How agriculture works thread

[ArlyA]

I grew up within agriculture and approximately 1/3 of my siblings do that today. This is in the Missouri river basin where machines and land is all big. If anyone would like to comment or ask questions about these operations, feel free to do so. This video is not of anyone I know, but was shot near where my family members reside. When the largest of these harvests, they normally do so with 3 combines and operate them 24/7 when conditions allow.

 

[mcfarmall]

I always thought it would be a wonderful adventure to work on a custom harvest crew for a season or two as a young man. A season or two on a Great Lakes ore boat would also be cool. I'm an old man now so that dream is gone and I work in a pill mill.

 

[ArlyA]

When we resided in Duluth MN, the boat companies were posting job adds looking for deck hands with minimal experience needed. When I brought that job up to the spousal unit, her response was "I don't think so".

Back to Midwest farms; We had a wettish summer but the wheat needed to be taken out anyway and then dried, which is not the norm. I was standing with my bro-in-law chatting with him who was helping the grain trucks showing up and dumped into the dryer system. So there was a small fleet of trucks shuffling the wheat from a distant field that had three combines in it, plus a grain cart or two who moved the grain to the trucks being loaded at the edge of the field. This had many, many bushels of grain just in this transportation system plus the combines, so I asked him "how many acres of wheat are you transporting today?" He thought for a minuet and says, "about 3/4's of a section worth"

This is how the wheat we use for our bread, is grown.

 

[oosik]

Good Morning Arlyn - I enjoy motoring down into the heart of the Palouse and watching the large combines. The trick - find a good viewing position that is UP WIND. Myself and a whole lot of other folks go to the top of Steptoe Butte. A natural rock formation with an exceptional view. You spiral around this "hill" and wind up on the very top. Some 1000 feet above wheat fields - as far as the eye can see.

Steptoe Butte is a part of the WA State Parks system. While the spiral drive to the top is paved - it's not a venture for the faint of heart. Very much like Going To The Sun Road - without many guard rails.

 

[ArlyA]

Thanks Rolf! Here is a young gal in Nebraska who makes quite good and light hearted videos about her life on the Carlson farm. Both of the tractors Laura is operating in this video are over 300hp.

 

[oosik]

Good video. This is exactly what all the wheat farmers are doing around here now. Many have gone to the tracked tractors. I can't imagine that a tracked unit would be that much better on hillsides than what the gal has in the video.

The Palouse is rolling, undulating farm land. A percentage of which is not farmed - too steep. Perhaps the tracked units get better use of fuel.

 

[ArlyA]

A few years ago I asked my brother-in-law why he hadn't switched to those tracked tractors and he said "they ride to rough for us". I asked about GPS steering control like Laura used in the above video and he said "we tried that but found side hill slippage was to great". By that he meant that the GPS antenna on the tractor which would not compensate for the implements side hills slippage. This conversation was a few years ago but I'll ask him this again since I should see him in May.

 

[Cougsfan]

The basic reason tracked tractors are so popular on the Palouse is that the tracks have a much larger footprint on the ground compared to even the 8 wheeled tractors. This gives them superior traction and pulling power, particularly on soft, hilly and/or wet ground. And they don't compact the soil as much which helps crop yields. They can also turn a tighter corner. From what I hear, tracks ride better on soft ground but ride rougher on hard ground (i.e. a dried plowed clay field). Tracks have their downside too. The mains one being you can't cruise down the road between fields as fast and they cost more.

 

[Cougsfan]

You are right Oosik, Steptoe Butte gives a breath taking 360 degree view of the wonders of the Palouse. God made a great decision to put a large, tall conical rock formation in the middle of some of the world's most incredible farm land.

 

[two_bit_score]

Interesting

 

[Cycledude]

Steptoe Butte will be closed this summer for road construction

Steptoe Butte State Park Heritage Site | Washington State Parks

parks.state.wa.us

 

[oosik]

Good Morning Cougsfan. As Cycledude has posted - the road to the top of Steptoe is due for improvements this summer. I've made two trips to the top in the last month. Probably the last until this fall.

Just like the spring wheat - the windmills from Rosalia to the south - sprouting up on every ridge top. Where five years ago there were none. Now there are hundreds. I just wonder how far south of Dodge they go......

 

[Hay Dude]

The basic reason tracked tractors are so popular on the Palouse is that the tracks have a much larger footprint on the ground compared to even the 8 wheeled tractors. This gives them superior traction and pulling power, particularly on soft, hilly and/or wet ground. And they don't compact the soil as much which helps crop yields. They can also turn a tighter corner. From what I hear, tracks ride better on soft ground but ride rougher on hard ground (i.e. a dried plowed clay field). Tracks have their downside too. The mains one being you can't cruise down the road between fields as fast and they cost more.

Out East, they are a rare sight. We have smaller 400 year old fields chopped up by paved roads. The cost to move tracked machines would be impractical for the benefit.
In fact, we are going the opposite direction. What you see out here are “road speed” tractors, generally that will do 24-35+ MPH.
3 of my tractors are road speed units as we have 10-12 fields and 400 +/- acres to go between at any given time. 2 came from Europe.
I would think with the price of fuel likely to be double last years levels (we are already 50% higher in just 5 months), fuel consumption will be a one of the key factors for farmers to determine the future of tracks versus tires. Wheel slippage causes fuel loss.

 

[ArlyA]

Here is our friends to the north in Alberta operating a 500+hp tractor towing a 60ft wide press seeding wheat. This is a big machine, larger than what I'm used to... What you see with these is whats called minim tillage. Lots of big farm operations up in Canada.

 

[mx1alex]

We grow soft red winter wheat here in MO. Used for pastries, flat breads, cookies, cakes etc. Not as much gluten as what's in the hard red wheats. Quite a bit went in last fall. Most folks here will double crop their wheat and plant beans after they harvest it.

 

[ArlyA]

Hard red up in the northern plains. High protein bread wheat.

From our NDSU. U.S. Wheat Production - NDSU Wheat Quality & Carbohydrate Research, Dr. Senay Simsek
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U.S. Wheat Production​

Wheat is grown in most of the 50 states of the United States. The kind and quantity of wheat grown varies widely from one region to another

• Hard Red Winter – Grown in the Great Plains and California, and shipped via the Gulf of Mexico and Pacific ports. Hard red winter wheat is an important, versatile bread wheat with excellent milling and baking characteristics. It has medium to high protein (10.0 to 13.0 percent), medium hard endosperm, red bran, medium gluten content, and mellow gluten. It is used in pan breads, Asian noodles, hard rolls, flat breads, and general purpose flour.
• Hard Red Spring – Grown primarily in the North Central region of the United States and shipped via the Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Great Lakes ports. Hard red spring wheat is an important bread wheat with excellent milling and baking characteristics. It has high protein (12.0 to 15.0 percent), hard endosperm, red bran, strong gluten, and high water absorption. It is used in pan breads, hearth breads, rolls, croissants, bagels, hamburger buns, pizza crust, and for blending.
• Soft Red Winter – Grown in the eastern third of the United States and shipped via Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic, and Great Lakes ports. Soft red winter wheat is a high-yielding wheat with low protein (8.5 - 10.5%), soft endosperm, red bran, and weak gluten. It is used in pastries, cakes, cookies, crackers, pretzels, flat breads, and for blending flours.
• Soft White – Grown primarily in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and shipped via Pacific ports. Soft white wheat has low protein (8.5 to 10.5 percent) and low moisture, and provides excellent milling results. It is used in flat breads, cakes, biscuits, pastries, crackers, Asian-style noodles, and snack foods.
• Durum – Grown primarily in the North Central and desert Southwest regions of the United States and shipped via Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes, and Pacific ports. Durum wheat is the hardest of all wheat classes with a high protein content (12.0 to 15.0 percent), yellow endosperm, and white bran. It is used in pasta, couscous, and some Mediterranean breads.
• Hard White – The newest class of U.S. wheat, grown in California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Washington, and when available for export, shipped via Pacific and Gulf of Mexico ports. Hard white wheat has a hard endosperm, white bran, and a medium to high protein content (10.0 to 14.0 percent). It is used in Asian noodles, whole wheat or high extraction flour applications, pan breads, and flat breads.

 

[ArlyA]

The big bud working in the wheat fields of Montana. This 1,100 hp 16V-747 powered tractor working on fall tillage with an 80ft wide FRIGGSTAD D7-80 chisel plow . This video takes viewers out in a 3,000 acre Montana field so that they can see and hear this monster tractor at work. Viewers ride in tractor to see the operators perspective of plowing an acre a minute. The video shares the 16V-747's specifications, production history and original price tag. Watch for a Big Bud 440 tractor working side by side with the 16V-747 seeding 86ft of wheat with a MORRIS Contour Drill.

 

[ArlyA]

Any interest in this thread??

 

[Xfaxman]

Looks like there is.
458 views so far:

 

[Coboco]

Yea this is an interesting thread. Big tractors and monocropping are certainly one way of agriculture, should other ways be posted here too? Like, smaller scale farming? I happen to work on a 1.5 acre garden among a 12 acre farm that primarily uses a 2 wheel walk-behind tractor and produces I'd estimate well over 30 different types of all certified organic veggies for a CSA delivery and 2 farmer's markets...it's great! They even let me use my tractor for land improvement projects outside the garden deer fencing!!