June 14, 2006

News for the Week:

Hi,

It is hard to believe, but a nice 1/2 of rain would be welcome at the plots. We finished seeding soybeans last weekend. After using the RTK auto steer system, I am really looking forward to getting the plots aligned, planting in between rows, and being dead on with the strip till. Since we had already strip-tilled last fall, the spring use of RTK was just practice. Over the period of time the plots have been farmed, drift has occurred. Some plots are 5-10 feet off, some are right on. About all I could do this year was do a running A-B line on the first pass, then run swaths on the next 2 passes based on the A-B line. The CaseIH system worked nicely in that I could rapidly select a new field, hit the same button several times in a row, go about 1/2 way down the plot hit the same button again to lock the "B" point, then hit that same button to engage the autosteer. This way I did not have to go to both sides of the plot to mark the A-B. This took very little time.

The plots are 60 by 200 feet for the most part, the west side plots are a little longer. The bulk areas, or larger areas of the quarter section that did not work out to be plots. It is a little different working with full sized equipment on small areas.

Weeds! I need to get some serious weed issues under control. Foxtail barley and curly dock are bad. The wet fall did not allow us with the equipment we had to get late roundup on. The window was so narrow this spring to plant wheat that spraying did not get done before hand. So, enough excuses! the spraying needs to get done even if I have to use a 4wheeler. Otherwise, things a shaping up with rapid growth as is normal this time of year.

Remember our field day is coming up so make plans to attend. I am sure we can all share some battle stories from this spring!

Have a good week.

Kelly Cooper- farm manager