Farming Activities

• 2009 Recap

  Illinois recorded its wettest year since 1895, and the Pinckneyville area was no exception. Two inch rainfalls, with flooding along Beaucoup and White Walnut Creeks were the norm in 2009.  We even experienced an inland hurricane, including an eye and 60-80 mph winds!  Mother Nature's challenges lengthened the harvest season into November, while compressing the time we could be in the fields to around 6 weeks, in 7 months!
  
  While we could complain about the weather, we could not complain about the results.  The wheat and corn yields were exceptional, and our double crop soybean yields were good.  And, we accomplished the farming activities without injuries and with little rutting during the harvest.  The winter wheat was also planted on time, and a good stand was established.

  January & February

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  March & April

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  May & June

   

  July & August

   

  September & October

   

  November & December

   

• January & February - 2010

  The bitter cold weather has allowed us to travel over the frozen ground to spread urea on the wheat and granular fertilizer for this year's corn crop. We have set up a new 40' anhydrous bar and also repaired and serviced the tillage equipment.  Waterways were upgraded and new rock checks were installed.  Trees that had blown into the fields from last year's storms have been removed, and we now have some big firewood piles. 

  The below zero weather has browned the wheat crop and the geese and deer have mowed the rest. We will know if damage has occurred after the wheat greens up.

  The excavation and concrete work for the new grain receiving pit was completed during 2 weeks of moderate weather in February.

  March & April - 2010

  The Farmer's Almanac calls for dryer than normal weather in our area.  With all of the technology we use, it's hard to pay attention to a magazine.  However, that forecast motivates us to plant corn and beans in early April and May respectively.
  
  The wet weather broke in mid March, so we pushed the envelope with the anhydrous application.  We finished with the anhydrous just as shortages of NH3 tank supplies began.  Unexpectedly warm weather arrived the first week of April, so we tried out the new JD 16/31, 1790 planter and 8320R planter tractor.  Both performed better than expected.  By the end of the third week of April, the rainy weather arrived and all of the corn was in the ground!  The corn season went as well as we imagined.  We were lucky!

  May & June - 2010

  The severe winter seems to have taken its toll as the stands of wheat are looking fairly thin.  The corn is all up and good stands are in place.  Only 38 acres need replanting compared to almost 400 acres that were replanted in 2008.  The deer are mowing 2-5 acre patches in some of the corn fields!
  
  The conventional soybeans went in on time and emerged well.  May has been a warm, humid month with plenty of moisture. The corn and beans are off to a good start.
  
  The climate changed in June.  Hot, dry weather arrived at the beginning of the month, and records were set by the end of the month.  The wheat harvest began a week early and the yields were terrible.  Fields that produced 60 plus bpa in 2008, were lucky to yield 25 bpa this year!  Since we didn't have much wheat to haul, the harvest was finished in the third week of June.
  
  The double crop soybeans were planted in all of the wheat ground.  As each day of hot, dry weather passed, we were forced to increase the down pressure to get the beans in the ground!  A few pop up thunderstorms helped all of the beans emerge and the corn to fill out.

  July & August

  July was a hot, dry month, with almost every day posting high in the 90's.  Pop up thunderstorms provided 1-2" of rain during the month.  The crops are suffering.
  
  Most of July was spent mowing roadsides next to our property (since the County and State do not have the money to do so), cleaning equipment and working on waterways that were damaged the past two years.  Two new rain gauges were installed; however, they are not working very hard!
  
  Five consecutive days of 100 plus degree temperatures in the first ten days of August are drying the corn quickly.  The early April planting coupled with the heat will result in corn being ready for harvest before the end of August!  More waterway work and mowing are the tasks for this month.  We also sold our wheat with the spike in prices and emptied our corn bins.  The new touch screen control system is now functioning and we are trying to learn it.  An inch of rain brought a brief respite from the heat and resulted in additional blooms on the beans.

   

  September & October - 2010

   

  November & December - 2010

   

• January & February - 2011

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  March & April - 2011

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  May & June - 2011

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  July & August - 2011

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  September & October - 2011

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  November & December - 2011

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