Harvesting Soybeans...and A Sigh of Relief...

Well...if that wasn't a stressful 18 hours...

Yesterday afternoon I discovered that my blog had been "removed"...and put where?  I still don't have clear answers as to what happened, but Google/Blogger redeemed themselves.  They apparently read my emails and corrected the problem, and once again we're in business!


So...because I was just a bit distracted last evening, and because it was quickly getting dark outside, I missed any action shots of the soybean fields being combined.  I had to settle for the day after pictures instead.

 It's been tough knowing just when to harvest this fall...the wet weather has prevented the beans (and corn) from drying down like it should be by this time.  However...if you wait too long, you run the risk of the dry, brittle bean/corn stalks going down in the rain or the wind...and you risk losing some of your yield.

We had beans in three different locations this year...here at home, the "other farm" and our neighbor's farm.  The combine came to our place last.  The driver said that they were yielding very good...average in this area is around 70 bushels per acre, and when he started here at home, we were slightly above that number.  One field was very dry, but the other two were in areas that lay a little wet, and those beans weren't quite as dry.  We'll be docked a little for the drying, but all in all, we are very pleased!

It was dark when they finished the beans.  They loaded up the grain truck and sent it on it's way to the place where the beans will be dried, toasted and "grain banked".  The combine then dropped his bean header in the field and headed back to the "other farm" where they put on the corn header and began harvesting the corn...

 I think the newly harvested bean field looks like a carpet.  But don't try walking on it in your bare feet...

This field of beans was planted a month later than the first ones.  It's still got a ways to go until it's ready to be harvested...

And I just couldn't resist this shot.  I was looking toward the house and saw this black "thing" in the middle of the field.  I thought maybe it was Murphy, but I whistled and "it" didn't move.  At all.  It's not like her to be still.  Ever. 

But lo and behold, look what I found when I got closer...

It's nice to be the object of such a sweet  spoiled dog's attention!


Jim rode in the combine last night...they went long after dark, and finished the corn at the "other farm" and began at the neighbors'.  He said there was a good bit of down corn in several of the fields (from Hurricane Irene) but all in all it's not too bad.

It's raining today, so everything's been put on hold until it clears off.  As soon as it's fit, they'll finish up.  Then it will be time for baling corn fodder and cleaning out pens before winter.

Didn't we just do that?