harvest in the books ... and crossed off the list!

I'm As Corny as Kansas in August

Walking through the corn these days is starting to sound like you're shaking cornflakes from the cardboard cereal box into a bowl.

Our 2016 corn crop is beginning to dry down. There's still plenty of green, but it's losing its lush, verdant color as it transitions toward harvest.

 

A corn field nearing harvest looks like it needs an airbrush before a beauty shot. In contrast, I think a wheat field looks pretty from start to finish. Well, except if it gets hailed on or a combine is stuck in the field. OK, I guess there are exceptions to every generalization. But, by the time the corn crop is ready to combine, those dried out leaves and husks just don't look at appealing from afar.

However, all those yellow kernels hiding inside the husks make up for it!

On Friday, Randy picked several ears from the field and hand-shucked them into a bucket.
He was curious about the moisture level.

Our tester showed that it was still 25.4 moisture. It needs to be 16 or lower to cut for hauling to the local co-op.

Harvest of our dryland corn crop is likely a couple of weeks away, depending on the weather.

For a look back at the highlights of the 2016 corn crop, click on this link.