 2012 was definitely an interesting year for us as we actually finished combining our corn before the beans! The year started off great as planting conditions were favorable for getting the crop planted. However, the favorable conditions quickly turned into a dry spell and then a drought. Emergence was very good and that ended up hurting us a little bit given the lack of rain and the abundance of plants per acre. We normally try to push our population levels as it has worked well for us in the past. The drought continues even now after harvest and it really started back in July of 2011. Some are saying it could last into the summer of next year? We elected to go with Enterprise crop insurance and used the extra premium savings to bump up our coverages. So far it seems to have been a good decision and will be looking to do the same next year given the high chances of the drought stretching into next year.
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We recently rented a vertical tillage machine which was our first experience with this type of equipment. It did a really nice job preparing the seedbed in one pass; however, I am not sure if they are worth their price tag? Probably would find a used one if we ever made the investment. This one has angled gangs like a disc which is supposed to allow more lateral soil movement. Pulled it with our Deere 8410 @ 8 MPH.  Below are pictures of the dirt work being done on the Hansen farm. An old hog site used to be there and was cleared out. A new driveway was installed along Justice also. Lorenz Grinder for sale. Has always been stored in doors...just moved it outside to take pictures. It was my Grandpa's and I don't know much about it specifically. It is an older unit but I know it wasn't used much.
http://desmoines.craigslist.org/grd/2922924367.html SOLD Anyone else noticing how much used equipment has gone up in the past year. A decent disc is now twice as much as it was a year ago it seems.
We finished harvest on Thursday evening. Corn yields were much better than expected. Channel 209-77 VT3 went 181 on a field which was the best we had done so far for that field and Channel 210-57 STX went 207 on a field NE of Bayard.
Harvest has been going well. Corn yields are much better than what we expected. We thought the extreme heat during pollination was going to ding us quite a bit. We think our above average final stand counts and test weights are making the difference. So far test weights have been averaging around 60.0 for corn..even had a 65.0 for one load. Channel 209-77 and 210-57 have been solid. Beans were what we typically average.
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Lewis FarmsMichael & Natalie Lewis Archives
May 2014
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