From the Barns: A rough hill to climb

We pressed hard and got all the rest of the cow herds through the chute and the calves all vaccinated for the first time before all our wranglers took off for school. Chopping corn is the top priority right now. “He who has forage is king” is one of my favorite sayings. We can buy corn from lots of our neighbors, but being short of forage is a rough hill to climb. All our corn will go into corn silage this year.

We’ve been completely full at the feed yard and look to continue that way, as well, so having lots of corn silage for grower rations will be important. As pastures around the country play out, feeders have been arriving at an increased pace, so the processing crew has been busy, as well.

Football, cross country and jiu-jitsu matches are filling up a fair share of our schedule, so we tamp corn chopping around everything else and it’s been working out well. We try to chop corn as soon as the corn kernel starch line hit 50% and by jockeying planting dates and different corn maturities Brett has us lined out good. Just as we finish up one number, another is coming online right on time to push right on to that field.

Modern corn breeders are always looking hybrids that have high yield, moderate plant height for standability and quick dry-down characteristics. I’d like to find some corn that yields huge, is really tall and never wants to dry down. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure those hybrids wind up on the chopping block.

Linda and I are really enjoying all the fall sports and are in attendance most evenings somewhere in west-central Illinois. We have been blessed with lots of athletic grandchildren, so if there’s a sporting event and the South Fulton Rebels are playing, good chance we will be there, too. Swing by on our side of the field and say hi.