March Madness On The Farm!

 Spring work is in full swing in the area.  We've been busy applying lime and dry fertilizer to corn fields in preparation for planting season.  We spent the winter months taking soil samples for each yield zone in our fields and created zone specific prescriptions for each field.  Lime balances the pH in the soil so the fertilizer can break down into the soil and be available to feed the crop it's nutritional requirements.

 We've been busy in the shop doing preventative maintenance on our equipment so it will be ready to hit the field for work when it's time.  An ounce of prevention is always worth a pound of cure.  Dalton and Jake are pictured changing gear oil in a front wheel drive hub on a tractor.

We've been scouting cover crops for biomass and performance in recent days.  Cereal Rye and winter wheat have been growing rapidly during the warm days we've had.  Winter peas and crimson clover have been doing their job fixing nitrogen that will stay behind once the cover crop is terminated to feed the corn crop. 

We've gotten nice growth from our covers.  The roots give the soil structure and more water holding capacity.  The worms are doing their job eating up organic matter and turning it into valuable nutrients for the crops to use during the growing season.  Healthy soil is alive with micro organisms.

A view from the cab of the tractor applying anhydrous ammonia nitrogen for corn.  The real time data we generate and monitor while making field passes is amazing.  Injecting the nitrogen into the ground helps keep it from moving away with water and into the air.  This helps keep nitrates out of surface and groundwater.

 Chris and Sherman have been busy spraying wheat with herbicide to kill the winter annual weeds.  If we don't kill the weeds like wild garlic the grain won't make grade for flour.  Nobody wants their bread and cookies to taste like onions!

                         Ricky working on the anhydrous applicator before heading to the field.

We've been working on the corn planter replacing wear items like no-till coulter blades, double disk openers, seed firmers and seed tubes and guards.  Planter performance is one of the most important steps in producing a crop.  It is imperative to get an even stand to have top yield potential.  If your stand is not good and uniform you are playing catch up the whole season.