Monday morning, we hustled around to get started. Purposely, the last few fields we had left were our southern fields. Granted they are only 8 miles south of home, but sometimes when dealing with lake effect snow that can make all the difference in the world.

Unfortunately, we weren’t dealing with lake effect Monday. System snow came through and shut us down by 10 a.m. The twenty acres we picked are likely all we will take in this week. The snow was wet, and froze to the stalks. Lake effect came later in the day, and we were under one of the bands of snow for a while. We ended up with 5-6 inches. Wind hasn’t blown the snow off, nor has the sun shone enough to melt it off.

If we try to harvest when there is snow on the corn, it will melt and then re-freeze as it goes through the combine, icing everything up.

Instead, we spent most of this week catching up on some paperwork. We also completed some ‘must-do’ maintenance items and repairs. We also took some time off, working short days. It would be much more relaxing if harvest was complete, but we’re not in a bad place. Less than two days will finish us up.

In some areas, guys are just starting corn – and it’s mid-November. They are going to need some good weather. I was reminded that November was cold last year, then December turned mild. There is certainly hope that weather will turn back around.

We thought for sure we would be able to continue chisel plowing Monday, but by noon the ground was too slick on top. I saw on Facebook that one guy working nearby yesterday. We gave it a try this morning and the ground has firmed back up.

Hopefully we can get some acres knocked out before it melts off and turns to mush.

The opinions of the author are not necessarily those of Farm Futures or Farm Progress.