Wordless Wednesday

Trading Up

After weeks of decisions and waiting and researching, this arrived at the shop. I hadn't seen it in person, so when it drove into the driveway I actually exclaimed "O.M.G".
I wasn't mentally prepared for the size and shiny roundness of it! These are the corn and bean headers on a cart. They are way to big to take down the road on the combine. Lord have mercy on me driving these babies around from field to field. (stop laughing Leigh)
Old faithful. It looks pitiful doesn't it? All dirty and square and boxy. Peace out 9500, you have served us well. Man time flies. We bought it when Levi was a baby. I still remember who was in the field the first time Landon cut with it. Many a child has napped in that cab. S was upset when he was told about the new one.....until he SAW the new one, lol. Now everyone is fighting for a ride after school. And no, this is NOT my anniversary present. :)

Unloading

Normally, our hired help drives the trucks back and forth, from the field to the grain bins to unload and come back to be reloaded.
As you can see, we have two grain trucks, a semi and a grain cart that we are using this year. This helps so that the combine operator (aka Landon) does not catch up to the truck driver.
Upon arrival at the grain bins, we check the moisture level of the corn. It can't be to damp or it will spoil in the bins and build up toxins that are harmful to animals, and thus be unusable. Levi is sitting in front of our dryer, where the corn goes for a certain amount of time, to get dry enough to be stored. It runs off of propane. Here he is watching as it unloads into the pit.
A better shot of the grain bins. This thing behind the Gator is an auger. If you are married to a farmer you know that one can NEVER have too many augers. This moves grain around from place to place from the bottom where the truck is, to the top of a bin, or vice versa.
This set of bins has what we call a pit. The trucks unload into a pit and then the grain is sent up to the top of this maze and to the bin that is being loaded. This system enables you to not have to move augers around like our other bins across the street. After the corn is stored, you play the market. You watch the market just like a stock broker and play the wait or sell game. Some of our corn, wheat, oats, milo, and soybeans we bag and sell to other people directly, and some we load into the semi and truck to a neighboring farm called Talley Farms. The first thing they do is check the moisture level at a random place in the load, while they are weighing the truck. If it is too high they dock your pay. The bins allow us to better play the market for the best price possible.

Shelling Corn 101

This machine is called a combine. Probably because with it's invention it combined a number of jobs previously done by several machines. The front fingers (aka corn header) pull the ears of corn off of the stalks. They walk up the header to the middle and go inside the machine.
The corn is then separated from the cobs and sent to a holding tank in the center top section of the machine.
Various screens and displays show Landon how this field is doing. This is so he can decide which variety of corn is best suited for each field. Also so he can more accurately keep up with the records for the USDA and crop insurance. A buzzer goes off when the tank is full of corn.
The stalks and cobs come out of the rear of the combine. They are thrown out very fast and hard. Never stand back here, lol. As you can see a very short, sharp stalk is left. Thus the need to bush hog behind the combine.
When the tank is full, the combine pulls along side of a truck and unloads. In other states the combine driver does not even stop. The trucks match his speed and he unloads while he is cutting to save time. (they have no hills or rocks like we do)

Tomorrow.....the grain bins.

Harvesting Corn

For Elizabeth.

Bush Hogging Corn Stalks

Planting Corn

What has Landon been up too lately? Planting corn. Planting corn. Oh yeah, and planting more corn. I get calls for 7 more bags of.....corn. Oh and make sure it has an "H" on the label, or a "G" on the label. The ones he usually wants are under a pile of ones he doesn't want. Who needs to go to the gym? Lifting 7 bags from a pallet into the Suburban is quite the workout.
It doesn't help when your best bud says, "WOW, I never noticed your arm muscles". Thanks, I have lifting bags of.....yep, corn. Note to self, burn all tank tops ASAP.
The next picture is for the lady who said, "I wish I could sit in the air conditioning and listen to the radio all day." I don't know about y'all, but I could not run all these electronics in this tractor cab. This is NOT your grandfathers John Deere.
I told Landon he had a few more bags of a certain letter of corn on the porch. I was promptly told those were not the same ones. They weren't RoundUp corn. "Thank goodness I didn't bring them," I replied. "Who loaded you," he asked. Me, myself and I. And yes, they were heavy.

Farewell 4840

Friday we bid farewell to the 4840. I must say it was harder than I thought it would be, to see it go. This was the first tractor that Landon bought when he started farming full time. It belonged to the dairy and then to his uncle and then us. He rode in this tractor as a little boy with HIS daddy. Then our boys rode in it with him.
Some may also recognize it as the "wedding tractor". We rode off into the sunset on our wedding day in it. When Landon was unhooking lines he was talking about remembering every little thing he has done to it to improve it. Farewell old friend, you will always have a special place in our hearts.

Farm Fridays

Soybean harvest is in full swing. We had an early frost last week that killed the last green ones. Hopefully it won't hurt the yield.
This is the bean header. Note it is round, the corn one looks like it has fingers. I went to a birthday party last week. An old friend asked me where the hubs was. It still amazes me that people think farmers get off at certain times of the day. During planting and harvest season it is 12-14 hour days seven days a week. I am a single parent.
This is what the soybeans look like at harvest time. Again....Angie.....they are dead. :) We drive up to a field, the hubs gets out, walks into it, and chews on a bean to see if it is ready.
Unloading trucks in the dark. I love how the beans look like liquid in this shot.

The Eagle Has Landed

Okay, it probably wasn't fair to let Cliff guess. He hit the nail on the head. We have been driving all over creation searching for another sprayer.
Countless calls were made to other states, e-mails sent, farmers contacted to check out this or that for the hubs. (if you were one of those people, a million thanks) This new addition is from up North. It has never sprayed cotton, so no worries about those chemicals stinking up the place, lol.
This baby is HUGE! Check it out in the yard beside of the old Coupe. The hubs couldn't be happier with it! (insert huge sigh of relief) He asked me what I thought about all of this.
"I hope the farmer that bought ours, is as happy as you are," was my reply.

So Long Summer Vacation

Well, tomorrow is the first day of school for the big boys. Friday is the buddies first day. Can't believe it is finally here. All my kids in school.
It took us six hours to get home from the beach. Normally it is a 3 1/2 hour trip. We stopped by the Farmers Market for fresh veggies and muscadine grapes, and the John Deere place in Wadesboro (you know.... to see if anything had come in since the previous week, when we stopped on the way down). The "red place" (aka Brooks), and the John Deere place in Monroe (aka Blacks) were next. We also stopped at a small store and got a fresh, smoked turkey from a local grower for supper.
Oh, there was also a stop for fresh peaches and peach ice cream. Y'all know the place, lol. All in all it has been one heck of a summer. I am excited to see what this year brings!

Remember, if you want to support local farmers, look for the "Gotta be NC Agriculture" signs.

Sprayer Pics

As many of you already know, the hubs hurt his back last week. He needed to take some pics of the sprayer, which required backing it out. Climbing into the thing is no small feat, so I offered to do it for him.
Who knew it was this easy to get him to smile? Maybe I should move equipment more often.
I put the booms out, and then refolded them and pulled back into the shed. That is when I realized my mistake. I would have to climb down in between the boom and the platform. Landon told me to hold on for a minute. I mistakenly thought he was coming to help me get down.
Ummm, no. He just wanted to take a picture of my legs. Then he stood there and chuckled at me squeezing under the boom to get down. :)

Haying

It is hay making season again.
Wyatt said that it looked like water when the wind blew.
I looked at him for a moment before replying, "Amber waves of grain, but the song means the grain when it is ready to be harvested, not cut for hay." He sat silent for a minute and exclaimed, "Oh, I always wondered what that meant!"

Farm Update

Old School
New School

Conversation with the hubs.

L-Did you see them come and get the old baler?

Me-What?

L-The baler, what time did they come get it?

Me-Who?

L-You didn't see anything?

Me-Nope.

L-So someone could have stolen it, and you wouldn't know right now?

Me-What are you talking about?

L-They came and picked up the baler. Did you see it leaving? He had a blowout down the road and I had to take him another tire.

Me-I know nothing.

L-Wasn't the dog barking?

Me-That dog barks if the wind blows in her eyes. Seriously. I heard nothing.

Spreading Joy

(at least, that is what my Grandaddy called it)

The Planter is Coming, The Planter is Coming

Well the planter was scheduled to arrive last Saturday evening. Friday, the truck driver called and asked if he could come earlier because you can't haul large loads in NC on Sundays. Who knew? Anyway, the hubs called me to come and take pics of it, and bring him some cake. So as I am walking up, he takes a pic of me with the bowl of cake. Like I am some kind of cake addict, when in fact, I rarely eat the stuff.
Here it is people. A Kinze planter, all the way from a farm in Missouri. Landon looked at me and asked,"What do you think?" "It's BIG", I replied.
Don't know what he is doing here. Just getting a good look at everything I guess. This is what it was like at the farm show in Georgia. I was standing around while the hubs climbed up, on, and under equipment.
Isn't this a cute shot? Like, how many men does it take to watch a semi back-up in the driveway. Shadow is even interested in this event.
The other day he installed the row cleaners that he drove up North to purchase for it. He even tried it out in a field yesterday. Just for fun.
I can't express how enormous this piece of equipment is. I will have to post a shot of the old planter and the new one. I'm thinking this one is going to always require a follow behind vehicle.
The semi unhooked and pulled forward, and the unloading began. The trailer lowered with hydraulics, and then Landon hooked it to the 48.
Ahhh, finally old faithful is getting the love and admiration it deserves. That is the first tractor we ever bought. We purchased it from Landon's uncle. We rode off into the sunset on it the day we got married. We pinched and scrapped to get the engine rebuilt, and buy new tires for it. The boys have taken many a nap in that cab. Y'all just don't even know how sad it has been to see it parked in the father-in-laws garage all these years.