So today was a sad day at the NCRS. Yes, we harvested our last experiment. Remember how you felt as a kid at Christmas opening your last present? You have a lot of nice stuff, but still kind of sorry it's over. Well that kid is me today. But we went out on a high note harvesting our milo (or was it grain sorghum? hmmm.) plot. This is only the second or third time we have planted milo at the NCRS, not a milo growing area here. But this test turned out really well, and we got some good results. (Which will be in the Research Report.) This plot also attracted some birds, but nowhere near the numbers of the sunflower plot. The birds were maybe stocking up for their trip South, and I hope they have a successful trip and find all they are looking for down there.
The combine did a great job today, as it has all fall. Did you know this is the ninth different crop harvested with the combine this year? Can you name them all? No prize, just something to do.
The colorful milo dumping into the grain cart for weighing of the plot's yield.
And here it is, the last pass of the year. (Pause for reflection.) But the work is far from over. Now it is time to get ALL of the plot data summarized, graphed and interpreted. And there is still some farm work to do, including some tillage, fall strip till, soil sampling, and other researchy stuff. The weather continues to be perfect for all of this.
So we haven't seen much of Stephanie lately. Where has she been? Well for every plot that we harvest, a sample is retained for determination of moisture and test weight. And these things don't happen all by themselves. Stephanie runs sample after sample on our Dickey-john grain tester. Definately the woman scientist behind the scene.
So no more harvest pictures for awhile, assuming my blog contract is renewed next year. Like everything, it depends on the ratings. But there are still activities and antics on which I can report, so stay tuned. And tell a friend.