So yesterday was another beautiful day here in mid-Michigan, and the combine was kept busy. This time we harvested our Black Bean experiment. Here is the combine harvesting the middle four rows of the six-row plot that we use for yield determination. Again, the air reel really is beneficial for harvesting edible bean plots as the air blows the cut plants into the auger and feeder house, where they used to rest above the cutter bar at the end of the plot.
Guess why they are called Black Beans. Michigan is the leading producer of black beans. You have probably eaten them at Taco Bell and not even known it. We got some good results with our Liquid nutrition. Look for the results in the 2010 Research Report.
Here they are dumped into the grain trailer to take to the black bean elevator. A point of interest regarding edible beans is that you have to be very careful not to have any soybeans in the edible beans. You can lose your whole load if soybeans are found due to concerns about food allergies. So that means we have to thoroughly clean the combine and grain cart, including vacuuming the hiding places in the combine grain bin. It's a pain, but we do it.
So that was yesterday. On another part of Farm 5 we harvested some more soybeans yesterday and today planted our last wheat plot this morning. Good thing we got an early start as it started raining as we were finishing. We could use some rain to get the wheat up. 
Harvest is winding down as the end is in sight. We now have just a few soybean tests awaiting harvest. Still can't believe we are nearly done and it's only October 13.