Friday, April 26, 2019

Field Work Ahead of Planting

This video does a great job of spelling out the things that I'll be doing soon.



My new tractor and stalk chopper/mower were delivered to the John Deere dealer today, joining the seed drill.  Next week they'll change hydraulic fluid and engine oil (filters too). It'll probably be around $700. A little more expensive than going to Jiffy Lube. Then I'll bring them home and put them to work.





Thursday, April 25, 2019

Spreading Turkey Litter



I buy turkey litter from the nearby Jennie-O Turkey "plant". They dumped the litter in piles in the fields last fall, intending to spread it then, but the weather was bad. They came back yesterday and spread it at a rate of 2.5 to 3 tons/acre.  In the video I think there are 8 semi-loads. At 22 tons per load that's about 175 tons. I pay by the ton to have it spread. For the relatively small amount I need there's no way to justify buying my own spreader and loader. Unfortunately that means I need to wait for them to come and spread it. It was so wet this spring, even if I had my own equipment I couldn't have got out into the field any sooner.

Now, weather permitting, I'll work the litter into the top layer of soil using a field cultivator, killing any weeds at the same time. I'll follow that up by drilling, the same day, a mixture of red clover and oats. This is what I'll grow on these fields for the next two years as part of the transition to organic production. If all goes well, in the third year, 2021, I'll plant corn, which will be harvested as a certified organic crop in the fall of 2021.

Baby Chicks Are Here

I bought two mixed packages of chicks from McMurray Hatchery and they arrived at the Post Office this morning at 6am. They called me and I went over to pick them up. A few minutes later I shot this



There are 20 chickens, 4 geese, 4 turkeys, and 4 ducks.  They'll stay in the brooder for 3-4 weeks, until they get their feathers. Then they'll go outside in the coop.