Author Topic: a day in the life of a farm 2.0  (Read 19288 times)

Offline skfarmer

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a day in the life of a farm 2.0
« on: April 26, 2019, 10:30:06 PM »
one of the saddest things for me was the loss of this old thread. lots of pics, lots of memories and most of all lots of time spent with my dad. losing him last year was tough. lots of things that i am having to do without him looking over my shoulder and giving advice, wanted or not. i have never had a growing season completely without him so.........

here is to you dad, wish me luck!

spreading fertilizer on the first field this evening. maybe we can get some seed in the ground in the morning.

in the pics below i am spreading  dry fertilizer with my new holland t6070 elite and an old mobilty spreader. the t is a front wheel assist tractor with 140 hp but will hit 165 when boosted under certain applications. i use a trimble 500 light bar to control the autosteer.

« Last Edit: April 29, 2019, 09:41:11 AM by skfarmer »
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Offline DeadNutz

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Re: a day in the life of a farm 2.0
« Reply #1 on: April 26, 2019, 10:59:41 PM »
Thanks for starting this thread up again. I'm sure your father is riding along with you every single time in the fields.

Offline Lookin4_67GalaxieConv

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Re: a day in the life of a farm 2.0
« Reply #2 on: April 26, 2019, 11:00:56 PM »
Good to see this thread back.
boop/bop/beep

Offline bmwrd0

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Re: a day in the life of a farm 2.0
« Reply #3 on: April 27, 2019, 02:36:22 PM »
I agree, this is a wonderful thread and a great tribute.

Offline bonneyman

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Re: a day in the life of a farm 2.0
« Reply #4 on: April 27, 2019, 04:27:52 PM »
I know how you feel. Coming up on 18 years without my dad. Hardly a day goes by that I don't think of something he said, can't pick up a tool it seems without remembering how he used it.

SK, the pain doesn't get less - for me it gets diffused. Sounds weird, but it's like the pain of the loss gets spread over more "life", and isn't so pointed and agonizing. Probably not making alot of sense - it gets more manageable with time.

Offline goodfellow

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Re: a day in the life of a farm 2.0
« Reply #5 on: April 27, 2019, 04:46:15 PM »
I'm glad you revived the topic Harlan; even if it is painful. I'm sure your dad would have supported that decision as well. Most of us suburbanites and city dwellers have no idea what happens on a working farm. It's a view that I was never exposed to, and I enjoy the pics and the narrative. The fact that you have a family operation makes it even better.


Offline slip knot

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Re: a day in the life of a farm 2.0
« Reply #6 on: April 27, 2019, 10:15:37 PM »
I always enjoyed the old thread. It interesting to see what farmers do in different parts of the country.

 Your just getting the year started and locally they have corn up 2ft or so.

Offline walrus

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Re: a day in the life of a farm 2.0
« Reply #7 on: April 28, 2019, 05:32:13 AM »
I always enjoyed the old thread. It interesting to see what farmers do in different parts of the country.

 Your just getting the year started and locally they have corn up 2ft or so.
Its still so wet around here you can't get in the fields and Northern Maine still has snow in places.

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Offline highland512

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Re: a day in the life of a farm 2.0
« Reply #8 on: April 29, 2019, 07:30:38 AM »
The only thing working in fields around here are ducks.

Offline skfarmer

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Re: a day in the life of a farm 2.0
« Reply #9 on: April 29, 2019, 09:16:00 AM »
thanks for the comments guys. i  did this in a rush the other night as i didn't think i would be starting that day.

to start out and get all up to speed, this is a continuation of several year thread at the old place. i am small family farmer in se nd. i am larger than  the average us farm but on the small side compared to many in my area. my grandfather and his brother moved down the road from my place in 1920 and within a short period of time lost it. his brother then moved back to iowa and my grandfather and his family moved to where i live now. i sleep in the room my father was born in and lived most of his life. none of that is really important but it does give some background,

i grow wheat, soybeans, corn and alfalfa as well as having a small pasture and a few head of cattle. as far as the workforce, i am pretty much it for full time. my sons help when they can but one is a full time paramedic and the other is a full time student. i also have a couple couple good friends who will help when it gets extremely busy. up until last year my dad was here nearly every day and was a huge help. he is greatly missed even if he didn't fo the hard labor as much as he used to.

there won't be pictures every day but i will try and get pics of important times and activities through the season. some days there is so much going on i don't know where to turn and other days nothing happen so that is what this thread will be like.

« Last Edit: April 29, 2019, 09:24:43 AM by skfarmer »
from the ashes shall rise a phoenix

i was here when the hangout turned into mexican food site!

Offline skfarmer

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Re: a day in the life of a farm 2.0
« Reply #10 on: April 29, 2019, 09:29:36 AM »
in the pics above, my son aaron is driving my cat challenger mt765b. it is a 320 hp rubber track tractor and he is a pulling a new to mw 40 foot wil-rich quad 5 field cultivator. this the first field we have used it on. i bought it cheap and it needed some work but so far so good.

sorry about pic quality. sometimes the pics may not be so good but taking pictures in a moving vehicle don't turn out the way we want and what you get is what you get when i look at them later.
from the ashes shall rise a phoenix

i was here when the hangout turned into mexican food site!

Offline skfarmer

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Re: a day in the life of a farm 2.0
« Reply #11 on: April 29, 2019, 09:47:09 AM »
i did get some planting done on saturday and sunday. in thes pics i am driving my cat challenger 55. it is a 225 hp tracked tractor and i am pulling a 30 foot 455 john deere grain drill. the 455 got all new discs, disc scrapers and harrow teeth since last year.  lot's of people are shocked that i still use a box drill. simple answer is that it is paid for, works well and suits my needs. i'm cheap!
from the ashes shall rise a phoenix

i was here when the hangout turned into mexican food site!

Offline coolmercury

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Re: a day in the life of a farm 2.0
« Reply #12 on: April 29, 2019, 10:19:56 AM »
Being cheap is not lethal.  And, the younger generation doesn't know how to accumulate money: "don't spend it."

Offline muddy

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Re: a day in the life of a farm 2.0
« Reply #13 on: April 29, 2019, 11:29:54 AM »
Being "cheap" is kinda a farmer trait.

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Offline gtermini

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Re: a day in the life of a farm 2.0
« Reply #14 on: April 29, 2019, 12:00:01 PM »
Just as many openers to work on with an air seeder vs a conventional. And no air tubes to get plugged with dead, rotten mice. And no hyd leaks into seed tubes that take a fire hose to clean out. Things I wish I didn't know for $200 please.

Greyson