Friday, July 28, 2017

Shelling Out the Corn Crib...

Last fall, rather than selling our excess corn out of the field, Jim decided to pick corn and fill the crib. Today he had it shelled out and sold...


There were several trucks and a hammer mill.  They used an elevator to load the corn into the hammer mill...


...where the corn was shelled and the cobs were ground.  They were then separated into the two trucks. The corn was then sold and the cobs went to a mushroom house...



It sure didn't take them long!  In about two hours they finished, and left behind the empty corn crib...


When they started this morning, Jim asked the guy to estimate how many bushels of corn were in the crib.  He guessed 1100.  This afternoon when Jim called to find out how the yield was, he was told there were actually over 1300 bushels, which was a nice surprise.  The corn was also nice and dry, which means there will be no docking of the price for moisture.   

Before we know it, it will be harvest time again.  The jury is still out over whether or not to go this route again.  We'll see!

Friday, July 14, 2017

Summer Update...

I've been terribly negligent in keeping you up to date on our corn and soybeans, and you might be surprised at how tall they are now!  This is what happens in five weeks during a typical Pennsylvania summer.

I had to use live measuring devices, since they're so tall...especially the corn! It's well over my head now, and I'm 5' 5" ...



Phoebe is the measuring device for the soybeans.  (she was looking for a cat that disappeared into the field in front of her. This was in between bounces)...


Everything is growing like crazy right now.  We've had a lot of rain (another almost 2" today!) and hot, humid temps, which together make both miserable conditions for the humans and terrific growing conditions for the crops!

Jim just finished up third cutting of alfalfa last night before the rains came, so we're happily enjoying a small break in the craziness.

How's your summer going?