about this weather thing.

I am sitting here at my desk, outside farmington IL this morning, looking out the window waiting for the rain to stop so I can go do chores. Radar says it is about to be done. As I look out the window I am staring at the field I would like to start planting in with some 104 day corn. In this 100 acre field there is about 30 acres of water standing this morning. Ideally we should be done with corn planting by now, instead, we havent done anything, I mean absolutley not turned a wheel, not even close. One time earlier this month we got within about 3 or 4 days of going to the field but it rained then too. The forecast is pretty discouraging this morning, Chance of rain everyday next week, every day! If it quits raining right now I think we are 7 to 10 nice days from trying to find a dry place so we could start. Wrigley and I are heading out to do chores and check on the rain guage. Hope you guys are having a little better spring than we are.
bill

Rain can be a good thing. We were gonna brand and vaccinate calves today. Too much mud and the calves are wet. So I'm gonna swing the gate and turn them out. The grass is growing.

We have not really started much over here . There was on guy that was planting yesterday . I was out fixing a tractor for a guy and saw the big operator go by with his fancy big 12 row outfit . This guy came into our area and has driven up the cost of ground rent and even bought a couple farms in our area . His equipment takes up the whole road and forces cars to have to pull into peoples drives . He was the only one doing anything . My one friend and i got the oats in before the rain came and my other friend and i have not yet started with any field work yet just got the barn cleaned out and planning on work the cattle tomorrow .

Where are you at? A 12 row is small here (NC Ia). 24 row is the norm, with a couple 36 row outfits. I'd say most of the western two thirds of Iowa is planted, so we are better off than further east. We had a nice run from 4-18 to 4-24. We ran ammonia and herb app and planted all at the same time with three rigs and finished up last Friday night in the drizzle with mud sticking to the press wheels--wouldn't have done it but it was the last field--glad we did now. 4+ inches of rain since then, so It will be a while now before the last little bit of corn and all the sb go in.

Bill here in SE Iowa we had about 10 nice days. That ended last Saturday. Most of the fertilizer and NH3 got put on.

Some corn was planted. Some are done, some haven't started. I got about 1/3 of mine in, but as cold and wet as it has been since, I don't know if it will grow.

We need a few days to dry out also now. Rained here again over nite.

Gary

I use liquid nitro here. But I thought you were not suppose to plant for a week after appling NH3. Is that no longer true.

Gary

As for the week between NH3 and planting--yes, probably still a good idea. Way back in the late 70's my soils prof at Iowa State said that the week was a "to be safe" kind of thing, and with deep placement and good sealing he wouldn't be afraid to plant immediately. We had GREAT conditions--soil worked well, N was sealing the best I can remember, went at an angle and we waited 3 days or more. Who really knows?? With the really good newer seed treatments we now have, I am glad to have it in the ground( but ask me if I still am when it is coming up!!!). For one thing, even if the May corn yields as well, I'd bet our April corn will be dryer at harvest. At this point it is anyone's guess if the seed is better off in the ground or in the bag, but as of today I am glad to be planted. What did your liquid cost per unit of N? I gave $800/ton--about 49 cents a unit-- for my ammonia with toolbar but had to pay for it last fall.

South Fulton county, Il Very little corn planted in my area, the report tues said 4% planted for Il. I have a 12 row which is the norm for the little guys. Not far from me they pull in with 36 rows, I doubt if I could operate it but I guess it doesn't make any difference if you tear the markers off or not with those rigs. It will be some time before we get in the fields 1 1/2 inches last night.

Liquid 28% cost about .61 a unit back in the winter.

I sidedress it so I get by with a few less units.I have trouble holding N in my lighter soil areas of the fields. The longer I wait to put it on the better results I get.

Gary

I am in a sugarcane area so everything was planted last fall. We had good average rain last month (6") so the plants got off to a very good start. This month we are about 50% low on rain but that did not really hurt. In fact it helped a lot of guys out. They were able to get into the fields and cultivate it and put down the herbicide.
Most fields are at the point were everything is done because the plants are so big now they bend over as the cultivator bar passes over. The row centers are starting to disappear and shading will now control weeds.

Sugar is looking good this year and if we can get by with no hurricanes they should have a good crop.

Sure seems like (if I remember correctly) you guys were in this same boat last year with all the rain. Hope it all works out in the long run.

As a side note.........
With all the snow I heard about and now the rain you are having you would think the Mississippi river would be high. Not the case. We are at 11' now but can go to 20' before we have problems. Just goes to show that while up north you may be having record water there is a lot of areas in the middle and south with not so much.

Over on the east side of Ohio in the start of the hill country . We have narrow side roads with cuts thru hills bad curves narrow bridges . even moving a 13.5 foot disc can be a challenge on some of the roads . The one farm that i farmed i could not get my 370 I H 13.5 disc or 4 row corn planter baler haybine or combine thru the covered bridge . If the water level in the creek was down then you would have to go thru the cow gates and drive thru the creek , if the water level was up then it was a hazardious drive up to the narrow windy US 30 and a hazardous 6 mile drive to the other end of the road and come in the back way adding 17 miles just to get into the farm . Then there was one little bridge that ya had to hit it just wright with the planter and haybine or ya did not fit . There is one road that this guys combine with the straddle duals on rides up the banks coming thru the cut and this hill is a blind hill . There has already been one death of a young high school girl there when she hit a spray rig that was taking up both sides of the road The spray rig was west bound and she was east bound the spray rig was down in the dip and she did not see him till she poped over the hill and there was no place to go . Even moving the 1066 on the road with the duals on can be a nightmare on one stretch or the state highway because of the one section of blind bad curves . Even flat out a tractor running even at 25 MPH and some NUT CASE trying out the handling of his sports car around them curves gets hairy . You don't know how many times that i have come up thru that section with the head lites and flasher NEW SMV sign on the tractor AND THE PLOW with my left arm out indicating a left turn and be half way across the center line only to have some yaho come around me half way in the ditch blowing his horn and flippen ya off .. OR for that matter even having a pick up behind ya with his turn signal oneven blocking half the road these nut cases still come out around half in the ditch ticked off blowing there horns flippen ya off one even took out my buddys mail box trying to get around and this is on a blind curve with double yellow lines and a nother blind hill with a curve on it . And just on the other side of that hill is where i met two High school boy Drag racing with the one behind the first one passing and in my lane all i could do is jurk the wheel and head for the ditch and hope that i did not roll my truck trying to get away from them . Well i managed to keep my truck upright but the kid lots it and ended up shooting off the road in ft of my truck and i got him . HE ended up dieing and i get to live with that . You can do everything wright and still be wrong. . Yea it is bad around here for moving equipment on the roads and BIG equipment should be left for the BIG country .State Rt. 9 over here is one of the deadliest state highways around and we won't even talk about the great Bypass around this town. .

12 row is prety bug aroun d here too, although I have seen a couple 16 and 24 row machines. Not too common though. We run a 4 row 495A for our operation and it's a good size, although I wouldn't mind a 6 row at times.

Donovan from Wisconsin

Raining here too- We normally don't like to have our corn in this early anyway because it ussually gets drowned out or to cold and the seed sits, but I'd really lkke to help get the corn in before I'm gone for a full 10 days right before Memorial Day. We did get our oats in 2 weeks ago and we could have done some corn, but like I said, that's just too early for us.

Don't know if that's gonna happen anymore, more rain is in next weeks forecast too.

Donovan from Wisconsin

Just some drizzle last night/this morning, so if we have a couple more sunny days, I may be able to go again. We only got 1/2-3/4", but weren't that dry to begin with. Have about half the oats in, 35 acres to go, plus 20 of peas and triticale. Still too early for corn this far north. Still mostly 4-row around here, I use a 6-row 7000, see a few 12 rows, but not many.

Bii
You're probably getting what we got last nite(St. Louis area). They're predicting more for late morning, early afternoon. Predicting heavy rain and it's headed your direction

Yep, same problem here in N IN. I did get anhyd. on 25 acres...would have got more but broke down....when we do get rolling we better not stop! 'I may do a sloppy job after dark but at least I did the job' is my thinking now.

A 12 or 16 row is no wider than a 6 row. 4 units across the front the rest tow behind that. Mark

I have killed the germ by not waiting 3-4 days.Mark

I plant 950 acres with a 6 narrow 7200 vac.If the ground is ready in front of planter I can plant in 7 to 8 days. I dont need a 12 row.just cant be lazy when it comes to working.

We had 3/10, inches total. The wind blew hard for hours, blew the roof off the Church building ceiling and insulation in the floor. We could use the rain. I guess Uncle AL would say its global warming. It's just Texas weather to me. I was setting on the "spit and whittle" bench down in town one Saturday when I was a boy. Though I would say something intelligent so I said "Been a strange year." Old man sitting beside me said: " I seen 70 strange years in a row sonny". Maybe the politicians need to know that.

I'm in central MN we have had some rain for the last 3-4 days not a lot but its all mud in the fields.
Some have planted there corn on the 17Th of April. (Dorks) on the 28 there some water in the my truck bed liner & it was froze solid.
I have worked up 50-A so far, Haven't put down any fert as of yet.
The tractor got a ride to JD this morning, There are some fuel leeks on the injection pump & they are causing it to loose power.
I have a 12 row 7000 JD & it don't fold, Have to pull it from the end.
But on short trips we just go down the gravel roads.
The 37 1/2' digger folded up will take up the whole road, White line to white line.
Folks do have to pull of onto field approaches or Waite at t roads there is no other way.
One run was 24 miles one way, It was bad, I'm glad we don't do that any more.
In the fall combines run all over with 20'-25' bean heads on them, They go down state highways.
Farmers have to get to there fields.
I wonder what that early corn planting will be like, There has to be some yield loss there.
One winter there was a farmer that planted wheat
in January (another dork) he just proved it to every one else, Then one day he came with all these parts from his grain drill, Colter castings, Bent seed tubes, Hitch, There was at least 8 castings.
I was good for business in the winter.
He never did that again-He must have learned something.
Well we will plant in May the first 2 weeks if the fields are dry.
Seed cost a lot & fert is $$$ the prices at the Elevators Is not what it should be, Our expenses are high for what we get for our product.
Around here some tractors have amber lights all over them, Strobe lights-Looks like Santa going down the road.
Be safe & be careful. Watch out for the Dork's

I know that I have been around equipment for more years then i want to remember . A 4 row wide is in places to wide letlone a 6 row narrow . A 15 foot header is really to wide for the field as the roll of the ground in places is tomuch . From where i live the feather south ya go the narrower the roads the steeper the hills and more bad curves . I'll bet that if i put you on a tractor or ion a combine and put you down here on some of the hill your rear exhaust port would turn into a vacume port sucking on the seat . If i took you for a ride down some of these roads they way all of us old geeser us to drive them back when they made3 a car that would get out of its shadow you would never ride with me again . And then just try and make a move from one field to a nother down some of our nice narrow blind hilled blind curve roads that are if lucky 14-16 foot of pavement and nutty city people moving out and building big homes that just have to go it makes for and interesting time. plus the added length of this bigger equipment when rounding a sharp curve .

The area you are complaning(bragging)about tractor Vet is no worse than any other area to move equipment on.The narrow twp.-County bridges are the same every where you go.I have moved my fair share over those roads.If it is as bad as you say it is,then Where is Cope,Grause,Witmers and Unkefer selling all that big Equipment at??Lot of 25-30-35 ft.grain heads,12-16 Row corn heads.What town by-pass are you speaking of?

I know, same down here west of Macomb. I hoped to have a 17 acre patch cleared of trees and brush by now, guess I am just going to have to push what I have pushed/pulled out so far to the fenceline and hay it again this year. Grass is starting to get tall, so can't waste much more time without tromping it down for haying. DOUG

Just wait to see how you feel when you see a 36 row going across some ground your granddad used to farm with a 4 row.

Dave