We’re just a few days away from the fall harvest, one of our busiest times of the year. We’ll be harvesting corn for silage, and right now we’re getting all of our equipment in tip-top shape so we’ll be ready to go. Greasing the axles, changing the oil, checking tires for inflation and tread – all of these things need to happen before we start working the 12 to 16 hour days that harvesting brings.
Earlier this summer, we were worried about our yield. It was a late, cold spring, and we didn’t get corn in the ground when we usually do. But now we’re looking at a year of some of the best yields we’ve seen. Our corn silked in early August. From the time corn gets its silk, or “topples,” you can count about 45 days to harvest. Of course you have to take into account the weather, and how many sunny or overcast days you have in there. With that, you get pretty close.
If this year taught us anything, it’s to be thankful for what you have. We do what we can to prepare ourselves, but there are so many things that are out of our control. We got timely enough rains just when we needed them, and we finally got some good hot growing weather at the end of the summer.
In a few more days, we’ll be working dawn to dusk, and then some. But right now we’re getting ready, and feeling lucky that we’ve had the summer that we did. As the old saying goes, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.
