So this was a long and busy week. Even with a couple of days off for the 4th of July, which also fell on Independence day this year. On Monday I drove to a contract research test in Iowa. I met Cory there on Tuesday morning. Below is a soybean fertilizer test. You can tell it's research because of the flags. To the right is a test for corn. You can tell it's corn by the way that it is.
They also have some tote tank tests. Cory has seen to these for several years now. They plant corn in these 300 gallon totes filled with soil. The same totes are used each year for the different fertilizer tests. There is a total dry, conventional liquid and all Agro-Liquid. That one is in the middle below, which also is the biggest. They will take yields on this later.
So we have been starving for rain, and actually got some early Thursday morning. It was spotty for the area, but the NCRS got 0.7". It really made a difference. Remember that thirsty corn on Farm 7 that I showed just last Monday? Well the corn below was near to it, and look at it now after the rain. It's actually tasseling now.
It is even starting to silk, so pollination will soon follow. (We will give them some privacy for that.) But it is still so hot.
Today we harvested the last wheat experiment which was on Farm 5. I even got into the action. Everyone wanted to be outside in the grain cart taking samples and recording plot weights. But I pulled rank and got to do it myself. Why be in an air conditioned cab when you can be out with nature? The way you's lollygaggin around here, you'd think it was a hundred and twenty degrees. Can't be more than a hundred and fourteen! (Who said that?)
And here is the last strip of wheat plots. And before you knew it, we were done! And some of the plots even yielded around a hundred and fourteen, bushels per acre that is.
The lack of rain and all this heat made the usually spectacular lawn on Farm 1 be pretty dry.
And how hot was it today? Well this was at a little after 5 pm. But it was only 98 during wheat harvest a few hours earlier. (Do you like the cell phone holder Stephanie gave me?)
Well glad that's done. There is still plenty of work to be done at the farm. It's supposed to cool off by Monday, which will be good for continuation of foliar spraying. And we plan to put in some double-crop soybeans for the first time ever at the NCRS. I am off on a week-long fertilizer mission. But I hope to be in touch via photo sharing to keep you informed. Have a good weekend.
