The Official Farming Thread...

[Lnk]

There is super hood poly and *s-word poly also not sure what you had but nothing wrong with sisal. I kinda prefer it. My cousin has to use the blue or his won’t knot. Orange comes apart about like you talked. I will check brand name info if it matters to you. I only round bake but I’ve fiddled with them

I had the orange chit, seems too thin, but that was all I could get at the time. I will always use sisal. Thanks for the offer though. If life ever gets where I can't get it, I will figure something out. Or quit and just buy hay.

 

[Wilhelm]

Size 11 boots.
These cracks are everywhere.

 

[Lnk]

Size 11 boots.
These cracks are everywhere.

View attachment 432444
View attachment 432445

What causes that Wilhelm?

 

[Wilhelm]

What causes that Wilhelm?

6 months of Summer heat around & over 35°C with limited or next to no rain.

Several years back the drought was so severe You could fit a whole hand straight down the cracks.
Once rain started pouring hillsides started sliding.
On two of my properties there was suddenly a 20+" high step in the middle of the fields.

Our soil has high clay content.
It retracts a whole lot when it dries out, but it takes ages to re-humidify.
The short, dry winters don't help.

 

[Wilhelm]

I am so sick of Summer, sun, heat - I have been sweating since February!

 

[Wilhelm]

This is what we are having for most of 2024. and it ain't budging!
This is today, now 2PM.

 

[Lnk]

6 months of Summer heat around & over 35°C with limited or next to no rain.

Several years back the drought was so severe You could fit a whole hand straight down the cracks.
Once rain started pouring hillsides started sliding.
On two of my properties there was suddenly a 20+" high step in the middle of the fields.

Our soil has high clay content.
It retracts a whole lot when it dries out, but it takes ages to re-humidify.
The short, dry winters don't help.

Didn't realize you have been in a drought. That makes sense. Hope you get a bunch of rain, a little at a time. I am sick of summer too. Was 53 degrees this morning. No idea what that is in commie metric units. But fall is right around the corner.

 

[Wilhelm]

Local river 2 weeks ago.
That first river bank step is about 6ft high and it should be 1/3rd to halfway full any time of the year.

 

[jblnut]

Brother in law opening up the first field. We have munched off around 75 acres so far and will start back up after lunch today once we’ve all had a chance to do Sunday morning activities.

 

[greystone mountain man]

Didn't realize you have been in a drought. That makes sense. Hope you get a bunch of rain, a little at a time. I am sick of summer too. Was 53 degrees this morning. No idea what that is in commie metric units. But fall is right around the corner.

You beat me lol 58 is coolest it's been here was supposed to be in the 40s last night but didn't make it.

 

[greystone mountain man]

Brother in law opening up the first field. We have munched off around 75 acres so far and will start back up after lunch today once we’ve all had a chance to do Sunday morning activities.
View attachment 432454

Are they dairy farmers?

 

[jblnut]

Are they dairy farmers?

My in-laws are yes. One of the neighbors has a feedlot and the other has dairy.

 

[greystone mountain man]

My in-laws are yes. One of the neighbors has a feedlot and the other has dairy.

I miss chopping silage everybody around here used to milk,you could stay busy this time of year helping everybody.there's a guy we sell hay to wanting us to start growing him 200 acres of corn for silage.we've been looking for a chopper and wagons for a month.

 

[Bill G]

Brother in law opening up the first field. We have munched off around 75 acres so far and will start back up after lunch today once we’ve all had a chance to do Sunday morning activities.
View attachment 432454

What model chopper is that?

 

[Bill G]

You beat me lol 58 is coolest it's been here was supposed to be in the 40s last night but didn't make it.

Saturday morning it was chilly enough I wanted a flannel shirt. Of course by afternoon that was gone. When I got home and got things buttoned up it was time to sit outside and have a cigar. I was in a sweatshirt by then. I came in the house and shut the windows. Heck by 11 or so we were in the high 40's. I just now looked and the internet weather pundits and they say back to 90 or so by Thursday or Friday.

I realize many of us live in areas with wild temperature swings but we had one here back in February of this year that was wild. My son does not seem to believe it. I told him that was because he was sitting in a semi the majority of the time it went on and did not notice.

On the morning of February 26th it was 27F it shot up to 76F by mid to late afternoon and then fell again.
The next morning February 27th, it was 26F and by mid afternoon was a sweltering 79F......then it fell hard after midnight
In the wee morning hours of February 28th it was a chilly 14F. That was a 65 degree drop in about 8-10 hours.

Monthly Climate Graphs and Table Moline, IL

 

[Bill G]

6 months of Summer heat around & over 35°C with limited or next to no rain.

Several years back the drought was so severe You could fit a whole hand straight down the cracks.
.......................

We have had many severe droughts here. In 1936 it was horrible but that was long before I was around. I know my grandmother and grandfather talked about her being pregnant that summer with their "surprise" baby. He was born in the sweltering August heat. No electricity, no running water, just a hot wind.

The worst I experienced were 1984 and 1988. I thought 1984 was bad but 1988 was worse. You mentioning the cracks in the ground brings up a funny memory here. It was joked that in 1988 the cracks in the ground were so bad you could drop a 20 foot log chain in one and lose it forever. We had to drill a new well that year as the hogs needed water and so did we.

This is a picture of farming in 1988. It is one from the internet but if I did not know better I would swear that was Dad.

 

[jblnut]

What model chopper is that?

Deere 7450. It is tuned to around 660 hp.

A few years back I had the opportunity to run a Krone big X 1100 that was tuned to a shade under 1500 hp. That was a blast! 30 foot wide head going 5 miles an hour gobbling up 240 bushel corn. That was for a large Dairy north of us a little ways that milk around 3000 head. They had three choppers running at the same time in different fields.

 

[JimBear]

My brother ran some bean’s yesterday, took a sample to the elevator for testing, they were 9.7%.

 

[jblnut]

I had to take a break from chopping to get some hay baled. I made 42 4x6 meadow bales that had some weight to them !!


For funsies I decided to toss a firewood rack up there to see what it weighed. Didn't know what expect but I didn't expect it to be that heavy !!


Also had a bit of time "in between" things and I finally finished up going though the 041S @Bill G sent me a while back and I got it in some wood. The cheap bar and chain did quite well despite being under $50 for the pair. I love the sound of the horizontal piston'd Stihls. They're not fast but they've got some grunt to them. "Horsepower is how fast you can hit the wall, torque is how far you can push it."

 

[Wilhelm]

Dragged cut weeds onto piles to burn off.


Picked some apples from the top of the tractor roof.