Fourth of July Week Traditions...

So...it's July 4th...already!

Both of our kids are away this week...Eric's in Phoenix with the youth group, and Jenna  is away at camp.  I think they've both been experiencing some extreme weather.  The heat in Phoenix is incredible...and the rain at camp has been plentiful... but hopefully neither have been bad enough to make their experiences any less fun.

With the kids away all week, that means Jim and I are doing the farm work without them.  Lucky for them, they missed this part...a Fourth of July Week tradition of walking the cornfields...

Every year at this time, we don our long sleeved shirts and walk through the cornfields, checking for weeds.  We wear long sleeves because we have to walk with our arms up, in order to keep the leaves from cutting us in the face.  The edges of those leaves are sharp, and I've learned the hard way, that no matter how hot it is, long sleeves are a must!

We don't walk down every row, but split each field into sections, checking for pickle vine, thistles, and thick grass.  This field looks great!

In fact, this was the most unusual thing that I found ...

...and I guess we won't spray it.  :)  Murphy trotted along with me the whole way!

Despite all the wet weather that we've had, the fields look pretty good this year.  Jim is finishing up the last few fields this afternoon, while I can my green beans.  He will then decide if we need the hi crop sprayer...or not. Then after milking, we're off to celebrate the Fourth with some friends.

How are you celebrating today?

Hi-Crop Spraying...

Can it be just two short months ago...

...that we had more rain than we knew what to do with...that we wondered if the corn would ever get planted...that we wondered if the seed would ever grow...that we wondered if the sun would ever shine again...that we wondered what kind of summer we'd have?

The rain finally stopped...

The corn was planted...a bit late, but planted...

The sun came out...

The seed grew...most of it, anyway...

...and so did the weeds!

Early in the season, we had all the corn fields sprayed for weeds.  Since then, the corn has been growing quickly, and in most cases is well over our heads. 

Last week we scouted the fields for late emergent weeds.  We walked through the fields enough to get a feel for whether or not weeds were enough of a problem that they needed spraying again.  We were looking primarily for pickle vine, thistles and high grass.  Too many weeds will stunt the growth of the corn.  We saw a little pickle vine and just a few thistles, but some high grass and broad leaf weeds.     *note to self...always wear long sleeves when scouting corn fields which are at least head high, or be prepared to take Benadryl to counteract the itching!

Time to call in the hi-crop sprayer!

This is the only piece of equipment that can get through the tall corn.   I rode along here at home, and I learned a lot! . The clearance underneath the truck is 6'. That's enough, he told me, that occasionally when he's travelling down the road (top speed around 35 mph) that motorcycles sometimes drive right underneath him.  NOT a good idea!!

 I think it looks  like a big grasshopper when it's "wings" are all folded up...

 The width of the sprayer, when his "arms" are extended, is 90 feet...45 feet on each side.  The sprayer is equipped with a GPS which maps each field.  When he gets to the end and turns around, the computer can tell where he has already sprayed.  If there is any overlap of spray on his return path, the individual drop nozzles on his arms automatically turn themselves off, to avoid wasting spray.  Pretty slick, I think!

This is looking directly in front of the sprayer as we went through the first field.  If you look closely, between the rows you can see the drop nozzles.  They are situated along the arms to hang down between the rows of corn and spray the weeds on the ground. 

He told me that a lot of farmers are having the hi crop sprayer in this year, due in part to the wet spring we had.  Some of the weeds are late emerging, and the first spraying just wasn't enough...

A different perspective on a corn field...



 It's good now, almost a week later, to see those weeds slowly dying.  It's just one more thing that Jim has to be on top of, to ensure a good crop of corn to feed those hungry ladies in the barn!

In Search of Pickle Vine...

Well it's only Wednesday, and I'm out of hibernation!  In fact, hibernation never happened...it was just a thought, really.  There's just too much to do for that right now.  The heat is here, but today there's actually a nice breeze, which makes the higher temps tolerable.

This morning we scouted the corn fields for Wild Pickle, (Pickle Vine) and thistles.  There's time yet to spray before the corn gets too high for the regular spraying rig...so we hit the fields this morning.

The search begins...

Jim took one of the dirtbikes through this field...

This was my field...and this is one of the best looking cornfields!  Last year it was planted in soybeans, and the corn just loves the nitrogen that they put into the soil!  This field was clear...

I found several of these...one more reason that farmers detest groundhogs!  Holes like this can be disastrous for a tractor axle or a wagon load of hay or corn...

...and I found one of these... 

...and I found one of these...one reason we're very particular about who we allow to hunt in our fields.  If one of these would get chopped up in the silage, we'd possibly find ourselves with a case of Hardware...

Here's what I was looking for (and hoping not to find).  This is a small Pickle Vine plant.  See how it looks just like a small cucumber?  If left to grow, this will grow (quickly) into a large vine that literally covers the corn.  It can take over a corn field to the point that the chopper can't get through it in the fall. 

It looks like only two of the fields will need to be sprayed...most of them were clear of Pickle Vine and thistles, and in general looked good!