Fall Harvest, Foliage and an Eagle Sighting

We have been busy on the farm the past few weeks with harvest and sowing wheat.  There is a lot to see though the lens of a tractor or truck cab in the countryside.  It is a joy to watch the wonder of God's creation everyday as we work the land throughout the seasons of the year. The harvest season is a time which is eagerly anticipated and usually arrives quicker than we can prepare.  Our work throughout the year culminates in a harvest each fall, some years bountiful, some years not.  While our fall harvest is no record we are still blessed and have faith in next year as we plant next year's wheat crop with hope for another harvest season.  This is one of the many reasons we farm.  I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as we have enjoyed taking them.  

If you look closely you can see a bald eagle roosting in the oak tree at our family cemetery.  William snapped this picture while cutting beans on the original Jepson Home Place.  The eagle is a majestic bird and it's a treat to spot one while working.  William is pictured below harvesting soybeans at the Anderson Farm.  The soybeans were hurt by the dry weather this summer but are making more than expected.  

The fall colors have been gorgeous this year.  The picture on top was taken on Gold City Rd. at Lick Creek in Franklin, KY.  The bottom picture is closer to home  I took the picture below while servicing the grain elevator leg 110" in the air.   The green strip in the middle of the field is where we have land set aside for tobacco next year.  We planted a cover crop mix last month on this spot and it has really grown fast.  The rest of the wheat has been planted in winter wheat but hasn't greened up.

What a view!  The top picture reaches over the state line and Red River to Thurmond's River View Farm with the land mark red and white blue grain bins Go 'Merica!.  The picture below is on Duers Mill Rd. in Simpson County at the old Johnson Farm.  There is something about an old barn,a  Peterbilt hood and fall colors.  

Farmers are generally weather nuts. We work long days and nights especially in front of wet weather.  Farming in the dark is easier than it used to be but does present it's own challenges.  We have a group of committed team members willing to put in long days and nights to get crops planted and harvested within the windows the weather allows.  For that we are truly grateful.  It takes special people to put in 70 and 80 hour work weeks without complaint.  

Winter wheat requires a high seed rate of about 150 pounds of seed per acre.  One trailer load of seed will plant about 300 acres.  Each tank on the air drill will plant about 90 acres.  Needless to say that's a lot of filling up!  I had a question the other day about the seed being red.  The red color is the seed treatment applied to the seed.  We apply fungicide and insecticide treatment to the seed to prevent the seed from rotting in the wet ground before germination and insects from eating the seed  or seedling as it emerges.  These treatments allow us to target certain diseases and pests without having to make an application over the top with a sprayer and is one way technology on the farm is benefiting the environment.

Above is a Simpson County sunset on the Springfield Rd.  Below is wheat seedlings just being to sprout.  Great things come from small seeds.

Ricky Massey and Chris Marklin Drilling wheat.  We are lucky to have a detail oriented group of team members who pay attention and take care to see to it that all of our land and crops are cared for and look the best they possibly can.

Our waterway project we started last fall is finally completed and working properly.  The weather last fall and winter set us back a bit but we finally got it like we wanted it.  Managing water runoff is an important aspect of caring for and maintaining the land.