
Nobody ever wants to be that guy who got antsy and ended up burying their tractor and planter in the early spring muck.
“What was he thinking?” chant the neighbor farmers as they drive by the scene and gawk at the tractor nose-deep in the putty-like soil. “You wouldn’t find me out here like that.”
But let’s admit it: that nightmare-like scene can happen to even the best of us. With so much on our plates when planting season hits, it’s difficult to sit and wait when soil conditions seem almost ready.
It happens
The first step to overcoming this push to get in the field when conditions are almost fit for work is admitting that you get the urge in the first place. Mark Kingma of Demotte, Ind., recognizes that he has made mistakes in assuming some of his ground is fit for planting in the past.
“After a moderate rain or a few nagging rains, we can get out there and get going again, especially on our sand,” Kingma says. “We have fairly light sand. Varying colors of sand is what 95% of our ground is. And the structure of the ground is more secure, where it will support equipment in moderately wet conditions. But last spring, I got my soybean planter tractor stuck twice.”
I’ve also been a victim to that false sense of security in the past — where you think something will be fine because it always is, but then it surprises you. For example, I’ve pulled baked goods out of the oven long before they’re finished baking. I only do this because I’ve had times where that worked, and it created softer, chewier baked goods that were still cooked well. However, I’ve had that one scenario where I pull a batch of cookies or pan of brownies from the oven too soon, and I end up with a gooey, half-baked mess.
Preventing problems
From those experiences, I have learned to be more diligent about inserting a toothpick into my tray of brownies or waiting until I see a golden rim around the edges of my cookies to know they are finished baking. Kingma shares advice for doing the equivalent in your fields to check that they’re ready for planting.
“Take a four-wheeler and ride out to the wettest spot in the field to see what you think,” Kingma says. “That would’ve saved me from being stuck out there.”
He shares that those spots where he was buried were visible all throughout the growing season, leaving trenches that he had to deal with later. Those can create even bigger problems if you are trying no-till.
Instead of creating those headaches for yourself later in the growing season, Kingma says that it’s well worth it to take the extra time and evaluate field conditions before you push early planting. It can be difficult to not get antsy when you see a neighbor getting their soybeans in early, but it would be even more difficult to get your buried planter out of the mud if you head out before field conditions are fit.
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