Finished planting this morning

Everything is planted, got the beans done about a half hour ago. Just popped open a brown bottle to celebrate. I rarely have a beer before supper but this is a special day. All of the seed is in moisture but we could use a good drink for sure. Three miles south of here they had 1 1/2" of rain the other night. we got .10". The beans are no tilled straight into the corn stalks. The guys who deep till and work the soil to death have no moisture to plant beans into if they missed the rain. I finished planting everything in the first week of may only one other time in my farming career of almost 50 years. Going back on the history of this land this is probably only the second time everything has been planted this early ever since this land was first farmed 150 years ago.

Next year I will farm only half as much land and that will be my last year of farming. My son will take over some of the land, the rest will be rented out. I started out with a Deere A pulling a four row plate planter and I am finishing up with a 12 row planter equipped with all of the modern frustrating headaches, I mean electronics and a tractor that steers itself. I think I have probably seen more change in the way we plant than our forefathers did when they switched from horses to tractors. Anyway, the world keeps changing and we have to change along with it whether we want to or not.

Thats a great feeling to get finished up. Many cash croppers
in this area have switched to minimal tillage plowing with
Lemkin and Pottinger plows or whatever the proper term is.
Weve had a couple dry summers in a row and many of them
are very pleased with how little moisture it seems to take to
save a crop now with better tillage practices and equipment
available.

I no-tilled into stalks that were chopped and disked last fall. Putting the beans in moisture instead of dry dirt...have 15 acres left
but getting a shower today, yea! E SD.

Nice setup!

It's good to be done. The rain is spotty
here too, 3 miles west .6, here maybe
.1. We're a little younger than you but
this may be our last year. My wife wanted
to quit last year but with nnalert we
weren't sure if we would be able to do
anything so figured we'd keep busy
farming. We're going to talk to a family
that has a good reputation for taking care
of the land they rent. We've known each
other since 4-h, a good 50 years, our
Dad's knew each other longer. Maybe I can
get to Albert city in the fall on a more
regular basis, sure enjoyed it a few years
ago.

Fixerupper,

Nice feeling to have all the seed in the ground. I remember those days.

Next year will likely feel kind of nice, only farming half as much ground.

And the following year when you are done altogether, it will probably feel odd at first - but then after a couple years, you adjust... and it starts to feel REALLY NICE to not have to worry about the sun and the wind and the rain.

And the bonus is that you can likely help out your son a bit, when you really get a hankerin' for some tractor seat-time.

Soon you will have time to come to Le Sueur someday. Bring Marilyn... lots of goodies there for the gals too.

I have been wanting to get to Le Seur for years but farming always gets in the way. I am always telling myself maybe next year. Better get it done soon before there is no more next year.

This is the planting rig I use. The neighbor across the fence plants with a new Deere 36 row planter pulled by a medium sized Deere four track articulated tractor. He probably has a million dollars wrapped up in his rig. It's an awesome sight watching him roll across the field. To his credit he does do a good job of farming, he keeps the speed down and he knows how to set the planter up to do the best job possible. I am sure glad I don't have to make the payments on that depreciable outfit. My 4650 knows it is hitched to something pulling this twelve row when I am planting beans. The planter is not a no till version so it is built lighter. I am a little worried about how much pull the planter frame can handle. Anyway, it does a good job of placing the seed and singulating the corn and that is what matters the most to me.

How can you call it no-till when you told us it was disked last Fall???

Well it hasn't been tilled this spring to dry out. Have tried into stalks that were left over winter but didn't like the side by side yield comparison...did it a couple times.

Thanks!

Have used one of the high speed discs for renovating hayfield. Wish I owned one myself, does a nice job.