Wheat Harvest

It's finally dry enough to cut my wheat. It's been like waiting for a new baby, it's been nine months since it was planted.

The combine needs some fine adjustments, the bushels cut says we are still throwing too much grain out the back. I need to make some calls this morning and see what other Deere operators say. The sample is clean, maybe too clean but the wheat threshed out nice at 9 in the evening and it passed our taste and crunch test, I just don't want a bunch of lost wheat and volunteer plants next spring.

We are trying out a 9770 STS with 35 foot head. It is quiet and smooth and the chopper and spreader work together to spread the width of the combine which is something I have struggled with. That is extremely important to me as a farmer and consultant and one of the top harvest problems in the nation. Most combines don't spread the straw far enough.

You can see how green it is underneath after a year's rainfall since planting, most of which came the last 3 months which is not good for wheat or planting spring crops.

I am going to burn down with Ignite and Select and start planting double crop soybeans this morning behind the combine and spray it before they sprout. There are tons of baby marestail and big foxtail under that wheat and Ignite is the only thing killing the marestail around here except Sharpen and I chose Ignite over Sharpen for my emerging soybean crop.

There is wheat cut to the west and east of us but this is the first in our community. I am anxious to see what the miller thinks of my wheat crop because that effects my net check.

I have lots of spraying and mowing to do as soon as it is cut and start spraying first crop soybeans. It looks like we have the 3 driest and sunniest days to work starting today. The sky is clear and it is below 60 degrees with dry air for once this year. High should be in the 80's, perfect weather for cutting wheat.

Ed