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!

One Of These Things Is Not Like the Others

Do you remember this song from "Sesame Street?"

One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?

Did you guess which thing was not like the others?
Did you guess which thing just doesn't belong?

If you guessed this one is not like the others,
Then you're absolutely right! 

We started corn harvest on Saturday. We also quit corn harvest on Saturday when we had a breakdown. The row headers (those things that look like missiles) are supposed to "float" and flex through the field. However, the cone on this particular header took a dive into the ground instead. The very same row header malfunctioned when Randy tried a test cut last week. He ordered a new one, and we picked it up Saturday morning in Hutchinson.

 

Naturally, it was Labor Day weekend, so the equipment dealership closed at noon Saturday and wasn't open on Monday. Randy plans to be at the parts counter when they open this morning. We'll see if we can get back up and running without having to wait on another part.

After lunch on Saturday, I was on my way to the field to get the first photos of corn harvest 2016. Randy had already cut one semi load of corn, but he wanted me to wait for pictures until we got into a little better corn than he found on the perimeter of the field. But, by the time I got there for the photo op, we were already broken down.

I rode along to Stafford in the semi instead.

Main Street, facing south, as we approached the 4-way stop.

It was only a partial load, but Randy didn't want to leave it sitting in the truck, potentially "sweating" and increasing the moisture reading.

Taken through the back window of the semi as the grain probe dipped down into the truck to get a corn sample.

We take most of our grain to the Zenith branch of the Kanza Co-op, but it was closed for the Labor Day weekend, so we went the extra miles to Stafford.

It's always a little more of a challenge because the elevator is right on U.S. Highway 50.

It requires a bit of maneuvering - and several extra glances both east and west down the highway - to weigh on and then depart after unloading.

But it wasn't that busy on Saturday, so no traffic jams were involved.

There were no traffic jams on Main Street either, even though it was coffee time at Elroy's, the pizza place. Going down the brick streets of Stafford's Main Street in a semi can rattle your teeth a bit.

Sitting up higher gives a different perspective than the one I get in my car. Now, if only the windows had been cleaner, but even if I'd had Windex with me, I don't think my gymnastic moves would have been sufficient to get them cleaned. We already had one breakdown. We didn't need a farm wife breakdown on top of that!

So, we didn't "labor" as much as we'd planned during Labor Day weekend.

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.

Oh My, How You've Grown!

Oh my, how you've grown! It's a phrase often attributed to little old ladies commenting on children's exponential growth. (Oh wait! Some people may put me in the "old lady" camp these days. Hmmppffff!)

But the sentiment also applies to our 2016 corn crop.

June 18, 2016

In a little more than a month, our dryland corn crop has gone from waist high to towering over my human measuring stick.

Randy says that corn needs a certain number of "heat units" to grow well. I would say it definitely got its share of "heat units" last week.The temperature hovered around 100 degrees all week, and we didn't get any rain. This Monday morning, we've gotten 0.20" of rain. Let's hope it helps cool things off a bit and gives another boost to the corn, milo and feed sorghum crops.

Since we are first and foremost wheat farmers, the rain we got during wheat harvest may have been an aggravation. But our corn farmer alter ego is happy the rain helped fill the corn cobs and has the 2016 corn crop looking so good. 

Most the corn stalks have more than one ear.

Maybe the song lyrics from South Pacific will come true this year: "I'm as corny as Kansas in August." By the end of August, our dryland crop may be ready to harvest. It happens in half the time of the 9-month-long march to wheat harvest.

April 23, 2016

More photos from this year's corn crop progress (and my human measuring stick) can be found by clicking on this link.

Stormy Weather ... and Attitudes

I used HDR in editing this photo (just FYI).

I was off on a parts run to Hutchinson when I got the dreaded phone call: "No need to hurry home. We just got rain, wind and hail where we were cutting wheat."

It was all I could do not to cry at the parts counter of Straub's. Yes, harvest is yet again halted in its tracks.

While I can't compete with Mr. Optimistic, in general, I'm a fairly positive person. But the stormy weather is creating some stormy attitudes on the County Line right about now. We started Wheat Harvest 2016 on June 15. Here we are - two weeks later - and we are a little more than halfway done.

At this little space on the internet, I try to leave a bit of beauty and light through photos and words. But there are times when some honesty is in order, too. I can't do a darn thing about the weather. Well, I guess I can complain about it, though it doesn't do any good.

The stormy sky as a backdrop for the Zenith elevator made for a pretty spectacular photo as I turned toward home. OK, there's a positive.

I know that I'm supposed to be all thrilled that it rained for our fall crops. And I am thankful for that. But let's get real: We are wheat farmers.

The current price of wheat at my local co-op is $3.26 per bushel. During the 9-month life cycle of this crop, we've spent money on seed, fertilizer, herbicide and fungicide. Throw machinery costs, fuel costs, labor costs, insurance premiums and land costs into the mix.

I'll tell myself we're breaking even. I'm not sure that's true. But it's why it's even more important to get it out of the field and into the elevator. After rain (and hail in one location), the wheat keeps sagging lower to the muddy ground, making it even more of a challenge to cut. 

We decided not to have any of our acres custom harvested this year because of purchasing the new-to-us combine at a farm sale this spring - and because the price is so low.

I read an article last week that said the price of wheat on July 1, 1976, was $3.50. Yes, you read that right: 1976, 40 years ago, the price of wheat was higher than it is today. Can you think of anything else that has gone down in price in the past 40 years? Me neither.

This wheat stalk must be the optimist in the bunch!

While at the co-op website to check the price, I looked at the weather forecast for the next few days:
Wednesday, 55% chance of precipitation
Thursday, 41%
Friday, 80%
Saturday,60%

On Monday, Randy fought mud as he slogged through the wheat field across the road, finally giving up and moving to what he hoped was a drier location. It's not drier any more. Randy was not the only thing that got soaked as he tarped the trucks yesterday. So did the wheat and the ground upon which it stands.

Sunshine after the storm went through. We only got 0.20" at home, but that's where he was fighting mud already.

So ... back to the fall crops: The rain was good for the corn. However, since we are exclusively dryland farmers, we don't have a large amount of corn or milo planted. Wheat is far and away our bread and butter - pun intended.

The corn is tasseling and pollinating now. The cooler temperatures are beneficial to that process, too.

Silver lining? I suppose. But we have a long time until harvest on corn, and I'm not counting on anything at the moment. 

Rant over? Maybe. I'll try to be back to my more cheerful self the next time. I do have some pretty photos to share from a 4-wheeler check of the Ninnescah Pasture during another rain delay. The rains nourish the pasture grasses and the cattle look great. Maybe reviewing those photos will lower my blood pressure. Or maybe I need another trip to listen to the water rush over the dam at the pasture.

For Good Measure

Taken June 8, 2016

I may have my pay docked. As recorder of the goings-on at the County Line, I usually try to document the growth of crops through photos and words. In early June, as I returned home after nearly a week at a church conference in Topeka, I realized that I hadn't yet used my handsome human measuring stick to show our 2016 corn crop's progress.  After generous May rains and June sunshine, the corn was about knee-high on June 8.

June 18, 2016

Since I didn't get that photo shared in a timely manner, I took another one 10 days later -  Saturday, June 18. Even with our extreme 100-plus-degree days, the corn had grown some more and was almost to Randy's waist.

However, some of it will have to straighten itself back up after 58-mph winds Friday night. The storm also brought 1.80" of rain. The big drink of water definitely helped the corn crop, which was stressed after all the high temperatures from last week. It will give a boost to the milo and forage sorghum that Randy planted as well.

A storm that rolled through late Friday night made parts of the field look like the Leaning Tower of Piza, especially along the edges of the field, where it caught the brunt of the wind. I'm told that much of it will recover. We shall see!

April 23, 2016

Here's the journey thus far:  We planted the corn crop in late April. It 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, amid plenty of planter breakdowns. (It's good it's not a major crop because it seemed we were interrupted frequently by repeated trips to the parts counter in Hutchinson.)

May 7, 2016

In fact, Randy had to do some reseeding because the planter wasn't working properly. But some of the corn was already off to a good start at that time.

May 25, 2016

By late May, the corn we'd had to replant was growing next to its "big brothers."

May 25, 2016

And, now, according to my human measuring stick, it's waist high ... and growing. 

***

Before the storm

The 1.80" of rain temporarily halted Wheat Harvest 2016. We hope to be able to get back to cutting later today.