Well?

[MFRED]

Alright, this is my favorite section to read and it's been pretty dead lately. So I want to know, how did everyone's year end up? Anyone thinking of trading up some equipment? Any different styles of farming to try for next year? Anyone figure out how to control the weather?

 

[farmerjim]

lets see my garden was basically garbage this yr as well as my pumpkin crop, a hail storm wiped out most of my pumpkins, squash and tomatoes. 1st cut hay didn't get done until 4th of july and it was ok it was topped out and a bit bleached up top but the bottom was nice and green and a bit stalky, broke the crimper 1/2 way through 1st cut and parked it, then broke a spring on the baler knotter was able to temp fix it to finish up the last field for 1st cut. 2nd cut was done in september and turned out great and got a nice yield as well, thanks to all the rain. i think we may finally upgrade to a haybine or disc mower this winter and give the old rake a going through, we'll need them in top shape for next season as we picked up some more property to hay. all in all it wasn't a bad season have had better and have had worse. hoping for a good maple sugaring season this spring.

 

[D7E]

Well i think it's another one we'd like to forget ...We made 1400 round bales of decent hay and crop yeilds were average but all season i think we only had about 10 real combining days so harvested everything wet and are now drying everything...Who was to know november would be so nice..??
We're pretty much caught up now with only 300 acres of corn to combine but about 800 acres could do with a second pass with the cultivators but it came up quite mellow this year so not essential.
Said it many times before and once again..No more wheat or barley......Oats beans canola and corn from now on.
Not too many machinery upgrades in the forecast given crop prices..Maybe upgrade one of the ageing flex headers as there will be more beans in the future and maybe look at a more suitable sprayer tractor given the recent wet years but i think a time to catch up on some of that maintenance that usually gets pushed aside and left till spring and make an early start in the bush ..?

 

[Thomas]

Not much happening here other than getting ready for old man winter.

"Anyone figure out how to control the weather? "
Naaa,that wouldn't be no fun,but than again.

 

[Oleozz]

I will probably try some new things for next year, the biggest investment being a no-till corn planter. I like the idea of not ripping up the ground every year and then spending alot of time discing and cultipacking, not to mention burning a lot of diesel fuel in the process. Have friends and a neigbor who will give advice when needed. If I'm successful I will then sell my IH 1066, a plow, and a disc.
I am also going to invest in some much needed drainage tile to clear up those wet spots that have been giving me fits.

 

[MFRED]

Drainage tile. Been thinking of that myself, probably everyone was this year. Then you get the dry years & it all seems to be so good. Made some of the best hay all year in late October.
Hay production was decent. Our main buyer had some trouble getting payed by his customers & slowed his buying. So I've got a barn full of square bales & a barn full of round bales. At least we've got some new customers coming in.
As for here, We have upgraded our square baler to an MF1839 with kicker. Not much different than the NI 7210. Hydraulic density, that was nice. Bigger tires sure helped it float a little better. I've been thinking of getting a larger tedder, we'll see on that one.

The big purchase will be an excavator. I've been dying foro one of those for a few years. The deals seem pretty good now. Hopefully they hold out untill spring. I've justified it enough, now it's time.

 

[slowzuki]

Most notill corn planters need lots o hp to pull. I wouldn't ditch that 1066 yet. My friend has a 6 or 8 row strip till corn planter on a TW-25 with the pump turned up. Has just enough power.

We had a wet, wet year. The hay came in late and not the best looking. Did get enough to supply everyone though.

My tedder needs major work after dropping a basket in a hole.
The disc bine upgrade this year was simply fantastic.
The new to me MF 5455 needs some attention over the winter to fix niggling problems from the previous owner.
I need to rebuild 2 more wagons.
Our equipment sheds are showing a lot of damage from the heavy snow load last winter. I have to jack the roof on one and replace posts and door header.
Having 2 tractors is addictive. I had planned to sell the Kubota but I think it will stay, although who knows!

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I am still working on harvesting corn but now the rains are back so its going to be fun. The wet fields are done and all thats left is the gravel fields so thats a plus.

The grapes did great on our one farm. Sugar was decent and the berries were big from all the rains. Our other farm got hit by a frost and lost 75% of the yield.

I got lucky with hay and managed to do all my first cutting early when we still had decent weather. A lot of guys waited a little bit and got nailed with non stop rain. I have been lucky when it comes to haying the past couple years but I don't know if that will hold up next year. I have learned when the weather is nice to cut like crazy and worry about putting it up later. It seems its easier to find ways to put hay up then to find ways to keep rain off the fields. So far so good and I found some good workers so I see more good things coming if I can set a few things up different.

The apples were a total loss this year and I gave up on them half way through the spraying season. There was no way I was ever going to make enough money selling apples to even pay for half the cost of the sprays to keep them decent looking. Oh well, thats how it goes with the apple market where I am.

So not a great year by any means but there were a few positive things and a few negatives. I would love for a year with only positives but that isn't going to happen anytime soon

 

[flusher]

Alright, this is my favorite section to read and it's been pretty dead lately. So I want to know, how did everyone's year end up? Anyone thinking of trading up some equipment? Any different styles of farming to try for next year? Anyone figure out how to control the weather?

Grapes did fine (CA Concord). Veg garden so-so.
Planted winter oats (Kanota variety, for hay) last Monday on my 5 (count them 5) acre hayfield using my restored Minneapolis Moline P3-6 grain drill and the Mahindra 5525. The drill worked fine--100 lb per acre drilled with no problem.





Rained Tues and it's raining now so I'm pretty proud of my timing, considering this is my first whack at hay planting.

 

[AKfish]

Very good hay year in this area of the state. We had enough sunny windows in the rain to get most of the fields baled before they got rained on. And the yield was pretty good, too. Likely the best hay season we've had in the past 5 years.

I scored a great deal on a Kuhn rotary rake and a NH tedder this summer. Have worked out a verbal agreement with the neighbor to put hay up on his 10 acre field. I've been looking real hard on the internet for a good used baler and a disc mower. Will need to make a trip down the ALCAN hwy this Spring to haul them back to Alaska.

Built a 32'x36' pole barn for the new (to me) rake and tedder. Just waitin' for the disc mower and baler.

Rented another excavator this fall (had an incredible Oct and Nov --- no snow until the 10th of Nov.) and cleared the last of the trees from the 5 acres next to the house. Hopefully, I'll be able to get it planted by late July this next summer.

Lookin' forward to the 2010 season!

AKfish