Warm Days Cool Nights

Warm days and cool nights. This is one of the things I like about September. Our weather the past week and for the week to come has been sunshine and 80’s during the day and 50’s at night with very low humidity.

This not only is great weather to work in but also is speeding the crop to maturity. We continue to get equipment ready for harvest and manure application which are our two biggest jobs in the fall.

Taking care of the pigs is a full time job so in the fall everyone puts in a few more hours to get the job done. It is still warm enough during the day that we need to take advantage of the cool mornings to move pigs. These little guys are getting moved from the nursery to a finisher down the road.

Another sure sign of fall is field days. Most seed companies invite farmers to come and have a free meal and look at seed plots to see how their brand of seed has performed. There are also field days that are educational. Last week I went to listen to a farmer talk about cover crops and how he has utilized them on his farm.

We have been getting some experience with them the last 3 years. Cover crops have two main goals. The first is to help save soil by reducing erosion when we have big rains. The second is to improve soil health which hopefully leads to bigger yields. Like most occupations farming is always changing and hopefully improving.

Almost every Tuesday our crew gets together for lunch. We take the opportunity to look at production and financial records as well as any other topics that may be related to the farm. This helps keep everyone in the loop and gives them the opportunity for input. It is also a chance to fellowship and find out what is going on in each others lives.

Hopefully by next week we will have began harvesting and will have some photos to share. Enjoy the beautiful fall weather.

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