Pickin' and Grinnin': 2019 Corn Harvest

This sign shows the scale operator at the co-op which field this truckload is from.

Noun
pickin' and grinnin'
1. (chiefly US, music, idiomatic) Vigorous playing of folk or country music on a stringed musical instrument, especially the guitar or banjo, while smiling broadly.

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Are we picking corn or cutting corn? That is the question.

I fall back on my wheat harvest terminology and say we are "cutting corn." My Farmer says that there just might be an old fella or two at Joan's Cafe who would correct me. They are of the "corn picking" vernacular.

No matter how you say it, we are in the midst of corn harvest. (I think my "corn harvest" semantics will please all "cutting" and "picking" camps.)

The jury is still out as to whether we are really grinnin' about the 2019 corn harvest yields. 

For one thing, we have large mudholes where we were unable to plant corn this spring. (If you're a regular reader, you will know that we planted more corn because we were unable to plant wheat last fall due to overwhelming rainfall. It remained wet through the spring.)

However, as is the farmer's lament, temperatures soared about the time the corn was filling, and we didn't get rain in time on some of the fields. So, as I said, the jury is still out on yields.

Our combine has an eight-row header. (In the photo below, you can't see all eight rows.)

I think they look a little like missiles as they move down between the rows. The corn ears are pulled off the corn stalk and are dragged into the combine with rollers. Inside the combine, the corn kernels are separated from the husks and cobs. Then the cobs and debris are dispersed out the back of the combine.

 Once the combine bin gets full ...

... it's time to dump it into the truck. Many farmers have a grain cart pulled by a tractor to do this step, but we unload from the combine directly into the truck.

You can see the entire combine header in the photo above.

One day last week, I went along with Randy to Zenith to deliver a load of corn.

Back when I was a teenage wheat truck driver, I used to carefully apply my blue eye shadow before I made my trips from the field to the Iuka Co-op.

 

Who knew what cute teenage boy truck drivers I might see as I was untarping the truck?

I guess I did find my cute truck driver. It just took me a few years.

It's definitely a different perspective to be rolling down the Zenith road in a semi, rather than my low-slung car.  

Photo taken another day

Once we arrived at Zenith, Randy untarped the semi.

Once we weighed on at the scale house, we went to dump the grain, this time, at the outside pit.

Photo from 2015 - headed to the outside dump location

 And I took more photos from a different perspective than I normally get. (Big surprise, right?)

 

 After we were empty, we weighed back on at the scale house ...

... where we picked up the ticket, before driving back to the field to do it all over again.

 

Yes, I was the truck driver for many years - both growing up and after I married Randy. And yes, I could learn to drive the semi if needed. So far, my services have not been required.

I know a lot of farm wives love driving the combine. But at this point in my life, I will leave that job to the guy who's been doing it since high school. Even though we bought the combine at a farm auction used, we are still paying for it. I'll leave it to my cute driver to operate the high-dollar equipment. I'm good going along for the ride.

Photo through the dirty windshield!

Prevented Planting: Wheat 2019

Sunset - October 25, 2018

This sunset sky photo is undeniably pretty.

But the reflection of that sunset sky in mud puddles reveals a big problem for us this fall. For the first time ever, we weren't able to plant almost one-third of our 2019 wheat crop - about 385 acres. This has never happened since Randy began planting wheat in 1974 as a senior in high school.

The ground was too wet to plant after 14-plus inches in October and 2.5 inches more in November, along with three snows.

To receive full crop insurance coverage on wheat, we needed to plant the 2019 wheat crop by October 31. That simply wasn't possible on low-lying areas. It was either under water or too muddy to drive a drill through. 

The sunset over the Zenith branch of the Kanza Co-op revealed another storm system on the way.

If we had been able to plant by November 15, we could have done so and received reduced insurance coverage. However, with the additional rain and snow, it wasn't possible.

We have elected to take a prevented planting option in our crop insurance policy. It will pay a percentage of our revenue guarantee. Part will be paid now and more could be paid later, if we don't collect crop insurance on the next crop.

The "other side" of the sunset, October 25, 2018

To qualify for prevented planting coverage, "the insurable cause of loss must be weather related and must be common to the area. The cause of loss must have prevented other producers in similar situations from planting the intended crop. ... The prevented planting acreage must have been planted and harvested at least once in the previous three years."

Next spring, we plan to plant dryland corn (and a little milo) on the acres we couldn't plant to wheat. The cost of planting corn is appreciably higher than the cost of planting wheat due to seed costs, fertilizer and herbicide. Because we are a totally dryland farm, wheat typically performs better than corn on our acreage. 

October 3, 2018

In addition to not being able to plant some acres, Randy also had to replant most of our seed wheat and some of our other fields, totaling about 300 acres. This was an additional expense with seed cost, labor, fuel and equipment usage.

At this point, none of the wheat looks very good. That's because of too much rain, not enough sunshine, poor germination and emergence.

We'll hope conditions improve before we truck our Harvest 2019 to Zenith next June!

October 29, 2018

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.

Right Place, Right Time

 

There was plenty of action at the Stafford County 4-H beef show Friday night. With cooler temperatures and a storm brewing to the west, the cattle were restless. The 4-Hers dealt with skittish steers, setting them up and resetting them, no matter how ferociously the 4-Hers rubbed the bovines' bellies with the show sticks to try to keep them calm and in place. 

But the real action was outside the arena. A rainbow arrived about the same time our neighbor girl and her boyfriend got engaged. How is that for timing!?

I'm rarely happy with rainbow photos, but it was beautiful in person!

After that, I left the breeding beef show and walked across the street from the fairgrounds. With all the storm clouds, I knew the sunset was going to be one I didn't want to miss.

As I walked to the west with camera in hand, someone said, "Hey, Kim! You can't start your fair photos for next year yet! This fair's not over!"

Edited with HDR treatment

But I think I just might have gotten a head start. The sky was too beautiful to ignore.

I'm used to having hay bales, windmills and trees in the foreground of my sunset shots. It was a treat to be able to highlight the co-op and the Stafford Depot. I love being at the right place at the right time, don't you?

With all the ugliness in the world, it's easy to get discouraged. It seems that every newscast is filled with more hate and unrest. That's why it's so important to look for the beauty. Especially look for it in people - those who are like us and those who are not. Like shifting skies at sunset, our perspective can be changed if we look for the beauty around us.

A Time to Think

Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer.
And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.
–Maya Angelou, author and poet

A Time to Act

Pray and release your worries.

A Time to Pray

Oh, Lord, teach me to remember You in all things, every day of my life.

Email devotional from Guideposts.