The September rains are creating trouble for farmers trying to get hay dry enough in between the wet periods so some days it is a race to get the hay raked and baled before the next storm.
Raking Rain Race
Picture of the Day for August 21, 2019
The next few dry days will have a lot of farmers in the state putting up hay and haylage before the next rains come again.
Farmer in the Field
Picture of the Day for December 2, 2018
After watching the snow flying quickly past the window as winter made its return felt, the hard work of spring plowing might feel like a better option than shoveling and plowing snow in the cold.
Spring Plowing
Picture of the Day for October 24, 2018
The neighborhood was filled with machinery sounds the last few days from combines harvesting soybeans and corn and tractors picking corn as farmers try to get the crops in before the rain moves back in.
Corn Picking Before the Rain
Picture of the Day for October 1, 2018
As the fall days continue, the soybeans are drying and waiting to be harvested. Soybeans have an average close to three seeds in each pod.
Soybean Pods
Picture of the Day for September 26, 2018
The below average temperature makes it feel more like late season autumn than the beginning of it. The fall crops must feel the approaching winter as it seems like the soybeans and corn have turned from green to brown in a few days.
Corn Waiting for Harvest
Picture of the Day for September 5, 2018
When the rain stops and things dry out, farmers scramble to get the field work done even the old fashion way of farming. My wagon load would not be filled as tall as I would be too short to pitch the grain bundles very high.
Loading Oats Bundles
Picture of the Day for August 13, 2018
Another hot and humid summer day caused a lot of things to sweat in the sun like me, but also the corn. Corn doesn’t actually sweat and the technical term is evapotranspiration, the natural process of water evaporating from plants to the air. The corn stalks act like wicks or straws drawing up soil moisture which beads up on leaves and is carried off by warmer air increasing the humidity.
Corn Sweating
Picture of the Day for July 23, 2018
As the oats begin to turn to its yellow color, combines will enter fields to harvest the crop although in some fields, a different type of horse power will be used to pull a grain binder instead. The small bundles are often made into stacks in the field to dry before the threshing begins.
Horses Pulling Grain Binder
Watch the oats being harvested with a horse-drawn grain binder.
Picture of the Day for July 11, 2018
Even with all of the modern technology, the weather is still a big guess for farmers trying to get enough dry days between cutting and baling hay when the forecasts are often wrong. With rain predicted tonight and for the upcoming days, I’m sure there was a scramble to get as much hay baled as possible before the storms.
Baled Before the Rains
