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Sunday, October 9, 2016

And back to farming

I got a planting job!
It is 160 acres of rolling hills. I'm planting annual ryegrass. It has been raining for several days and so it is kind of tricky going. I have adjusted my planting depth about 20 times as the press wheels build up mud and then I'm planting shallow.

I've raised up the harrow on the back of the drill as there is some straw on the ground and it is so wet it just balls up. I really hope this works. I suggested baiting for slugs and spraying 32 solution which should provide extra Nitrogen to help the straw break down.

Sometimes I forget what it is like to farm.
I planted 20 acres Friday evening after dark and got the drill set. Everything went great until a coulter bearing went out. I took it off and kept going. The v-openers were actually cutting in nicely. My brother bought me another coulter and so I planted another ten acres.
I got there Saturday morning fairly early so I could listen to the old-time Country Western hour on KBOO and I made one round and another coulter bearing went out. Then I discovered I had left my wrench in the other vehicle.
But it was ok. I needed to turn the coffee off at home.
I was in a hurry. I used a quarter tank of fuel to got to the field and back. It is a Ford F250 with a 460 cu in engine...

Everything went fine aside from me forgetting to turn a valve off before unhooking the fertilizer tank. I got a fertilizer shower at noon. So I was sticky the rest of the day. The next fill up I forgot to shut the pump off and blew the filler lid off the top of the tank and showered the whole drill with liquid 10-34 fertilizer.

Then I filled the diesel tank up after dark and spilled diesel over the whole front of the tractor.
Next I ran out of seed at 8:30 p.m. and did not have the right trailer hitch ball to go get more. Then I broke the shock absorber mount out of the frame of my pickup turning around in a ditch. The bolt was neither 11/16 or 3/4 so I couldn't remove the shock. I used a bungee cord and baler twine to keep it from hitting the tire. That should hold it for six months.

Then I went home and went to bed. Today it is raining. Tomorrow it will be sun but I have to work. I guess we shall see what we shall see. I hate to work all night on Mondays because that makes me fall asleep on the lawn mower on Tuesday. Tuesday I pick up the family at the airport.

4 comments:

  1. Maybe you better let someone else drive home from the airport. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. how about some engineering genius develop machinery with all interchangeable parts and more efficiency over all?
    farming seems to be more about machinery than plants or livestock.

    ReplyDelete
  3. And what do they do with Rye grass? Planting for pasture or feed or.....?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A lot of it goes for cover crop in the Midwest. Since it is a fast growing annual it is also used for erosion control and forage. There are also turf types for uses where a grass is needed that will sprout and grow quickly.

      Delete

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