The Official Farming Thread...

[Bill G]

No center pivots here, pretty much everything is highly erodible. The soil types just are conducive to them.

The closest ones I know of are 45 miles to the west & 60-70 miles north.

You have to be in a river bottom to truly utilize it. Your area of Iowa is one that I have never been to. The closet would be running 75 on 35 to KC.

Now down around Bloomfield and to the east I have been. Great folks, rough ground......like mine

 

[Only the Tony]

Have you tried milk thistle? You probably have it on your farm.View attachment 420443

Milk thistle for liver flukes
Milk thistle, also known as Silybum marianum, has been used for centuries as a natural remedy for various liver-related issues, including liver flukes. The plant’s active compound, silymarin, has been shown to have anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and hepatoprotective properties, making it a potential treatment for liver flukes.

No milk thistles here. Some invasive that are getting a bit of spot spray in the morning as I have time. Along with the multiflora rose, hedge apple and cedars in the fence rows.

 

[Bill G]

No milk thistles here. Some invasive that are getting a bit of spot spray in the morning as I have time. Along with the multiflora rose, hedge apple and cedars in the fence rows.

What herbicide are you using?

 

[JimBear]

No milk thistles here. Some invasive that are getting a bit of spot spray in the morning as I have time. Along with the multiflora rose, hedge apple and cedars in the fence rows.

I started doing some of that last week as well.

 

[Only the Tony]

What herbicide are you using?

Duracor and Remedy. Both are selective and will not harm grass.

 

[Mastermind]

@Mastermind

How are things there now ?

Still wet.

 

[Wilhelm]

I lost 2 females of my Runner duck flock last night.
Parents apparently didn't bother to check on the ducks around 9PM/nightfall nor closed their overnight stable door, rather did it much later at 11PM.
One duck was missing and a second was hurt (and sadly died overnight).
I suspect some night crawling wild life came for a snack, we already lost a couple chicken due to it.
I am now down to a 5 duck flock, 2 males & 3 females.




To be clear, the ducks are my dads pets!
But since he decided to start a late career as a YouTube Comment Section Warrior he neglects all and everything yard related.
Due to this he already stopped keeping rabbits early this year after my mom denied taking responsibility over them.

When I am outside in my shop I make a point to wait for the ducks to go into the stable so I can close them into safety.
But I am not always home in the late PM, quite simply due to work/not being home.
Once a predator finds a food source it will return!
I am fearing that my remaining flock will diminish and disappear in the coming summer months.

 

[Bill G]

Duracor and Remedy. Both are selective and will not harm grass.

I flip flop around on herbicides. One year I think one is better and the next year it fails. So many folks over used glyphosate for so long we have problems now. One year the price of simple ole 2- 4-D skyrockets the next it drops. Sometimes I think we are better off like years ago with Lasso, Treflan, and a shovel cultivator. I had cousins that I know had (3) 12 row cultivators. That was a sight to see working in a field. My grandpa cultivated with a one row Farmall AV high crop.

 

[Only the Tony]

I flip flop around on herbicides. One year I think one is better and the next year it fails. So many folks over used glyphosate for so long we have problems now. One year the price of simple ole 2- 4-D skyrockets the next it drops. Sometimes I think we are better off like years ago with Lasso, Treflan, and a shovel cultivator. I had cousins that I know had (3) 12 row cultivators. That was a sight to see working in a field. My grandpa cultivated with a one row Farmall AV high crop.

Advancements of herbicides and rising costs of fuel and labor, not to mention the size of the farm acreage, I'm sure make up a lot of the reasons for not running cultivators now. A lot easier to run a Farmall with the narrow tires between the rows than to have a dedicated narrow tractor just for cultivation. Seen several spray rigs in the area running the highways. We don't row crop so I had to do a quick read and it's crazy how advanced they are. 132 foot booms that can be equipped with camera systems that can "see" the weeds and selectively apply herbicide in only the areas needed. Takes a lot of land to pay for one of those.

 

[jakethesnake]

Advancements of herbicides and rising costs of fuel and labor, not to mention the size of the farm acreage, I'm sure make up a lot of the reasons for not running cultivators now. A lot easier to run a Farmall with the narrow tires between the rows than to have a dedicated narrow tractor just for cultivation. Seen several spray rigs in the area running the highways. We don't row crop so I had to do a quick read and it's crazy how advanced they are. 132 foot booms that can be equipped with camera systems that can "see" the weeds and selectively apply herbicide in only the areas needed. Takes a lot of land to pay for one of those.

They’re starting to use drones to spot kill weeds also. I may hire some just to see it

 

[JimBear]

There are 4 businesses here that use drones to apply herbicide, fungicide & cover crops.

 

[jblnut]

Advancements of herbicides and rising costs of fuel and labor, not to mention the size of the farm acreage, I'm sure make up a lot of the reasons for not running cultivators now. A lot easier to run a Farmall with the narrow tires between the rows than to have a dedicated narrow tractor just for cultivation. Seen several spray rigs in the area running the highways. We don't row crop so I had to do a quick read and it's crazy how advanced they are. 132 foot booms that can be equipped with camera systems that can "see" the weeds and selectively apply herbicide in only the areas needed. Takes a lot of land to pay for one of those.

The “See and Spray” tech on the market is simply amazing. Another really cool area advancing quickly is using drones to spray. I plan to have some late season fungicides put on corn this year via drones.

My “little” Hardi 1,000gal spray with its 90’ boom and all the goodies on it would be in that $90,000 range new, maybe a touch more. I paid $30k last spring and it’s 10yrs old already. I have 6 sections so I can shut off 15’ at a time to reduce overlap and chem usage. It also has a Norac system that uses ultrasound sensors to keep the boom at a consistent height off the ground. Lots of tech on it for how old it is. A new Deere sprayer with all the goodies will list for close to a million bucks. Takes a lot of acres indeed !!

 

[LAWN BOY]

 

[Bill G]

Anyone remember the "cat whiskers" cultivator guidance system of the late 1980's? Anyone ever use them?

I am not sure if you will be able to view this link as there might be a paywall

Cat Whiskers Keep Cultivator On Row

www.farmshow.com

 

[JimBear]

Anyone remember the "cat whiskers" cultivator guidance system of the late 1980's? Anyone ever use them?

I am not sure if you will be able to view this link as there might be a paywall

Cat Whiskers Keep Cultivator On Row

www.farmshow.com

Never had those, just got told to pull my head out of my arse, pay attention & quit cultivating out the corn/beans…

I begged for a tractor with 16.9 tires but dad always had 18.4’s on the 1066. Then he got a 1086 the air rarely worked in, then I got my arse chewed for taking the doors off…

I got along pretty well with the neighbors 2755, it had a canopy, a tune box & 16.9 rears.

3/4 mile rows are super exciting at 3mph with nothing but the voices in my head to listen to.

 

[Bill G]

I remember when we bought a well used 4 row Allis Chalmers snap coupler cultivator that was to go on the D17. For whatever reason which I truly cannot remember we ended up putting it on the narrow front WD, epic failure. Now of course common sense says that was too much weight for the ole WD to pick up but wait it gets more redneck.

On the front of the WD we also had a old school "sprayer guidance system". It consisted of a heavy iron pipe maybe 8 ft long 2"ID and a 1/4" wall. It was mounted to brackets made to fit the front of the WD. In those days we were on 4 row wide but the ole sprayer had a reach of 6 rows. If you were spraying pre-emergence then when you got to the field you slid smaller diameter pipes into each end that stuck out the width of the sprayer. They were secured in there with 1/2 set screws. On the end of each pipe was a string of log chain and a series of old worn out truck shocks that drug the ground. The idea was the shocks made a mark in the soil to follow just like the foamers. It actually worked ok in ground that had a bit of moisture on the top.....not well in dry clods.

Now back to the 4 row cultivator on the WD. We stuck the 4 row on the WD and of course when the ole girl lifted it, the front end was light and came up ......tough on steering. The big pipe on the front was still mounted from spraying. Well Dad says "go get some wheel weights. In those days we still had full circle wheel weights. We just slid them over the pipe. I honestly cannot tell you how we kept them from eventually sliding off the end.

I think we did one field and the cultivator sat in the fenceline.

 

[jblnut]

Anyone remember the "cat whiskers" cultivator guidance system of the late 1980's? Anyone ever use them?

I am not sure if you will be able to view this link as there might be a paywall

Cat Whiskers Keep Cultivator On Row

www.farmshow.com

My 2388 combine has something similar on the corn head to follow the rows. One pair in the center snoot that rubs on one row. Works great unless you are at the edge of a field and there is overlap on point rows. You best be hanging on unless you don’t turn it off or you’ll be bouncing around in the cab while
It tries to follow two rows lol

 

[Bill G]

I do not know anyone who ever had one here. It was real high tech in about 1986 when it came out. I believe corn was trading at around $1.70 out of the field then.......tough sell.

 

[jakethesnake]

Switched to beans today

 

[jakethesnake]

Just change plates and lower front units and change little spunky thingy and that’s about it