We’re starting to wind down harvest 2018. We’ve had more rain this fall than we’d like, but it seems that overall, we’ll come out okay. The corn silage harvest went well, and we were happy to see our yields above average. With these high yields, we will have plenty of corn silage to feed our cows and get us through to next year’s harvest.
We started harvesting soybeans about ten days later than we originally anticipated. The cloudy rainy weather for the first two weeks of October really threw us off mentally, because while we didn’t actually start soybean harvest that late, it felt much later than usual. The other issue was that during those first two weeks of October, the weather felt like early November.
Because of this rainy and colder-than-usual October weather, the winter wheat was planted about two weeks late. Ideally, we like to plant it at the end of September, but the ground was too wet, and the field conditions were less than ideal. We are hoping the winter wheat fields turn out okay. It’s all up to Mother Nature now!
We planted cover crops again this fall, but this year’s crop isn’t a great one. We love the idea and science behind using cover crops, but on this side of the state, it’s really a toss-up. We have heavy clay ground with rich soil, so timing is extremely crucial for planting the cover crops. With the cloudy, overcast weather, we didn’t get the height and growth we have had for the last two years. Growth is important because cover crops not only absorb nutrients, they protect the soil from erosion.
It’s a trade-off. You don’t want too much growth because too much mass slows down spring planting. However, you want just enough to protect the topsoil for years to come. I guess when you are working with Mother Nature, everything is a trade-off.