June 6, 2011

View of the day-Al working the terraces on the outside round of the canola.

Another killer day…106ºF and not a cloud in the sky…there was still a wind, but it helped to stir the heat…at least that is what we are telling ourselves.

John picked up Al first thing in the morning to give him ride to get the tractor and header from Carmen. Marilyn met him out at the combine and after servicing and moving across the road to the canola, we got started with the pickup work. We had some issues getting things set right and Marilyn is convince the yield monitor is still now quite right, but…shut up and drive.

With 21ft swaths, Marilyn was able to clip right along…except for the terraces. The swatherman had gone north and south on the field and on the far north end, the terraces were doozies which slowed down productivity. Al picked up the headlands and after Marilyn ran into town to pick up some groceries for lunch, it was time for her to take over.

The canola wasn’t running all that good, even though the swaths looked like they might be holding a lot. The moisture was down around 5% and at the high point of the afternoon the grain temp on the monitor was 129º! Marilyn thought the surprizing thing was that even though the heat had been brutal, there was no shattering in the swaths, no seeds sitting on the feeder house like usual with canola, and the pods that had collected on the header bracket had not been broken open either…someone sure has been working on adaptability. At one point, there was a dust devil that passed across the field and it picked up clumps of canola almost 100ft in the air. If you look close at the picture, you can see a couple of them…Marilyn didn’t get to the camera quick enough to catch the big one.

Al was hauling the canola to Alva, about 25 miles west of Cherokee. They were putting it into a concrete silo where it will sit until it gets trucked out to Oklahoma City to get crushed. He had an easy day of hauling with just two loads, but the heat didn’t make him very happy…he did get to take a break to watch a bit of the hockey game while he waited for Marilyn to get a load for him.

It was 120 acre day, even with the small swaths…