Harvest has finally begun

We had some timely rains and temperatures were cool when the crops were flowering (that helps with the yield).   So, the crops look pretty good.  Because of the cooler temps it has taken longer to get things to ripen and dry in order to harvest.  Patience.

We were finally able to get into the field.  We had about 200 acres of Yellow Peas to combine.  Ours ran about average while our son's ran better.  Guys got that all done.  They moved on to the Winter Wheat.  We are shut down now for a few days as we had some more rain.  It seems like the Winter Wheat is yielding pretty good but we have heard reports that the elevators don't even want to take it due to very poor quality.  I have not taken a sample of ours to the elevator to see how ours is.   The elevator (local business used to market our crop) has special equipment to test the quality of the grain.  Brett can see that there are some kernels with a bit of mold (Vomitoxin and Egret) which hurts the cash value of the crop considerably.

Combining the Winter Wheat

Another problem we have had concern about is the water.   Some of our sloughs (wet areas) have grown over the summer.   Usually they dry up and we then hay them in the fall.  Yes, we had quite a bit of rain this year.  Many of the rural roads are in poor condition due to so much water along them for so long - that softens the road bed.  There are concerns of how to get our equipment to fields and the crop hauled out of the fields.  

We found out just how wet one field was when the combine got stuck.  The operator was working his way back to the trucks to unload the hopper (location on combine to store grain) when he got too close to the edge of a slough.  The water had come up so far that you can't even see the edge as the wheat is standing in water.

 

A couple of looks at the tires in mud.  It doesn't look too bad.  

However, when you realize that there is about 15,000 pounds (abt 250 bushels) of Winter Wheat in the hopper and, since this was on a side hill, that had slid down to the lower side, we have a problem.

So, we got a truck to back up alongside the back of the combine.  We could then unload some of the grain from the hopper.   After doing this twice, we were able to pull the combine out using one of our tractors.

Successful pull

And it was back to harvesting - after eating our dinner which was now cold!  We finished that field and moved on to the next one.   The day ended with a break down on the combine and more rain.

Excitement in a Night Check? Some might call it that.

Sometimes those night checks are so exciting because we have lots of calves born.   Sometimes, they are exciting because no calves are born (especially on those stormy nights).  And sometimes those night checks are exciting and it has absolutely nothing to do with the livestock!   Such was the case last night.

The checks have been somewhat easy as I only have to walk out beside the barn to check one pen then drive up north.   During that drive I use as spot light to look for the 1/2 mile drive at the cattle in the pasture along the road.   It can be tricky but in the nearly 30 years I've done it I have not yet driven off the road!  I didn't last night either.  (Here is the image:  spotlight and head hanging out window of jeep driving slowly down township road.)

Last night however there were a few cattle up on the hill across the little creek.  I had to make a trek over there.   We had a little rain a couple of days ago so things are nice and sloppy out there.   I was nervous about going over there.  As it turned out I was right to feel that way.

I was carefully watching where I would step.  One foot got stuck.   I got it out.  So I continued on.     Carefully, carefully, ca.r.e.f.u.l.ll  Oh no.   I could hear the suction.  Yep, one foot got stuck.  I could not pull it out - well I could pull my foot out but not my boot. Try again.  Same result.  What to do?  Call someone for help?  Why?   So they could laugh?  (Heck, I'd be laughing if I weren't short of breath!)  After a few unsuccessful attempts, I took my gloves off, laid them on the ground so I had a place to put my foot.  I then tried to pull the boot out with my hands.   There was not way I could get that darn boot out.  Remember there are still those few head of cattle I am attempting to go check on.

Heck with them.  I shove my flashlight into my stuck boot.  (Looking back I'm not sure why.  I think it was to make sure my guys would find the boot later plus it would keep the cow manure out!) 

The flashlight and my buried boot

 I pick up my gloves and take off  back to the yard.  One boot off, one boot on, diddle dumpling ....

Good thing I wasn't wearing socks anyway!!

I still had to make the drive up north to check cattle.  Everything was okay.   When I drove back into the yard, I used my spot light to look at those cattle up on that hill.

Today Mark & Brett were out tagging calves so they got my boot and the flashlight.  Mark said it took some pretty good tugging to get that boot out.  They got the 4 wheeler stuck near that same spot too!

My salvaged Muck boot

the 4 wheeler stuck in about the same spot as my boot

Editor's note:   I was not able to upload this when I wanted to due to troubles with Blogger so I will add an update.   Brett told me of a better way to get to the cattle that are up on that hill.   I did that tonight and by golly it was WAY better! 

Ranching is a nursery rhyme?

Today I felt like I was part of a nursery rhyme - specifically "There was an old lady who swallowed a Fly".  You know how it goes, right?

Well, here was today's version at NoDak Herefords  (minus the rhyme since I don't have that talent) ...

There was a herd of Herefords who were ready to move to the next pasture...

It was easy to move them.  Mark just had to open the gate and they eagerly moved to this pasture with grass up past their bellies and water almost everywhere!

The trouble was - the fence needed to be repaired to hold them in.  (We don't know why they would need out with all of this grass, but history tells us they will!)  We have had so much rain this spring that we are unable to drive around this pasture with our usual fencing pickup.  We also use our 4 wheeler for that job and have rigged it up to haul a roll of barbed wire along with a basket to hold supplies such as fencing staples and clips.  So, today Mark took off with the 4 wheeler to fence.  Brett used the loader tractor to haul fence posts and installed a few of them.  I was "on call" should they need extra help.

I don't know why he thought he could drive through this area ...  (guess he thought he could float)

Notice how the cows are in the background keeping an eye on him.

 

 So, he called Brett to bring the tractor to pull him out.  Brett in turned called me to bring out chain, rope and other "pulling out" supplies.  I met Brett along a prairie trail to get the supplies to him.  He took off across the field.  I noticed him spinning but he kept going, got on the trail and found a sodded area to travel on.  He got down to his Dad's location and got everything ready to pull when, oops...

guess it was a little wet there too!  Could it be because he was just on the edge of the same slough as his father?!

Sunk axle deep and spinning.  They had to call me again to bring a bigger tractor. 

I don't have a photo of the set up with the bigger tractor so I will explain.   The cattle are still watching this operation!  The 4 wheeler is tied to the loader tractor.  The loader tractor is tied to the big tractor.  Mark was stranded on the 4 wheeler (since he was surrounded by water).  I drove the loader tractor and Brett pulled all of us out with the big tractor.  What a sight!

 

SO, we drove the big tractor to pull the loader tractor to pull the 4 wheeler.  I don't know why the 4 wheeler thought it could get through the water.

 

 

June 2 and everything is WET

Last evening a neighbor called sharing concern about the township roads.  Mark is on the township board so he is one to call.  Anyway, we visited a little and he told me that some of the roads in nearby townships have water going over them.   Well, it has been wet and just Thursday and Friday we did get 3.5 inches of rain so I went for a drive after mowing the lawns this afternoon.

About 1/2 mile south of us the water is just starting to go over the road.

 

The two puddles on the edge of the road are where the water is starting to go over the road.  Something very interesting to me in this photo are the objects that are white and look like flowing gauze.  They are actually spider webs!  They are all the way along the road/water here.  I have never seen such a thing before.  They did just flow in the breeze and were quite large.  The spiders were pretty small.

 

 

Here is a closer look at the webs (as they are wrapped around a twig):

 

 

Back to the water...  This is at the neighbors looking toward the Wilcox trees.  This is the third time this year that this trail has flooded.  We were able to use it (with 4X4 only) to get to our field west here; however, no machinery could have used it.  Now, it is flooded again.  UGH!

 

 

 

Then I went to some of our land that we call the Hammond Place.  (I think all farmers have names for their land - usually named after prior owners.)  I found more water over the road.  I parked my vehicle and walked toward it.  I did not know if a jet was flying over or if the water was roaring.  It was indeed the water!   The water was coming through the culvert so fast that it was foaming!  You can see it was not a long fall for the water but it sure had the sound of an awesome waterfall.

 

For some of the family:  this is the big slough in the SW corner of the former CRP  (looking toward David Schwede's former place). 

 

 

It has run over and joined up with all of the other Hammond Sloughs'.  (The only way I'd get a photo of that is if I was in a plane.)  Here is where it is coming to the road.  It goes over the road just to the right of the photo.

 

 

(This is especially for you Ken!)

 

 

Planting came to a halt for us early Thursday morning.  The rain started and did not stop until Friday afternoon totalling about 3.5 inches.  We are about 2/3 done with getting our crop in.  Sadly, there is a very good chance of rain for Monday-Thursday this week.  We will see what happens but it could mean that we will not get any more seeded.

 

 

Spring finally Sprung! (and Week 18: Andy)

I am happy to report that we finally have spring.  We thought we might have slept through it!  We had about 5 good days in the field and boy were we busy!  Mark got all of our peas planted.  This is our first year of raising field peas.  We have about 200 acres of them. 

Yellow Field Pea Seed

After we finished the peas, we started planting canola.  Mark & Brett have taken turns running the air seeder.  There is plenty else to do.  Brett has a sprayer that needs to be fixed and gotten ready so he has spent quite a bit of time doing that.  I shared a little about seeding last year.

Once we started planting canola, I got more involved in the spring planting season.  It is my job to pull Anhydrous Ammonia (NH3) tanks to town to get them filled and return them to the field.  NH3 is used to add nitrogen to the soil. 

Andy waiting for the NH3 tank to be filled.

Christopher just finished breeding about 50 heifers using Artificial Insemination (AI).  He goes through about a three step process to get them all to cycle (come in heat) at the same time.  I helped him get the cattle in to work them but he had to do the inseminating.  I understand he wants to breed some of the cows too.  I don't think I've ever written about this so I should follow him around with a camera next time.  He will not like that! We artificially breed the heifers (female cows who have never had a calf) to better control the birth weight of their calves.  We AI our registered (purebred) Polled Hereford cows to help improve the genetics in our herd.

Our seeding came to a halt on Saturday due to fog and mist.  By Sunday morning we had a full fledged rain.  Since about 10:30 Sunday morning until this afternoon (Monday) we have had nearly three inches of rain.  It has been a beautiful rain for our pasture grasses.  We must now be patient for the soil to dry so we can finish seeding.

This & That update

WOW!!  It has been awhile and lots has been going on.  I suppose that is why it has been awhile!

Let's see, what have we done?   We have finished the small grain harvest, fixed the break-downs, chopped the corn for silage, patched breakdowns, hauled straw & hay, waited for parts ....  You get the idea.  It seems we have had a lot of machinery down time. 

The motor went out of the payloader.  There was an air leak on the semi causing the trailer wheels to lock up.  AND the hydraulics aren't working right on the John Deere tractor/loader.  There were a few days that all three of our hay hauling pieces of equipment were down at the same time.  Well, we are still waiting for the verdict on the payloader.  The semi is fixed.  We are using the tractor until it can get to the dealer's repair shop (this Monday).  The hay hauling project has slowed down tremendously.

We hire the corn chopping done.  There is a man out of Alberta, Canada we hire.  It is the type of job that would take us nearly two weeks to do by ourselves.  It also takes three to four people to do it as we need someone to run the chopper, someone to pack the corn pile and someone to drive truck.  (and a full time mechanic to try to keep things running)  It got to be more efficient for us to hire this custom crew.  They don't require anything from us (except the check!) and we can work on other projects.

Chopping corn & filling the truck on the go

     

Packing the pile

            

 Christopher is finally getting the last of the buildings from the old fertilizer plant.  He had a hard time finding anyone to haul the hopper bins.  Finally, after many calls from two men, they are getting this done.  There were seven hopper bins at the site.  Four for Christopher and three for a man from another town.  I wonder how long until this whole feed mixing plant is up and running on the feedlot?  It is getting late in the comfortable work season.  (a few snowflakes have fallen already)

 

I came upon this big Moose cow yesterday when I was taking tools out to the field for repairs.  A couple of days earlier I saw a young cow moose about 10 miles from here.

 



The cattle are ready to come home.  They are starting to sneak out of pastures looking for green grass.  Not much outside of the fence either as between the first part of June and now we have made had a total of half an inch of rain and most of that came a couple of days ago.  Things are quite dry here, but I don't think we have it as bad as many parts of our nation.

Joining up with a linky party:  Fresh from Farm: Farm Photo Friday

Done

Just wanted to post a quick note to let you know that the crop is all planted.  This year the crops are:  canola, barley, Hard Red Spring Wheat, Corn (probably all silage corn) and sweet clover (which we won't be able to hay until next year). 

The alfalfa is getting close to blooming so it will be time to get the haying equipment ready.  Most of the cattle are out to pasture, but we still have to work the calves (brand and vaccinate them).

There is always plenty to do.  Today, Mark & I are off on a road trip to deliver some recycled plastic fence posts to Kulm, ND.  We will be back home tonight.  In the meantime, the "boys" will take care of the livestock!   It is supposed to rain for a few days now so I hope that we can all get a little rest!

Another day, another rain

As stated in my last post, not much seeding is getting done thanks to the rain.  Since the last rain (last post), Brett covered the tillable acres on one quarter.  It was planted to Hard Red Spring Wheat (HRSW or just "wheat").  Now, early Sunday morning we got another 1.1 inches of rain.  Mark wonders if the rain gauge drain hole is just above the 1.1 inch mark since that is the amount of the last two rains!

The rain has allowed us the time needed to tend to the cattle.  The A.I.ing (Artificially Inseminating) is done for this season.  Christopher must have artificially bred nearly 100 head.  This process takes working with each female three times.  We do a lot of our breeding this way to help improve the genetics of our herd.  It is much cheaper than buying expensive bulls to do the same job, but is labor intensive compared to letting the bull just do his own business.  We hope to see many healthy AI calves next spring.

Spring seeding

We are at the half way mark with seeding/planting here.  Brett does the seeding.  He has all of our canola and barley done.  He started the wheat today.  He has also fertilized the corn ground.  We still have all of our wheat (& possibly flax) to seed.  Also, we have corn to plant.

Here the guys are filling the air seeder cart with barley seed (one is watching the grain cart and one is on the ground to shut things down when it is full).  The semi has the barley seed which is augered up into the cart (yellow thing).  This cart has two compartments - one for seed and one for dry fertilizer.  The white tank here has Anhydrous Ammonia (NH3).  NH3 is nitrogen (fertilizer) for the soil .  I take these tanks into town to have them filled many times a season!  The John Deere (green) tractor runs the jump auger.  We use the jump auger to move the grain from the semi trailer to the auger that fills the grain cart. 

Brett is turning on the NH3 (Anhydrous Ammonia) tank as he prepares to start seeding.

Here he goes!  The implement in front of the grain cart is the part that actually puts the seed and fertilizer into the ground.  There are many hoses and tubes used to move the seed & fert to their proper locations in the soil.  We have had our soil tested so we know how much dry fertilizer and NH3 to add to it so it should be able to produce the best crop yield possible.

The above photos were taken a few days ago.  I just have not had time to post until this evening.  Here is why I now have time:

This evening around 6 pm the rain started.  Around 6:30 it started to hail.  Here is a sampling of what we got.  There is a teaspoon there to help see the size of the hail.  This could wreck havoc with the crops that  have started to grow.  We don't think it will hurt any of our crops, but our neighbors have some really nice winter wheat that could be damaged.   We also received a little over 1 inch of rain in about 1 hour.  So, we will not be in the field for a few days.  However, our neighbors who live about 2 miles south of us only got .25 inch of rain.  So, we hope we can seed our land near their place quicker than the stuff here at home.

Linking to Farm Photo Friday

it's been awhile

It has been quite a while since I have posted.  Part of my trouble is that I think I should always have a photo to share, since that was my original reason to start a blog!  I have been bad about taking photos lately - lack of subject ideas, rainy weather, and so on. 

SO, you get an update on the ranch.  We still have a few cows left to calve.  No seeding has been done yet as the men are still working on that machine AND it is still too wet in the fields.  They tested the seeder today so can fine tune it now!  Today we started the process to A.I. (artificial insemination) some of our cattle. 

The forecast sounds rainy for the next few days so perhaps there will be some time for my guys to rest.

Along with 11 other ladies, I was in a "reader's theatre" production this past Sunday.  We performed, "The Other Twelve Disciples".  It was interesting to hear about some of the events in Jesus' life through the eyes of women.  Quite a nice little show, if I say so myself!

Well, til next time, enjoy your spring.