Combining Beans - First Field is Done

As the combine (a Deere 9560sts w/625F head) is new to me, I'm still working out the settings to try and get the best grain sample. The interaction of the head with the concaves, rotor, fan, chaffer, and seives in the combine is complicated.

We've always known that the end rows were compacted. Seeing how the foxtail, which likes wet, compact soil, thrives there makes the problem easy to see. This is an ongoing issue with at least half of our ground. All the heavy equipment turning around over the decades has had an impact. [punny, no?] With conventional/chemical, the herbicide would knock back the foxtail so that the beans would have a chance to get ahead of the weeds. Even if they grew poorly there, they had a chance. Now that it's organic, I'll have to do something different. It's been suggested that I put it in hay/grass.  I could have it mowed off/hayed by a neighbor, but not all the end rows are accessible without going through the cash crop. 

Once all the beans are off we'll chisel plow the end rows to try and "open them up". Next year the bean ground will be in wheat, underseeded with red clover. I might leave the clover in the end rows for a couple of years, hoping that its roots can break up some more of the compacted ground.

This slick animation shows how the crop flows through the combine. 

It rained last night, so we'll have to wait a couple of days before going back to combine the remaining 60 acres of beans. In the meantime I'm trying to get some turkey litter to spread (at 2 tons/acre or a little less than 200 tons total) on the soybean residue for next years wheat. Time for coffee and phone calls.

Do We Have a Lot of "Bot" Viewers?

 According to the "Stats" page for the site, there are about 250 views per day. Almost all of them are Referred by an "Other" URL and are using an "Other" operating system. 

Hard to tell what's going on, or if it even matters.

On the off chance that a human reads this, Hi!

Almost Ready to Combine Beans

 Hopefully in a few days we'll be combining. It's a 2007 Deere 9560 STS with a 625F head and this will be the first time I've used it . It's the nicest piece of equipment that I have.

 (click on any picture to make it bigger)

There's a problem with calibrating the header, a Deere technician is coming out tomorrow to help fix it, and I still need to get the Crary Air System (the large black duct that runs across the front of the head) hooked up and working.

Dad/Gramps and I have been spending a lot of time getting everything ready.

Moving the First Piece of Equipment into the New Machine Shed

 We started moving equipment into the new 50'x80' machine shed today. Took 18 months to have a usable space, due to design/contractors, etc.

First in was the swather.The computer generated diagram in pic #1 has some pieces 3" apart. We'll find out soon if it's all going to fit as it says. Getting enough room for the tractor to maneuver the equipment into position is a challenge.  We won't be done with the combine and bean head until mid to late October. Until then we can only put in a few more pieces.

It's going to fill up fast. The tractors, as well as the boom lift, trailer, grain cart, and trucks, will fill up the old shed (40'x120').

The swather, pictured below, is noted with tiny print in the lower left hand corner of the above diagram.

 I'm already thinking that I'll have to add a lean-to shed - outside of the one long wall that doesn't have a door on it - so that I can easily fit everything.

Crop Rotations

 In order to plan our crop rotations, I've created three groups, with each having approximately 100 acres, from the 300 acres that we farm. Each of those "groups" are made up of 4-5 parcels that are, in turn, within 1/4 mile of each other. The first of the 100 acre groups surrounds the main farm, the second is about 5 miles away, and the third is 12 miles from the main farm.

I have arranged the three groups to rotate between the three main crops we grown: corn, beans, and either oats or wheat with clover (rotated in the order listed, primarily to avoid disease issues caused by growing small grain the year before corn.) This means that once we're fully transitioned to USDA Organic production in 2022 we will have approximately 100 acres each of corn, beans, and small grain/clover every year. This spreads the field work load out, making things more manageable, as different crops are planted, cultivated, and harvested at different times of the growing season. 

Added to the above is the necessity of transitioning the conventional/chemical ground we farm to organic. This process takes 36 months from the time of the last prohibited substance, in this case Round Up, to the harvest of the organic crop. We do that by putting the ground in clover for the first two years. Year three can be harvested as certified organic because the "prohibited substance" was actually applied the summer before the first year of the transitional clover.

Here's a chart of what we have planted this year as well as the rotation for the next five.

By 2022 all the ground will be in certified organic production. We started this process in 2016.

Putting Up Lights in the New Machine Shed

 Before we start filling it with equipment, I'm putting up eight 10,000 LED lights in the 50'x80' machine shed. I've decided to run the wires in emt metal pipe to keep the squirrels and mice from chewing up the wires.

Planning for New Grain Bins and Dryer

 Given what we produce and when buyers want it delivered, we need to put up grain bins, as there aren't any here. Previously Dad/Gramps had them when he farmed with a partner, however those bins are being used by the former partner.

Dad/Gramps, using a helpful book written by John Gnadke, a grain bin consultant, came up with a basic design that I'll soon talk to John about getting built.

We want, at least at this early stage, two bins: One, used primarily for beans and oats/wheat, will be 10,000 bushels. The second will hold 20,000 bushels and be used for corn. The bins are made the same, but every year we expect to produce, by volume, about twice as much corn as beans plus oats/wheat. We'd also add a continuous flow dryer to be used on very wet corn and augers/legs to move the grain in and out of, as well as between, the bins. 

 The concept is to move large volumes of slightly warmed air over the wet grain to ensure the best quality with the lowest energy usage. Click on and read the text in the third image below for more explanation of this.

If you click on any image it will come into better focus.