Harvest Time

Harvest Time

          Well harvest finally began this past week. It is always a much anticipated time of the year. This first picture is a combine that was purchased in about 1964.

      It was a huge leap in technology. No longer did you pick the corn in the ear and then shell it later. This machine combined the two operations into one which is the reason it is called a combine.

          Todays machines are leaps ahead of the originals.

        Today we have air conditioned cabs with air ride seats. The ability to change settings on the go and yield monitors with GPS that tell you moisture and yield from a specific spot in the field.

          The way we move the grain from the field to the farm has also change over time. The wooden wagon in the first picture held 100 bushels of corn. In 1974 my dad purchased this triggs wagon and pulled it home from the Farm Progress show. It was a booming time in agriculture and machinery was hard to get. This was the only one the company had that was available. It could hold 400 bushels of corn. Today we use a grain cart that can hold a 1,000 bushels of corn. It also has a scale that weighs the corn as it is transferred to a semi that brings the corn to the bin.

  

The corn is then dried to about 15% moisture so it can be stored and kept in good condition until we are ready to use it in feed.

Take time this week to enjoy the beautiful weather and gorgeous fall sun sets.