So it was a busy time last week at the NCRS. "Busy" is a common description anymore. But on the Farm 8 orchard, posts and wires were installed for the apple tree management program.
The posts were set between every 10 trees, and two levels of heavy wire were installed.
On Friday, Brian showed Doug how the branches of the apple trees will be trained along the wire, and not out in between the rows. Irrigation lines will also be strung along the wires in the future for application of nutrition and pest control materials. The installation company did a great job, especially when they learned that this will indeed become a showplace for research.
In other news, the wheat is rapidly approaching maturity. Here is the experiment on Farm 3. Stephanie predicts that we will be harvesting around the Fouth of July, which this year coincides with Independence Day. That would be about a week earlier than in the past couple years.
Here is the Navy Bean experiment on Farm 3, with the beans emerged and growing.
Remember our new Farm 10? We have some new treatment comparisons there in large sized plots. There were visible differences on Friday with the treatment on the left looking bigger than the treatment on the right. But will it yield more? That's what we will find out, us being researchers and all.
What was I doing this past week you ask? I was in Nebraska checking on some of the research plots we have established out there. Below I am getting the low-down on the corn plots. Things are dry out there, as they are in Michigan. Fortunately, they were about ready to start the furrow irrigation.
So again I am off on a fertilizer mission to see how research plots are coming along in another part of the country. Hint: I am going 3 time zones away. So join me next week from the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Or not.
Oh yes...Go Thunder!
