From the Fields: Hard work pays off

Harvest is going very well for us. We finished beans on Oct. 12 and have moved on to corn. The weather has been excellent for fieldwork. We have only been rained out twice. Hopefully, that trend continues throughout the remainder of harvest.

Yields are far better than expected. Soybeans were very good in all aspects — yields, moisture and grain quality. The small amount of corn we have harvested has been very good, as well. The corn had dried down in the field, so there will not be a need to run it through the dryer.

With the yields we are seeing, we can’t believe the hot, dry weather early in the year didn’t have any negative effect on the crops. If it did, it was very little, and we aren’t noticing it. Besides the early dry period, the growing season in our area was excellent.

Although harvest season is very busy for us, we still enjoy it as a family. We enjoy watching our kids learn and grow in the areas they love around the farm. We enjoy field meals with family and employees each evening. Most of all, we enjoy seeing the hard work we have put in all year to prepare for this crop pay off.

We are looking forward to attending Indiana Farm Bureau State Convention in Fort Wayne this December. It is always a great time connecting with old friends and making new ones. Our county also is having a Christmas party along with our insurance staff, and we look forward to that, as well.

If our current harvest pace continues, we should finish in enough time to do some fall tillage, herbicide application and tile repair. There seems to never be enough time to repair tile and trim back brush. We do some tillage over our corn acres before planting beans. If we are able to get that done in the fall, it will be prepped for spring planting season and one less thing to do.