Friday, October 28, 2011

Combining Corn...

Yesterday's rain put the combining on hold, and the combine sat in the neighbors' field waiting for some nicer weather.  (The little boys who live there just love watching the equipment...and they wanted to know if the combine would stay at their house forever? ...sorry guys!  :)  )

Thankfully, the rain only amounted to a scant half inch, so by mid morning today, the combine was back in the corn field...



This is the view looking down from inside the cab of the combine.  Most of the corn that was combined today was standing nicely, like this.  There were several areas of the fields, though, that were down.  The black arms that you see are intended to help pull downed corn up off the ground and into the combine...


This is looking back behind the driver's seat into the grain bin, through the dirty window.  After the corn kernels are separated from the cob, they go into this bin, which holds 225 bushels of shelled corn...


When the bin is full, the driver hears a warning beep that it needs to be emptied.  In this picture, we're heading for that 18-wheeler that was waiting along side the road...




All finished!  The combine with the header attached is too wide to safely travel on the road, so he will take off the header and pull it behind him on a cart...




I learned a lot today riding on the combine! 

 I learned about how the hot stretch we had this summer came at a bad time...right when the corn was pollinating.  As a result, some of the ears were short and not filled out completely. 

 I learned how this kind of stress during pollination can actually cause the stem (?) where the ear is attached to the corn stalk to be very thin.  As a result, some of the ears fall to the ground before harvest, and are wasted.

The corn yields were decent, but not so great, as compared to the soybeans...soybeans are much more forgiving in bad weather.  But we're thankful for what we got...looking at all the weather extremes we had this year, it could have been much, much worse!

You'd never guess, that looking at the blue skies in these pictures,  that we're expected to have cold rain, and between 6-8 inches of snow tomorrow!  I'm never really ready for that...and it's only October! 

But now that the corn is off, maybe it could snow.  Just a little.


6 comments:

  1. Great photos. Hope your harvest is good to you. Have a good evening.

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  2. Glad you got the corn harvested before the cold rain and SNOW!!

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  3. Thanks for the lesson. The closest I got to dad's cornfield was riding by on a colt.

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  4. Oh I like this post. I have never had a ride in a combine and someday would love to do so. I did not know all that about corn. Thank you. This is certainly why I come here. OK not the only reason but you know that.:) Great post. Love the kids question. B

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  5. I was grateful that I had planted beans this year for those exact reasons~wind and drought and heat. Isn't it such a relief to have the harvest done!

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  6. Alica, I learn so much reading your blog... I really appreciate your stories and your explanation of "real" farm life... it explains so much I have always wondered about! I look forward to your posts.

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I enjoy hearing what you have to say! Thanks for your comments!