Spring Planting In Full Swing! Corn is planted now on to Tobacco and Soybeans.

We finally had enough dry weather to get the corn in the ground.  We finished planting Thursday and are currently preparing the planter for soybeans.  We will start planting soybeans next week.  The video shows our no-till planter at work in the field.  It only tills the narrow strip for row.   

We started setting tobacco this week.  The pictures show the strip till machine working the strips where the tobacco will be planted while leaving the row middles undisturbed to prevent soil erosion when it rains.  The residue will also help to hold moisture in the ground and impede weed growth during the summer months. 

We have been working diligently in the greenhouse the past couple of months preparing the tobacco transplants for the field.  We mow the plants every 3 days and spray for insects and disease prevention weekly.  When the plants go to the field they will have been mowed about 8 times.   Trimming the leaves makes the plants tougher and more even.  

The tobacco setter is shown here.  It opens the ground up in the row and drops the plants into the furrow and closing wheels press dirt around the plants tightly.  We add water to the row to help the transplants take off growing.  We add systemic fungicide and insecticides in the water to target disease and pests that reduce the number of times we have to apply chemicals during the growing season.  

We have been applying fungicide and insecticide to our wheat during the pollination period to protect the integrity of the grain forming in the heads.  Leaf and fungal diseases can reduce the milling quality of the wheat.  Low quality wheat leads to low quality flour and biscuits that won't rise!  The wheat looks good and harvest should begin in about a month.  

Action shots of  Dad planting corn in Simpson Co. KY.

A perk to the job is watching beautiful sunsets in the field from a tractor cab.  We even catch a few sunrises too!  God's handy work reminds us of how the crops we plant and the life that comes forth from the ground truly is special.

Visits from little helpers always make a long work day better!  Even though the boys are young they are learning about growing crops and caring for the land every time they come to the field.  

Technology in the cab helps us fine tune and make adjustments on the go to achieve a good stand and population of corn plants in our fields.  The finished product like the picture below should look like a picket fence.  Even emergence and spacing are the first steps to a great corn yield.  Most of our corn has emerged and is on its way if we can just get the weather to cooperate!