We continue to work on completing grain facility projects. Often times, projects grow in size and scope. It always takes longer than you think it should to complete them. This project has been no different.

We thought we were in the home stretch on Wednesday but then had to pivot and change directions. The end result will be better but it ended up being more work than we planned. Also, while running some new wiring, I decided to include adding bin level switches to the wet bins. Now we won’t have to climb the wet bins (when it’s cold, wet, dark or we’re tired) to check how full they are. Hopefully, we will wrap up everything by Saturday evening. As a result, our expected start date for harvest will be pushed back a day or two.

Dairy producers began chopping silage last week and from what I hear it has been coming off drier than expected, probably drier than their target.

Seed corn harvest also began last week. We aren’t involved in either of those industries but when they start to roll, grain farms aren’t too far behind.

Cooler temperatures this week and a maturing crop decreased plant demand for water. However, we are dry, so we still needed to irrigate to finish out the crop and maintain yield potential that was set early this summer. We continue monitoring soil moisture meters and irrigate where and as necessary. I raved about the soil moisture meters and their usefulness last summer. We continue to lean on them for field-specific data that helps us produce more while conserving resources.

By the end of next week, I think there will be several area operations rolling into harvest. We will have a pretty good idea what the 2024 crop will look like at that time. Stay tuned.