Snappy

We're snapping corn, which means we put a corn head on the chopper.  Instead of chopping up everything, like with the other head, this one snaps off the stalk and grinds up the cob into tiny little pieces.  It still gets some of the stalk, but this method concentrates on getting the corn on the cob, which has the most nutritional and caloric benefits for cows.

We then are putting the ground up corn into bags.  Why?  Because it's such a good corn harvest that we can't build our piles any higher!  So we have to devise other ways to store the harvest.

Here's a little of what it looks like:

Rows and rows to do - here's the view from the cab.

He pulls a wagon behind him.  The chopper shoots the feed into it.

One of our team members takes it to the barn, and Kris gets out of the chopper and hitches up the empty wagon.

We take it to the barn and use the rented bagger to get in into the plastic bag.  This requires dumping it, using a wheel loader to load it, then using the bagger.

Repeat until finished.  We've been snapping for two days now and hope to be done by Friday.  The weather and equipment have been cooperating, and it'll be a huge relief when it's done!  It'll be an especially huge relief to Kris because I've been really using the corn puns all month long.  I know it's corny, but shucks, I can't help it.

Here's a video of the action!


 Until next year!

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Harvest

We started chopping corn today!  Every time we chop corn I'm amazed at the machine that is the chopper.

It takes the ENTIRE corn stalk, ear and all, and turns it into confetti-sized pieces.  The pieces shoot into the wagon that a tractor is pulling.  (And it happens fast - much faster than I can mow wet grass!)

The person driving the tractor has to drive alongside the chopper at the exact right speed and distance.  When his wagon is full, he goes and dumps it on the pile, and another tractor and wagon takes his spot.

Everything has to go right ... all the machinery has to work.  The corn has to be the right moisture. Everyone driving has to pay close attention.  They use hand signals and cell phones to communicate. It's quite a process.  Today one of our team members pulled a wagon for the first time for us - and did a great job.

I rode along today, and I was impressed like every year.  I like to think of what my ancestors would think about this machinery.

One thing never changes, no matter the machines ... everyone is exhausted after a day of harvesting. Whether you're using horses or amazing machines - it's tiring!

I've been sharing a lot of little pictures and videos on Facebook - if you're interested you can like my page on Facebook, like this:

It's corn chopping time! Here's Kris and Max (age 4) discussing the harvest. : ) We chop the entire corn plant into...
Posted by Truth or Dairy on Thursday, September 10, 2015

Giant food processor

I'm not a big machine girl.  The other day I really laughed on the phone with my friend, because about 15 minutes into the conversation, she said, "Did I tell you I got a new car?"  I said, "No - and so funny that you didn't mention it until now."  She said, "I actually got it last week."

So that gives you a little insight into my level of machine interest.

However ... you know what's interesting to me?  Really powerful machines.

I rode with Kris in the chopper today.  It's fun, because the chopper takes these big, giant, strong stalks of corn, and chops it into tiny little bits!  So tiny, they're then blown into a wagon!

I find it all amazing.  Just watch this:



Fun, right?  Powerful!  The entire plant is shredded in seconds!  (I suddenly sound like an infomercial for a food processor.)

It's small, digestible, and the cattle love eating it. We put it in a pile, let it ferment, and feed it to them until the next harvest.

But all of it - the readying of the soil, the planting, the fertilizing, the worrying about too little or too much rain - the harvest is the payoff!  What you can't see in this video is that the corn is as high as the chopper cab.  We had a great growing season for corn, and it's going to give us a lot of feed.  All good news.

Plus, this machine is cool.  I'll bring this up in any phone conversation tomorrow by at LEAST minute 14.

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Big smiles, big chopper

Our last chopper lasted longer than we thought it would, but it was time to get another one.  After weeks of shopping around, phone calls, negotiating, and trading ... it came today!

A chopper is a machine that harvests crops.  It takes giant cornstalks and chops them into tiny little pieces to feed the cattle.  So powerful!  We also chop alfalfa and other grasses with it (also to feed the cattle).  You put different heads on it depending on the crop you're harvesting.

Kris said to me that last year, harvesting corn wasn't as much fun as it's supposed to be.  He said, "You're chopping through the fields of corn, you're putting up tons of feed - it's usually really fun!"  But last year, they kept having to stop early to work on the corn head, and there was the constant worry hanging over his head of more last-minute repairs being needed - besides the repairs we'd made earlier.

So this season, with a more reliable chopper, hopefully it'll be more fun for all the guys.  It's different, for sure, and a bigger size, so there will be lots to learn.

But at least one boy felt comfortable with it right away.

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The all-consuming chopping!

We chop our alfalfa and sudax (a kind of grass) for our cattle's feed.

To do this, you have to cut it, rake it into rows, and then chop it when it's dry enough - but not too dry!  We want to ensure the best feed for our cattle.

Sometimes it all goes perfectly.  Sometimes ...

It rains on it after it's been cut.
You have to rent a different kind of rake to rake it.
It rains again.  Not much, just enough to ruin your harvest plans.
You have to then buy a rake to rake it when you need to return the other rake.
A tire blows on your chopper.
You have to find the one tire in the area that someone will sell you to put on your chopper.  (Only dairy farmers really have choppers - they're not that common.)
You have to find a guy to come over really early in the morning to remove the rim and put the tire on the chopper.
You chop, find out one field is sort of wet.  Take the feed out and test it, decide it's fine.  Start chopping again.

So!  We got the hay chopped today, finally.  It took a lot of people and a lot of days.

Know what?  None of that matters to the next generation.

Yesterday, all three of the boys rode with Kris in the chopper.  Today they took turns.  (I also saw one of our team member's daughters riding with him in the buddy seat.  Kids just love it.)

My sons started asking about it as soon as we got home from town.  "Dad said we could take turns and each ride an hour with him!  Can we?  Call him!  Is he ready?"

They each eagerly left the pool, one by one, to go and ride with their dad.  They love the machines, they love the excitement of seeing the hawks in the field, a deer with antlers, the guys who work with us ... all of it.

When they're older, they probably won't remember any of the hard parts of farming - just the best parts. The harvest, the machines, and especially hanging out with their dad.

Want to know more about the farm?  Like the page on Facebook, on Twitter @carlashelley, or sign up to get the blog by email - the form is on the right side of the page. 

Fantastic contraption

Choppers are amazing machines.

 

This chopper takes the entire, juicy, huge, green corn plant - cobs, stalk and all - and chops it finely into tiny digestible bits.  So small of bits that they can be blown into a wagon.  And it does it all really fast.

 

Just think about mowing a lawn - when the grass is wet it takes the mower a little bit of time to cut up the grass.  Sometimes it even stalls the mower if you're doing it too fast.  (That happens to other people, too, right?)

 

We started the corn harvest yesterday.  We're chopping all of the corn to feed to the cattle all year.  That means we don't just use the corn kernels - we use the entire plant. 

 

The boys and I went to ride with Kris in the field.  Here he is with the chopper and the wagon in back.  The chopper blows the chopped corn through that yellow tube into the wagon. 

 

 

 

Here's Kris.  Chopping takes a lot of concentration.  It's not like hitting cruise control and going on the highway.  You have to chop the hard-to-get-to parts first, then you have to coordinate with the people driving the wagons ... sometimes Kris chops with the wagon on the back, and sometimes he has guys drive a tractor alongside it with a wagon.  It goes faster that way, because as soon as one wagon is filled, another is ready - instead of unhooking a full wagon and hooking up an empty one.

 

When we were doing this yesterday, Kris strained to make a turn and said, "That new ditch sometimes catches me off guard.  Also ... I can't move my arms."  Yes, it was a tight fit for five people in a chopper! 

That was the end of our ride.  I guess 'arm mobility' is the reason there's only an extra seat for one.

Corn head

This isn't like calling someone a cheesehead. A corn head is an attachment for the chopper.

Just like you get attachments for lots of appliances, the chopper can change into a different piece of machinery. (This sounds very infomercial-like. "Call now and we'll throw in a corn head FREE!")

We took off the hay head and put on the corn head to chop the corn. Now it looks like this:


Not a combine

Kris chopped some corn this morning to feed the cattle. The corn silage from last year just ran out.

When you do it like this, it's called 'green chop', and you chop it and feed it fresh to them. He's going to do it like this until the corn is ready to chop (it needs to be drier for chopping and putting in the pile) which will be soon.

So the chopper harvests both alfalfa and corn, just with changing the attachment! CALL NOW!