This week was consumed by a two-day farm meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday. It took Monday afternoon to set up and Thursday morning to catch up with the immediate details related to the meeting. Our county fell into the ‘yellow’ COVID advisory range last week, so we were actually able to attend the meeting in person.

Farmers appreciated the opportunity to catch up with each other and share ideas. Everyone walked away with some new information and ideas to evaluate for the 2021 crop season.

What it meant, though, is another week has flown by and we didn’t get much done in the way of shop work. It was mild Thursday afternoon, we took the opportunity to get some projects lined up in the shop. The forecast is cold, cold, cold for the next 7-10 days. We will want to stay inside!

Frozen tillage tool

I won’t point fingers, but somebody neglected to lock up the Turbo Till (vertical tillage tool). It had settled into the barn lot and froze down. After using the big propane torch, dad was able to get it up and parked on the concrete apron so we could bring it inside and change the blades next week. Hopefully it goes faster than last time. I still remember we had to break the nuts loose with the assistance of the backhoe on the breaker bar.

Unfortunately, the ground is snow covered, so it is unlikely we will get a deep freeze in the soil. Even if we did, there really isn’t a lot of soil moisture to get the full effect from expansion due to the freeze.

Often times freezing and thawing is a friend to the row crop producer as it breaks up compaction in the soil. On the flip side, snow cover helps to protect the wheat crop. Though dormant this time of year can be damaged by cold temperatures.