Picking Corn 2018...

The corn in the fields is drying down, and it's time for picking and combining. 

Jim spent time over the weekend setting up the corn elevator at the empty corn crib.  It's challenging to get it set up perfectly, so that the corn goes directly through the small hole at the top of the corn crib, and not down over the sides and on to the ground.

This is the hole at the top of the corn crib.  The metal disc you see hanging below it, is a spreader.  When the corn falls into the crib, it first hits the spreader and does just that...spreads around so that the crib fills up evenly.

For example...

It's a fabulous day today.  Beautiful.  Perfect.  What more can I say, but that we finally have a beautiful fall day with little breeze, no rain, blue sky and perfect temperatures for working outside without breaking a sweat or freezing your fingers!  Yay!

The ears are of varying sizes.  These were from the edge of the field, in a low, wet spot. Hopefully the majority of the ears, which are from prime soil, are of the larger variety!

It's days like this that make farming fun! 

Filling the Corn Crib...

Like I mentioned in one of last week's posts about combining corn, Jim left a few acres of standing corn to pick and fill the crib.

He had to figure out just how much to let standing in order to fill the crib full enough that the level of corn was at least above the roof line without having any left over.  He wanted to keep the rain and snow off the top of the corn so it could remain dry and mold free, just like it's supposed to be!

So here's why we all had to take math classes in school...

First figure out how many bushels of corn the crib holds...then figure out how many bushels of corn yield from an acre...then look at your field maps and look at the remaining corn and decided how many acres are remaining...then ask yourself if it will be enough or too much?

Then you start  picking...

Oh wait!  First you get the corn crib ready.  You set up the elevator so that the corn goes inside the crib and not out over the roof!

Then you start picking and unloading.

Jim's friend Phil came on Saturday morning and unloaded wagons for about 4 1/2 hours!  Thanks Phil!  (I can move a two wheeled cart like the cow trailer just fine, but haven't ever practiced on a four wheeled wagon, so I was a bit helpless here)

After Phil left, I unloaded a couple of wagons that were set up for me.  This is Jim unloading one of the last bin wagons, just before milking time.

When I was a girl, I remember climbing up into the wagon on top of the corn, pushing it down towards the open door with my feet to help my Dad unload faster.  Our kids did the same, years ago!

Coming down the home stretch!  I love it when I can see the road again!  That's a two row picker pulled by the 170, which is hidden by the corn.  One complete round, up and back, filled a bin wagon...

One of the last loads going into the crib.  How do you think Jim's estimate was?

I'd say it was just about perfect!  There was only enough room remaining under the peak of the roof for a partial load.

It pays to pay attention in math class!  :)

Harvest 2016...

Fall harvest is in full swing all around these days...

Last evening the combine arrived to harvest soybeans.  They finished combining late last night, and emptied the last of the beans from the grain cart into the semi this morning...

Then it was time to switch from the bean head to the corn head...

Then he headed out across the harvested bean field towards the corn.  He opened up the fields here at home so that Jim could pick the rest of the corn here for the corn crib...

Jim began picking around lunch time this morning, and here are the first two bin wagons emptied into the corn crib...

Jim doesn't fill the crib every year, but decided it would be a good idea this year to pick at least a portion of our fields rather than shell them out to be sold or stored in the grain bank.

If the weather stays nice and the equipment works like it should, he should hopefully finish up by tomorrow.  Then it will be time to shred stalks and bale corn fodder.