Week Ending November 19
We made good progress this week on soil testing, fertilizer application, and tillage work.  We are running a Veris soil testing machine across many of the fields to collect electric conductivity (EC) readings and to measure organic matter. EC readings give us a more detailed map of soil types.  Organic matter is measured with an electric eye.  The tool gives us better information to manage our fields and create prescriptions for seeding and nitrogen applications. 

We continue to spread limestone, potash, and phosphorus based on soil tests we took this spring. All of the applications are made using variable rate prescriptions so that the products are placed where they are needed in the field.

Tillage work continues as we race the coming winter weather.  By the end of the week nearly all the corn ground had been worked. 

We were able to take advantage of a couple of good weather days this week to get started on cleaning up the combines.  This is a dirty job but much nicer when it is 70 degrees and not 20 with the snow blowing. 

Week Ending November 12th
We finished up harvest on Wednesday of this week.  We were blessed with a safe and bountiful harvest.  Corn and soybeans were the highest on record for us with many fields making over 250 bushels per acre on corn and 85 on soybeans.

Corn moisture levels fell to 16-17% by the end of harvest.  The low moisture levels allowed us to deliver some of the last corn directly to Corn Products in Chicago which helped out since we were out of room at our storage sites.

We were able to get back on limestone application and tillage work late in the week.  Keith (12) got a chance to run the ripper by himself for the first time this week.  He is a fan of the GPS autosteering and the extra horsepower (600+) of the Challenger 875.  

Week Ending November 5th
Corn harvest stretched into November this week. Yields continue to be very good.  Our progress has slowed up some as our storage facilities have filled up and we are now needing to haul grain back out to other sites.  Running out of storage space is a good problem.  

With the return of some sunshine this week were able to get the last patch of soybeans done.  

Field conditions remain too wet for tillage work.  

Week Ending October 29th
Another good corn harvest week with a mix of sun and rain.  Rain amounts of over an inch shut us down at mid week.  

Week Ending October 23rd 
We spent the first part of the week battling a field of down corn.  This corn went down just after pollination back in late July so we knew it was coming.  Yields were good despite the twisted up stalks. RTK GPS accuracy on the combine steering was very helpful in getting us down the rows which were impossible to make out from the cab. We did tear up a couple of end snouts on the corn heads trying to pick the corn off the ground in the mud.  We are glad to have the down corn behind us now.  

By the middle of the week sunshine had returned and we were able to switch over the soybeans. Soybean yields have been very good with some fields approaching 90 bushels per acre.

We decided to get some of our small fields out of the way on Saturday.  The challenge is that those fields are in some very urban areas.  The last photo below is from Rt 59 in heavy traffic with a combine.  We are missing the quiet roads of Farmer City. 

Week Ending October 16th
We continued to run in corn this week around Yorkville.  Yields remain very good but we have run into some down corn which has slowed us down.  Light rain and cloudy days have kept us from switching to soybeans.  

Lola (the border collie) tried riding with me this week. She was to scared and did not enjoy it.  Cecilia and Keith however had a great time.  It is good to be running near home where we can spend time with family.  See photos below. 

Week Ending October 9th
We finished soybeans in Farmer City this week and moved home to start corn.  Limestone and fertilizer spreading is finished in Farmer City as well. 

Corn yields on our first field around Yorkville are very good at 240-250 bushels per acre.  Moisture levels are still around 22%.  

Week Ending October 1st
We had a rain shortened week of harvesting soybeans. We were able to run Monday through Wednesday with nice sunny weather but rain and clouds set in by Thursday.  

Soybean moisture levels were good early in the week with loads throughout the day ranging from 12 to 14%.  Yields continue to be good with field averages of 75 to 82 bushels per acre so far.

We had our first significant machine breakdown of the harvest.  A shaft broke on the unloading auger gearbox of the 595 combine. We were able to get a new gearbox and put it back together in less than 1/2 a day but it did slow up our progress. 

The tillage crew was able to get going again this week as the fields dried off.  Nearly all of the seed corn fields are now worked.

Brad is spreading limestone, phosphorus, and potash on the soybean fields after they are harvested based on soil sampling that was done in the spring.  All of the products are being variable rate applied based on the soil test results.

Hopefully we can get some dry days this coming week and get back on the soybean combining.  We have just a couple of days left and we could move the machines home to start there.

Below are some pictures from the week.

Week Ending September 25th
We finished corn in the Farmer City area on Thursday and started soybeans on Friday of this week. Corn yields remained very good through the week with the last field averaging around 260 bushels per acre.  Moisture levels continued to decline all week with the warm conditions down to about 18% when we finished.

Our group 3.4 maturity soybeans were ready to harvest Friday.  Moisture levels were 11-14%.  The stems were somewhat green but they went through the machines OK.  Yields were good with the first field averaging 79 bushels per acre.

We started spreading limestone on the soybean ground.  

By Saturday we had run out of dry soybeans so everyone got to get home for some time off before we hit soybeans again next week.

Below are some pictures from the week.

Week Ending September 17th
Corn harvest started for us on Wednesday September 14th. Ground conditions were still wet in many areas of the fields from the 4+ inches of rain over the last week in Farmer City.  The tracked equipment allowed us to get through the field without much trouble.

This year we are running a Lexion 780 and a Lexion 595 combines, both with 16 row corn heads.  We are running 3 Kinze 1050 grain carts on tracks pulled with Challenger tractors. 

Corn moisture levels have been 22-23% which is a good starting point for us. Grain quality has been very good so far with no signs of ear molds.  Yields have been very good with some fields averaging 250 bushels per acre.

Below are some pictures from the week.

Week Ending September 10th
We hauled all of the grain carts and tractors to Farmer City this week.  We were able to get started disk/ripping the seed corn field that were harvested early in the week. Field conditions were dry and the ripper was doing a nice job before heavy rains shut down field work late in the week.  4 inches of rain fell over the September 10th weekend which will slow down our ability to start combining next week.

Back at the shop we worked on adding augers to the outside dividers on the corn heads.  We are expecting to run into some down and twisted corn this year.  The augers will help pull in the down corn.  

Below are some pictures from the week.

Click here for reports from the spring and summer of 2016.