General – Da Dirt

ROAD AHEAD

(again) … Course not (till it is in a bin).

Let’s pretend it is M2M this week & do a “Friday” on “Thursday” 😉

As I worry, and the placebo that helps me sleep is the Nutrien weather guy, so let’s go with “my 2012 rainfall comparison is flawed” by some poor farmer in Southern Missouri suffering too much moisture to burn me later…

BUT BOY is it sparse plus a lot to take in in a day…yet it is that dry. So giving both no-till trying to sequester what little came with against long questionable drinks that for now don’t kill the eyeballs and mindset trying to ignore it all. (Oh ye of little faith vs well that was a bad plan)

Admittedly it is concerning, hand to mouth risky & if the Rain guy is wrong then well…

May weather (or ANY weather in Illinois) is just bonkers. On the plus side it is at least not hot (as finally getting a drink after an exhausting first stage followed by the cold shoulder after breaking a crust on nothing to drink is somehow a “win”)

I have left last years “V” stages uncorrected to show how far to the cold n slow side we have recently moved after a hot start (vs 2024). Pink line shows you that when I shift and start to predict pollination date next week

Now there is a witch doctor reading the bones useless effort but “Hay” we need something to ignore the weather and lack of markets “elephant in the room”. Like “it’s too wet south to support a drought”…call it therapy not useful scientific insight?

EARLY DAZE (again)

May 5: Are we there yet…hardly with months to go
(per usual, about the only thing that is)

So… Here we go again, drag out and refresh old post … other then I must just be getting older or this year is INSANE (maybe it’s just me but I seriously doubt it)

We can rehash how prices are hanging by a thread, exports and friends we need to buy our wares are running for the door but if you want something to really worry about knocking on the door is that despite insane hours & perfectly timed (historic trend wise) planting (still 3 days from emergence) we are hardly getting even the minimal rains that described the drought of 2012.

NOT having something to sell might solve the first 2 worries … but it opens a far worse irreparable can of worms.

FLY AWAY

So the ever popular “cover crop” saga continues…

^{September 11: Seeded
September 24: First measurable rain 🙁
October 10: Normal way way too late planting date after harvest}

Every year we go to the seed store and they concoct something different. A few years ago I fed the in-laws “au gratin tillage turnips” for Thanksgiving (FYI not a big hit).

Radishes, Rye (always a bad idea) and last year was Wheat with Curly Vetch, whatever that was, interesting if nothing else and although it looked like nothing, Bambi was apparently thrilled all winter.

BUT it takes FOREVER for nothing to grow after the late date of corn harvest, then drilling it in right before cold inevitably hits.

SO in the interest of more money down a rat hole (thank goodness just play time on 10-15 acres to prove this is not a viable/profitable carbon sequestering strategy) we got out ye old check book (it’s a bad year for farming, why stop now?) and called up “The Drone Guy”

Turnips+Radishes+Curly Vetch ($30+/acre) applied by a drone ($20/acre) all to feed wildlife (yes having a go fund me page for the deer is making a lot more cents as the “dear” is a bit strapped for cash all this foolish test farming)

Drone cover crop application @AFePub

Good news: I am not the guy flying the $30 grand drone packing 100 pound jags of seed up and down the hills around all the trees in my test plot behind my house. Bad news the seed and his risk don’t come for free.

…and I apologize, my choice of “Fly” theme music is as questionable as the expense of cover crop. Both I fear have a failure to properly “cover up”…still bad decisions lead to bad decisions? I am a child of the 70’s like it or not…