Tractor Ride-Along

Yesterday was day 3 of the soybean planting. Harland got in about 9pm looking rather bedraggled. Planting, haymaking, and harvest require the longest days of work and take the most out of Harland.

I’m especially proud of him during these times. Riding in a tractor is a bone jarring experience. After just an hour, I’m sore all over, so it’s no wonder by the end of the day he looks like he’s done in.

Here he is taking a lap around the field.

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And here’s my ride-along from the other evening.  Harland runs by GPS. It keeps track of what part of the field has been planted and indicates to him by lights on a display where he needs to drive the tractor when he starts a new trip across the field. The beeping sound you hear is a seed monitor. It tracks and makes sure the planter is releasing the right amount of seed.

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He has another day to go planting soybeans, and that will be the last of the planting until winter wheat in the fall.

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Suzanne

Cattle, corn, wheat, beans, mud, snow, ice, and drought. Plenty of fresh air and quiet. Our life is sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes joyous, but never boring.

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12 Responses

  1. Louise says:

    Always interesting to see another way of life! I’m curious. Does Harley practice a “no till” method of farming? I see he’s planting his soy beans down the corn rows. Curious – how long does it take for the corn plants to compost?

    • Suzanne says:

      Hi Louise,
      Yes, we do practice no till. The soil here in northeast KS is really fluffy and soft and erodes really badly. We also terrace our land. The corn stalks take forever to compost, years and years.

  2. Sally bishop says:

    I love the smell of tilled dirt.

  3. Leigh says:

    That looks like a truly huge job. Very interesting about using the GPS. I have to mention too, that I love Kitty’s page. 🙂

  4. Dianna says:

    I loved this post! It brought back memories of me in “another life” when I dated a farmer. I loved riding on the tractor with him…and on the grain combine….and the cotton picker…
    I’m amazed at how steady your video was – knowing how bumpy that ride was!

    • Suzanne says:

      Thank you Dianna. The video camera is new and I’ve been really working on making them as steady as possible.

  5. Doe of Mi. says:

    Sure brought back the memory of working the fields, when I was a teen ager, with my Dad. Every time he headed for the field so did I.
    Absolutely loved being out there driving the small tractor and watching Dad driving the big tractor. Or doing the ride along. Rather be there than doing housework. What a tomboy I was — LOL!

  6. Teresa says:

    We’re pretty far behind in planting here. The weather has finally warmed up enough to start planting corn, so everyone is in the fields now.

  7. That’s cool about the GPS…I never knew that, but that makes so much sense…awesome! I think I would really enjoy riding along in a big tractor like that. I love stuff like that. I can’t imagine, it must get tedious after a while for Harland. And wow, those are some long days of work!!

    • Suzanne says:

      Hi Bonnie,
      I enjoy riding in the tractor, but I think Harland doesn’t feel the joy there in the tractor so much. He’s been doing that for over 20 years now and I think the thrill is gone. 🙂

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