The farming season waited while we muddled through all the events previously posted. Thankfully the weather worked with weekly rains that did in fact make the fields unpassable until we had more help on the weekend. These kiddos sure love being part of the action. Addie is so good at taking pictures and making them feel special.
After years of in-depth study we bit the bullet and tried some cover cropping. This large experiment has been a lesson in a little too late, understanding the variable you are trying to control, and a huge lesson in communication. Our most significant finding is communication between what seems obvious and who is not part of the service team versus the management team is critical for success. This means our beautiful cover crop which was growing so well got fertilized thus rendering it possibly unfeedable for animals. So we disced the majority under of one side of the experiment and planted straight into the other then sprayed it hoping the longer growing time achieved the desired breaking of the hard compacted soil with the plant roots.
More addie pictures from ground level on one of our 2 tube-irrigated fields. We are so thankful there are only 50 acres furrow irrigated.
Water going down the deep rows. They have to be deep to get water to the end of the row. Where water does not go nothing grows to maturity.
Too much water on the first pass. Working to push the pest control into the ground.
A lot of time was spent renovating the pig pen. Addie gets done what she wants done. # new posts later and I hope the pen is secure for another 20 years.
Reed is so good at playing with this lady whenever in the house. She of course enjoyed the time.
End of another long day this one the kids fenced in an unused section for cows to graze on a neighbors place.
My farmers. They are so capable and know how to get things done. They are smart and sassy and so strong.
Heading out to check field on a Sunday evening trying to plan for the week ahead.
We have contracted to lease land with a local scientist to study our abundant wireworm population problem. I wish he had more answers about how to control them and trials didn't take years to gain access to the same tools. But it's good to think we are maybe making some headway in combating this serious problem.
This is a picture of the lush barley after strip-tilling. I think this corn has a much better chance to thrive than what we planted straight into the barley. A win for Mark who wants to do more of this in the future. We also sprayed this barley to kill its growing cycle. More money burned in the name of experimenting. I tell Mark he is by far my most expensive kid. Besides drugs and gambling farming is an expensive addiction.
Planted into the harvested barley with just our planter. It did a decent job I like the ground cover. This was sprayed before or after planting after harvesting the barley into bales for later feeding for the cows.
Pheasant damage. They just plucked the corn right out of the ground. You can still see the corn holes. If it's not one thing its another on the farm this was very discouraging.
Some fo the corn has striped leaves? Not sure why but it was more than just a few plants.
I heard that the most important thing a farmer can put on his ground is his boots and shadow. I think that is true. Farming is all about working, studying, noticing, consulting/learning, and working.
We enjoy the time together that farming provides. We are thankful for real work for our kids everyday. We are already very tired. With warmer temperatures Moss is an hourly struggle. It stops tubes, plugs pipes, it is a mess and constant battle. Looking at the crop right now it's amazing we get the truckloads we do. Here's to another season of praying and tending. It is good to sweat I guess. We are blessed.
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