April showers slow planting progress.

After months of preparation we were able to get in the field and start planting corn last week for 2 days.  The weather has turned wet and we will likely not be able to get back in the field for another week.  We did however get a few hundred acres in the ground and got the planter dialed in and tuned up the way we wanted.  

We spent quite a bit of time last month going over the no-till planter checking wear points and mounting attachments to the planter for corn.  We had to check the wear on no-till coulter blades and double disk openers to ensure we have a uniform seed trench when planting and the seeds are placed at a consistent depth in the furrow.  We run a spike closing wheel with a cast iron wheel to close the seed trench up and make sure we have good seed to soil contact without any air pockets in the furrow to encourage uniform germination.  Martin row cleaners run in front of the row units to move trash from the the previous crops out of the way of the unit to prevent "hair pinning" old fodder in the seed trench that hinders seed to soil contact and has a negative impact on uniform germination of the seed .  Many small details add up in yield or subtract from the yield of our no-till planted corn crop.

Above Jake Mitchell is measuring wear on double disk openers to determine if they should be replaced.      

Sherman and Chris Marklin putting the corn disks in the planter unit meters.

Jake Mitchell planting corn in Simpson Co. KY.

Checking in on the anhydrous applicator from the cab of the planter tractor.  Remote display access allows us to keep up with our equipment remotely.  Anywhere I have an Internet connection through wi-fi or cellular service I can see what the operators of equipment see on their displays.  This lets us help answer questions or trouble shoot without being in the cab of a certain piece of equipment.  Time is a precious thing during planting season.  Anything that helps us be more efficient can be the difference in profit or loss at the end of the year.   

It always feels good putting the first few seeds in the ground every spring.  Our crop has it's greatest yield potential the day we cover the seed with dirt.  Watching the landscape green up and bloom with color through the lens of a tractor cab is a special thing for farmers.   

In the never ending quest for efficiency and the perfect corn stand we are splitting the middles of the anhydrous applicator tracks with the planter.  This improves the "ride" quality of the planter and affects the singulation of the seeds as they travel through the meter on the planter and down the seed tube into the seed trench.  RTK-GPS technology allows us sub-inch accuracy within our guidance lines in our fields.  Having the rows offset from the anhydrous tracks also reduces damage to small seedlings from the nitrogen fertilizer as it gets into soil solution.  

The display in the tractor pulling the planter shows all the information about our guidance lines and performance of our planter.  The white line is the guidance line the auto steer is driving the tractor down.  The other blue lines are the rest of the paths the tractor will take while in the field.  The shaded blue area shows the area of the field that has been planted.  The hot pink line is the field boundary.

The rate controller on the planter keeps the planter from planting outside the designated field area.  The maroon and orange areas at the top of the screen represent 2 different rates of corn seed the rate controller will tell the planter to plant in those areas of the fields.  Some fields have 1 or 2 population zones some may have 7 or 8 depending on the soil types and yield histories of each field.  

The bottom of the screen show how well the planter is performing as we go across the field.  The black bar graph shows how far we are from the perfect ride and singulation of the seeds.  We want the bars to stay close to the line and be flat across for 100% spacing and singulation.  The row of green boxes at the very bottom indicate that all the sections (rows) of the planter are planting.  When we enter headlands or point rows the planter section control module automatically shuts each row off as it crosses a previously planted area to prevent over planting and wasting seed.       

In addition to planting and spraying activities we have been injecting nitrogen on our corn ground too.   Ricky Massey is pictured using a no-till anhydrous applicator to apply ammonia to our corn fields.  Corn requires a lot of fuel!  We added closing wheels to our applicator this year to try and make the applicator more efficient and disturb less of the soil and stubble that covers our no-till fields.   

The picture below shows how little the top soil has been disturbed by the applicator.  In the past we have had trouble with erosion in the furrows opened up by the applicator points.  The combination of the cover crop, previous crop material, and the closing wheels make it hard to tell we even disturbed the ground.  Hopefully, with the rain we are getting now, we won't have as much soil lost to erosion in the applicator tracks.  

Chris Marklin pictured applying liquid nitrogen to wheat.  We made the 2nd application of liquid nitrogen on the wheat last week.  The wheat looks great.  When the weather breaks we will be spraying for weeds.  Wild garlic can keep our wheat from making flour grade.  No one wants to eat cookies that taste like an onion! 

Tobacco plants are coming along in the greenhouse too.  We will be setting transplants in about a month now.

Sherman Marklin getting a bush hog ready to mow roadsides and farm lots while Ricky Massey works on the tractor lights on a rainy day.  Please slow down and give way to tractors when you see them on the road way.  Slowing down a few seconds could save some one's life!