Why did they do this??

[jimg]

Hi
Since the beginning of the year Ive had the opportunity (and pleasure) of driving coast to coast 3 times on different routes. In those travels I saw some mighty nice and amazingly beautiful land. We are really blessed as a country! Ive seen more than my fair share of corn and soybeans to. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif New to me were the BIG wheat fields. From the road it was difficult to determine the scale of those fields until I saw harvesting machinery on them. The 6 combines weren't much bigger than dots in the middle of what had to be thousands of acres. Anyway, I kept my eyes open for crops and tractors and such to observe regional differences. So, here are my questions for you....

Driving thru upper IN and OH I noticed that some of the grain fields were irrigated. That was surprising since I thought that area got plenty of rain. Also the systems didnt cover the entire field...most cases only a very small part of it. Why would they do that?

In SD along the interstate right of way in some areas the grass had been mowed and round baled. Why? Does the state sell rights to this or do the abutting farmers do it a a favor or ?? It seemed odd to see round bales right off the emergency lane.

In various areas in the west that were open and unprotected (grain) fields had been disced leaving unprotected soil exposed. I thought this practice was mostly discouraged as wind errosion would be a factor. I had the idea western farmers were exclusivley no/min till.

 

[NewToy]

jimg,
Were the sprinklers in OH & IN maybe the kind that roll around the field? The other topics I have no idea.

John

 

[Indydirtfarmer]

First the irrigated field question...

What you PROBABLY saw is known as "center pivot" irrigation. As the name indicates, it revolves around a central "pivot" which is generally a well head. Most of northern Indiana is a bit sandy. Water doesn't stay with these soils long. We get (usually) high annual rainfalls, but late summer tends to be dry. That's just as critical of a time as any in the growth of corn AND soybeans. Usually, there is a rotating sprinkler head at the end of the pivot arm that attemts to reach the corners of the fields, but will leave some of it un-watered. (Most of the field is better than none.....)

I'm not much of an expert on western crop practices, but I think you saw what is known as "summer fallow" Fields are allowed to "rest" for a year in their normal rotation. Water is scarce out west. The soil is worked to help eliminate weed pressure. and to open it up so that what rain does fall is allowed to soak in. Also, due to the large acreages, sometimes they start MONTHS in advance, preparing land for fall planting (winter wheat)

No-Till isn't that popular in certain regions of the country. From what I know, the "western plains" don't see as much no-till as the central corn belt for instance.

Hope this helps....

 

[BB_TX]

Jim - You brought up a similar curiosity of mine. We took a driving trip from TX to Michigan, to the UP, then back down thru Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, etc. I saw irrigation in middle and upper Michigan (not the UP). Between the great lakes I would never have expected to see irrigation. Very common in W TX, NM, and Colorado.

 

[MossRoad]

Seems that most of the sprinklers in northern Indiana are the type that pivot around a center point. They can also pivot at section breaks. This allows them to get into corners or around things like houses and barns. Some are almost a 1/4 mile long. I noticed that when I went south west from here towards St. Louis, there were very few, if any, irrigation systems. Out there at Mother Nature's mercy, so to speak. No rain = no crop.

We have flat land from South Bend west towards Illinois. I think there is something like only an 11 foot drop in elevation between here and the state line, about 100 miles away. The area use to be the kankakee marsh. They drained it to get farmland by blowing out a low rock wall over near Illinois and that, combined with straightening all the rivers and streams and channeling the fields drained it all. Then they installed irrigation systems because it is too dry. Go figure!!!???

Anyhow, I think with irrigation, they can maximize their yeild. Either it must pay to do it or there are just fantastic irrigation salesmen that could sell refrigerators to Eskimos. Those irrigation systems aren't cheap, from what I hear.

 

[Bird]

Jim, as for the irrigation, are you sure the sprinklers were not a type that moves across a field. I know of one type that makes big circles and another that rolls straight across a field, and either type can be a variety of lengths; some amazingly long.

As for cutting and baling hay on the highway right-of-way, I've seen it done lots of places, but:
1) Some places the governing body will not grant permission for it because of the fear of liability if someone runs off the road and hits the haying equipment,
2) Some places adjoining landowners do it without explicit approval and the authorities ignore it,
3) Some places explicit approval was given, but the written approval required the bales to be removed from the right-of-way on the same day they were baled.

That's about all I know of; maybe someone else knows of other scenarios.

There were no responses when I started typing, but several beat me to it. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[jimg]

Yes, they were center pivot BUT certainly NOT long enough to reach most of the field. Im familiar w/ the end rotating arm and saw a bunch of those further west. It just didnt make sense to have a system that missed most of the field.

As for no/min till I thought it would be widely used in the west just b/c water is somewhat scarce.

I was also surprised to see so much grain grown in OH and IN. I thought that was part of the corn/soy bean belt. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[jimg]

OK, I wondered if that was the case. Do you know if the state makes anything off the hay thats collected? In the east haying the right of way isnt done. In fact the state pays someone to mow it.

 

[Indydirtfarmer]

From what I've seen, "back east" would need some sort of roadside litter seperator on the baler....(SARCASM LIGHT FLASHING BRIGHTLY....)

I have almost a mile of road frontage on my farm. It isn't at all out of the ordinary to fill a pick-up bed with trash when we mow the ditch line . Mostly battle and cans formerly containing barley pops, along with McDonald wrappers. That wouldn't do for cattle feed.....

 

[jimg]

One more thing...Driving out I90 was great for up close tractor/implement viewing. I must have passed (and repassed) 50 tractors plus many more implements being moved by truck to where ever these things go. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif