Two Days in the life . . .

  . . . of a farmer in the spring.

It went from cool and wet last weekend to hot, dry, and windy this week.  By Wednesday conditions were good to be in the field.  It was one of the earliest starts in years.  I kept track of my activities a couple days this past week and thought maybe I would share them.

Up at 5:30, devotions, check overnight markets, check weather forecast, check email, eat a quick breakfast and out the door.  The old farmers wife and I dropped the pickup off at the field before she left for work.  Hog chores took about an hour, after which I had to bury a dead hog with the skid steer.  I ground and unloaded 3 ton of feed, then fueled up the tractor and headed for the field with the planter to start planting soybeans.  I drove the pickup home to get the seed tender, and had a tire blowout on it on the way back to the field.  I unhooked the tender in a neighbors yard and went back home to find a spare tire and jack.  After I got the tire changed, I continued to the field, filled the planter, and commenced no-tilling soybeans.  I grabbed a sandwich that my wife left for me for lunch.  After finishing that 48 acres, I brought the planter home and started disking the cornstalks where I hauled manure this past winter.  I stopped for a quick supper in the house and my wife took me to the field so I could bring the pickup and seed tender back home.  After evening chores and fueling up tractors for the next day, we had to DocuSign our tax returns and also my operating loan agreements for this year.  I made sure bills that needed to be paid are ready for the mail, checked email, weather, and markets, then headed for the shower.  In bed by 11:00.

Up at 5:30, devotions, check overnight markets, check weather forecast, check email, eat a quick breakfast, and back out the door.  Did chores, then ground and unloaded 6 ton of feed.  I pulled the seed tender down to my brother's to refill it with seed, then No-tilled another 40 acres of soybeans in the morning. My cab monitor needed to be reprogrammed, which took the dealer a couple of days. My salesman showed up at the farm late morning and reinstalled it and set it up so that my auto-steer would finally work.  I had been planting with markers so far.  I discovered a pinched hydraulic hose that runs my vacuum drive motor, so I ran to Blunier's and had them make me a new hose.  After installing the new hose and refilling the hydraulic reservoir, I re-calibrated the TCM so the tractor would be ready to plant.  Another quick sandwich for lunch, and then I disked another 30 acres of cornstalks.  After unhooking the disk, I hooked up the field cultivator to my tillage tractor and worked 80 acres that I could plant the next day.  I had supper in the field.  After finishing that field, I did evening chores late.  Back in the house, I checked email, weather, markets, hit the shower, and was in bed by 11:00.

Rinse, lather, repeat.

By Saturday, much had been accomplished.  I choose not to plant ahead of the cold, wet weather that was forecasted for Saturday evening through Monday.  We went to Bill Schick's funeral in Peoria Saturday morning because we didn't make it to the visitation.  As expected, it was a large funeral.  Bill and Joan touched a lot of lives in his many jobs and missions.  We were second cousins and our families were in two potlucks together.  We both grew up attending church in Morton, and later went to church together for a time in Washington before they left for the mission field.  We had a good visit in Farm & Fleet this past winter, and all were hopeful he could overcome his leukemia.  We trust in God's will.  Our prayers and support go out to his family.

I field cultivated another 80 acres Saturday afternoon.  In the evening, we went to Morton to pick up a table and chair set that Daughter#2 bought off Facebook marketplace.  We got it home and stored in the shop just ahead of the rains.

After the long, busy week, we were thankful for a day of rest!

Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest: that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed.                Exodus 23:12