the past week

I'm bouncing between feeling like I'm just spinning my wheels and no making any progress at all.  I think is normal for late August ... and this year is far from normal.  We are getting more involved in the seed business on both ends of the scale.

Almost all our beans are seed beans this year, and we are trying to build the seed sales business.  That means we need to be planning and getting ready for storing all our beans on farm this year.  "Fortunately" corn should not be a big problem. And we need to be getting with customers and potential customers.  And going to things like the southern Illinois Field Show (last Thursday) and Becknology Days at the plant in Atlanta, Indiana 3 days next week

All this and keeping up with my never improving To Do list and a corn harvest that has already started locally.

My friend Jim is between jobs, so I asked if he'd be interested in doing some handyman jobs for us?  Not necessarily farm work, but things that just need done we aren't getting done.  He's spent a couple days just cleaning up trees and such for Mom.  Trimming, clearing mulberry spouts from under the pine trees, etc.

Thursday we came back from the southern Illinois Field Show to the aftermath of a storm.   Here's the neighbor's field west of my house from the bucket truck

Trees down in West Union, power outages, etc.  So Friday Aman, Jim and I threw the chain saw in the truck, tied on the lawn mower trailer, and proceeded to do a little clean up for a couple ladies at church

We got limbs off a roof, cleaned up down limbs and trees, etc.

Jim wouldn't take any money for helping us. "I ain't taking money for helping people."

Next week I have an eye exam with dialation. I won't be worth anything all day. Becknology Days are the end of the week.  And customers need called on.  Plus my gray water drain I have to get cleaned out. And .. Oh, did I mention Saturday I brought the bucket truck home and did a bit of tree trimming for Sue?

Our oak trees are getting some really bad galls. The one on the west edge of the yard is constantly dropping limbs and galls.  It doesn't have nearly as many to drop now.

So we'll see what next week brings.  I may have to have Jim come help in my yard!

What's THAT ?

My friend Jim was helping with a few things Friday.  We were driving down the road when he asked what the white flowers were in the neighbor's bean field.

When I took the photo it was late enough in the evening the light wasn't very good for my phone.  Here is a better view from a web site I found

It's been years since I saw those in a bean field.  Roundup kind of solved that problem.

Anyway, later we went past the cemetery and picked up a couple limbs that were down.  We took them down to Mom's brush pile and I commented "Watch out for the sandburrs."

"What's a sandburr?"

So I showed him

I won't repeat everything he said, but he was suitably impressed.  He allowed as how those things would poke right through your skin!  I agreed.

It also got me thinking how weeds have changed.  We rarely have a Jimson Weed problem any more

and hemp dogbane isn't nearly the problem it looked like 20 year ago

By the same token, 20 years ago we didn't know what a waterhemp or Palmer amaranth was.  And we still have Giant Ragweeds and Velvetleaf.

Probably always will.

Answering a seed question

On AgTalk the subject of Becks using Pioneer genetics was brought up.  I chose to not fully address the subject there because I felt it was crossing the fine imaginary line into a sales pitch, but said I would respond on the farm page for anyone who wanted to know what I thought.

I said "There are several ways to respond to this.  30 years ago George Pickering told me the national companies have to focus on what works over a wider marketing area and that they can produce easily.  Their selection process is different from a smaller regional or family company.  I was setting in a meeting yesterday with the head of research at Becks and he said almost exactly the same thing George did 30 years ago!

I'm trying not to turn this into a sales pitch and just answer the question. Yes, they use Pioneer genetics ... and Syngenta ... and Monsanto ... and Bayer ... and Stine and anyone else in the industry. I personally find it refreshing to find someone who DOESN'T say they have all the answers. AND they put on the bag using (whomever) genetics.  Seen any one else do that ?"

Kevin Cavanaugh said Tuesday they looked at  ... I think he said 29,000 possibilities last year.  I asked him how one makes an intelligent decision with that many to look at?  The answer is as simple as it is complex.  The build a database, and spend a lot of time just looking at varieties. 

I'll be honest, looking at just the choices I have to pick from I sometimes I think this tool is as good as my reasoning:

But I hope there are better ways.

I'm pretty sure if you attend one of the Beck's field shows this month Doc Cavanaugh will have some displays showing what I'm saying here. One shows how 5 varieties performed at 40 test plots.  One (we'll call it green) came in #1 using 40 plots across the midwest.   But if you focus just on Beck's marketing area it is obvious that red hybrid beat green hands down in this market.  Now if you were to look for something that does OK from Des Moines to Delaware that might be the choice.  But if you want something that does better between I-70 and Lake Michigan the red hybrid stands out.  And south of I-64 the black variety is nearly unbeatable.  But neither red nor black fits in a nation wide marketing plan.

Pioneer or Syngenta or whomever might come up with a great hybrid for SE Illinois.  But it may fall out of the running in Peoria.  They are focused on satisfying stockholders wanting a profit.  Beck's stockholders can gather around the dining room table and talk it out.

Beck's has an incredible number of hybrids, over 60 different varieties, traits, and variations in the 2013 product manual.  When I get to looking at the product guide I find areas where each is best adapted.  Even a regional family owned seed company has varieties that work better or not to well in some places.

At another time in the meeting we were discussing a certain variety.  The source of it chose not to produce it because while it works well in western Kentucky, it doesn't work as well in central/northern Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Iowa. It is not widely adapted enough to fit the major's program.  Beck's is sourcing it from the other company and customers love it.

Clicker, in answer to your question, and not knowing any more than the info you gave, Beck's Phoenix Brand 6948A3 is a great hybrid.  Phoenix brand 6948A3 is a new addition to the "48" family. It has the great stress tolerance of Phoenix 6848A3 for MP/LP soils and offers more moderate plant height with additional yield. This product exhibits superior stress tolerance and won an incredible 81% of the time in lower yielding trials.

"Can you do me a favor?"

"Can you do me a favor?"

That is usually a loaded question.  Most of the time I know better.  But when your largest landowner asks a favor you rarely say no.

"That car in the barn needs taken (elsewhere). Could you do it for us?"

"Sure, no problem."

Aman and I anticipated a car with 4 flat tires needing log chains, a tractor, and a trailer with  winch. All of which were going to be difficult due to the location. We rolled open the barn doors which had not been open for ... I can't remember them EVER being open. Looked car over. Plates were 7 years old. Tires had air but not much. Generally looked OK

... "You don't think .... ?"
"Not a chance. But why not?"
Put the jumper cables on the battery and while it was charging up used the portable air tank to make the tires round again.

After about the third try the engine fired up and ran.

It ran like it had been setting for several years.  But we didn't even put gas in it!  We washed the dust off and transported the car to its new home.

I get up, I work on irrigators, I go to sleep ...

"What you been doing?"

"Irrigating"

"Besides that?"

"Just irrigating"

Illinois irrigation systems were not designed to provide all the water a crop needs.  They were designed to supplement rainfall a few times a year.  This year has placed a heavier than normal demand on them.  Everything I did today involved an irrigator in some way.  I'm facing problems we never faced before.

For instance, I have 2 engines I can't keep cool.  I think there are multiple reasons:

1.Air temperature is above normal

2. The radiators need the fins washed out

3. The radiators need taken to a radiator shop and cleaned internally.

The only one of those I can do much about right now is #2.   So I have had to resort to more creative measures

On one I ran a hose from the line to the pivot to a sprayer nozzle with a valve to adjust flow

On the other I got to digging around in Mikey's treasure chest (aka the crib) and found a soaker hose I bought in a clearance aisle.  I think it included some adapters or such I used and the hoses were extra freebies.  I took out a pipe plug and put in a boiler drain,

then ran a garden hose to the front of the engine

I don't like doing either.  It just limes up the radiator.  But it is doing the trick until we can take them off and go see Roady

Thursday will start with a second trip to Ashmore.  Lyman's alternator quit charging.   AHW (if you're old enough you'd call it Coffey Brothers) had one at another store, and got it transferred in Wednesday afternoon. 

That wire on the right side going to the bottom terminal on the old one goes to the middle terminal on the new one.  So does the one on the left side.  The new alternator had 6 pages of details about rewiring the reman alternator ... none of which seems to match this.  So better safe than sorry, my Thursday morning will begin at Ashmore over two little wires.

I'm beginning to understand what Scott Knoblett meant.  He said one time "I get up, I work on irrigators, I go to sleep."  He never mentioned a bed.

THE SKY IS FALLING ! THE SKY IS FALLING !

That's ummm ...  It's called .... Well, it's been so long since I've seen any I kind of forget.

I actually did a little storm chasing today.  I was going to check on Aman's livestock, and before leaving home I checked radar.  There was this little red dot north of Darwin.  As I got farther north the sky got deeper blue and darker.  I went on north of Darwin and eventually found this

It was wet road!  And no irrigator around!  I'd about forgotten what it looked like.  However, it won't do that corn any good

 I guess it's not just me.  By the time I got back to Aurora Bend the road was dry again.  But as I was checking things in Darwin I came back to the truck to find this

Very odd.

Sue and I went to Marshall this evening and actually saw water in the ditches!  I'm told there were spots that got 4 inches of rain today.  I'm guessing I had a couple tenths at my house.  Come to think of it I have a gauge up.  Kind of forget how to use it.  Aman's neighbor thought he had about an inch.

This is the first Saturday night in WEEKS I haven't had an irrigator running.  I'll probably start one tomorrow afternoon.

Desperate times call for desperate measures

It is Friday, isn't it?  Started out the day with a surprise drug test. I could not tell me in advance I was being tested.  It was really tough, because I am a fairly sharp person and catch on the things like that quickly.  But I am also very good at following guidelines, so it was a total shock when the visiting nurse stopped at 8 AM to get a sample.

I then helped with the tear down of the BluMed tents at the park we had for the 4th

I'm not sure which is more difficult, putting up or tearing down in an orderly manner.

Then I started messing with irrigators. Switched from the big system south of the road to the towable to park it so it could be moved.  Noticed Lyman's north system was off, so checked it and restarted it.  Came back a half hour or so later and was off again EXACTLY  where it stopped last time it made a circle.  So I decided it must be the commutator.  I spent a couple hours on top of the pivot cleaning brushes and contact rings.  Started it up, ran about 15 minutes and shut down.

THAT was when I realized I hadn't turned the safety switch to run.  So it must be the engine. it was hot.  Hmmmm...  So I plumbed up this

and it seems to be working.  I don't like it because it will lime everything up.  But desperate times lead to desperate actions.  I changed oil in the south engine, parked the north system and drained the oil, moved the towable, started it up and made it home by 9 PM.

It may be time for a shower.