Over the past two weeks, we have transitioned from planting corn to soybeans and spraying to sidedressing. The great weather for the duration of corn planting has carried over to soybeans. All non-gmo soybeans have been planted, and we were rained out tonight before our last 40 acres of seed beans could go into the ground. As soon as we finished planting corn, we removed the dual wheels off the tractor for sidedressing corn with anhydrous ammonia… which is now 1/3 complete. Last year, we were sidedressing
corn over two feet tall… the corn we have sidedressed this year is around 6″ tall. The wet weather and poor field conditions led to a later window last year, and we are excited to have such an early opportunity this year. If the corn grows too tall before applying NH3, the plants could be broke off by the applicator bar or the underside of the tractor. Applying in corn too small will lead to dirt displaced from mole knife covering the corn. As you can see, timing is crucial in the operation. I will provide pictures of 2010 anhydrous application later this week.
As the weather continues to become warmer, grain stored in bins must be monitored closely to avoid spoilage. Last week, we pulled loads out of each bin to determine condition. The sound quality w ill allow for the corn to be delivered to market at a date later this spring/summer. The grain bin crew arrived to assemble the roof on the new bin last week. With the roof now complete, the bin can now begin to grow upwards. I will also provide pictures of the progress later this week.