Soil Moisture Report

I got to work outdoors today.  I had a septic investigation in Ramsey, and late in the day another near Hillsboro.  There are still puddles out there, and near Ramsey, there was a water table at about 20 inches.  It was quite  a mess to pull soil from 5 feet deep.  Southeast of Hillsboro, I pulled into the field with the truck.  The soil was still fairly damp, but firm.  One boring had a water table at 30 inches, but the other 2 had none within 5 feet.  Landscape was fairly uniform, so I am had pressed to say why.  There was some machinery moving on the roads, but I did not see anyone attempting field work.

Getting Ready for Spring Sampling

The time came to replace my old Dodge Truck.  The red truck had 249,000 miles on it.  Last fall it broke down and left me without  a work vehicle for 6 days.  Shopping on line and in the newspaper I spotted the white truck which looked to be a good deal.  At the end of January at my wife's urging we went to look at the truck and decided to buy it.  After getting it home, I found warranty issues and so back to the dealer it went.  I used the old truck in the meantime to do a septic investigation.  All the equipment was on the old one.

My wife said we needed running boards, so while it was in the shop, it got running boards.  The warranty repair was made promptly and to my satisfaction.  The old truck was parked in the driveway  with a for sale sign in the window.  I was able to clean out the interior before it was sold, but the toolbox still had tools in it.  The young man who bought it helped me put the stuff in my garage.  Then it was off to get a toolbox and mount it.  Last Tuesday, I used the new truck for work for the first time.  Even so, I wanted a bed mat to minimize scratches.  I finally got the bed mat installed, so it was time to load the 4 wheeler.  I found that the tie down points were in the wrong place, so I moved them.   Yesterday, I went through all the stuff in the cab hoping to consolidate some and throw some away.  I found broken equipment and repaired it.  I found little to throw away.  Most of the stuff I carry I  have needed at one time or another.  

It is still a month off, but I am hoping I am ready for the spring sampling season.  If I put on the usual 18,000 miles per year, and the truck lasts for 249,000 miles, I will have that truck for a long time.

Old Truck

New Truck

Thinking of Applying Sugar?

A practice that has been getting some discussion in th past few years is applying sugar to the crop.  The idea is that sugar will stimulate microbes and speed up release of nutrients from soil minerals.  Producers may be looking at this practice as a way to cut back on fertilizer costs.  Ohio researchers have looked at the practice along with others around the Midwest.  According to an article in No-Till Farmer, they found no yield increase from sugar applications.

National FFA Week

I am continually amazed at all the cool stuff this farm boy from southwestern Illinois has gotten to do.  Below is a photograph of the Valmeyer, IL FFA members in 1973.  FFA has been providing opportunity for 85 years.

Small Town Business

When I was in High School back when the dinosaurs roamed the earth, I regularly sat in the library with Arnie Juelfs before school and read the newspaper and discussed world events.  Since Arnie graduated I think I have seen him in person one time prior to today.  Two or 3 years ago he found me on Facebook and friended me.

Arnie runs a coffee shop, The Village Kaffeehaus in the Village of Maeytown in Monroe County.  Arnie is semi-retired and roasts his on coffee.  Just like old times, we sat and caught up on our lives a little bit and discussed events of the day.  The difference is we had fresh roasted coffee which was wonderful.  Arnie roast coffee while you wait, or you can order ahead and it will be ready when you get there.  I bought a half pound and it made my truck smell like a coffe shop as I drove home.  Many small towns have treasures like this.  I hope readers will stop at some of them and see what they have to offer.

Contrasting Cover Crop Presentations

Last week, I heard contrasting presentations on cover crops.  Emerson Nafziger made a presentation in Litchfield on Wednesday.  He looked at research from several years of data on cover crops.  In his presentation he looked mainly for yield increases, and he did not find any.  It reminded me of  presentations on No-Til in the late 80's and early 90's.  He seemed to be missing the point.  Cover crops are a long term proposition and short term benefit can be difficult to assess.

Anthony Yannarell presented his research in Champaign on Saturday.  Unlike many researchers who prefer to look at yes or no answers, Yannarelll was looking into the why of cover crops and their weed control effect.  He used red clover in his research and found that leaving the entire plant on the surface was most effective in weed control,  One of the real benefits of cover crops is the weed control I am seeing.  While the weed control may not pay off in yield, hopefully you are getting some savings on herbicides.

Soybean Harvest in Brazil

By Eduardo Paim:

i'm trying to understand how soybean production in Mato Grossowill be; with this reason I am slow to send news. The producers of the North are harvesting soybeans and averages are varying a lot, some farm harvesting soybean30 bags per ha farm and another has harvested 60 bags per hectare. The harvest in the South and the rest of Mato Grosso started and is starting very well. Here in the South we are averaging so far of 64 bags per hectare. The weather is very hot and little rain. We need rain for plants that are still developing, but overall, I would say today that we still need to wait to see the end of the harvest is going to have a great reduction or not.