Cold soaker...cold comfort

[Braveheart]

Sumdumguy, I'll be retired, will be happy to talk. My son will be here doing what works for him.

I've used a discer. In the 80s it moved too much soil. Anyone using one here then had their fields blow away. In the RR Valley, the tillage erosion from the discer left a hollow in the center of the field eventually.

We have lots of trash. Managed residue. We manage disease. Rotation, fungicides, forages, whatever it takes.

It's like the grain marketing Captain Oblivious is whining about. You be active in your management. Sometimes it works better than others. You learn and move on.

If you you're not going to enjoy the journey don't start the trip.

[Braveheart]

Dairy farmers? The ultimate Capitalist venture. Let's see, you can't participate unless you have oodles of capital. They have control of production. They eliminated the competition from anywhere.

[Braveheart]

Federated co-op, voluntary.

Unions, enemy of farmers everywhere (National Farmers variety especially).

OPEC, nukes needed.

Canpotex? Did the Chinese buy them?

[Hopalong]

Has been wettest five years here since before European settlement 130 years ago.
Think it is natural variation, still betting dry years and drought will return but each wet year makes us less willing to bet on it.
Having seen soil degradation from excess tillage, both here and other places, would be very reluctant to go back.
Think organic producers who advocate tillage do a disservice to mankind.

[farmaholic]

I do think all the excess trash left on top is harbouring disease pathogens and also creating an environment for disease. What is the answer? I don't know. Our land is variable and some places within the same field don't need alot of trash management and others are brutal. We heavy harrow alot but that really one spreads and breaks it up and still leaves it on top anyway. Do I want to go back to tillage? Not on your life. A schlerotinia infected canola field that is zero tilled will probably add sclerotia bodies to the soil until all the residue is gone, extending re-infection periods. Continuous cropping and zero tilling is a good way to farm but it created a new set of problems when it(zero till)was first developed and adopted to "preserve" moisture. What happens when we are now dealing with excess moisture? The system wasn't designed for that. Enter high clearance sprayer and much larger chemical bills....! Our durum looks like it never got sprayed. Half rate Bumper post emergent, should of had something at flag leaf, then folicur(should have been caramba or prosaro or ?). But you know I don't think it would have mattered, the conditions were just too damp too long. The narrow window for fusarium "SUPPRESSION" couldn't overcome the environmental pressure.

[fjlip]

Nearing end of journey and the ride is getting rougher and many times the stress. Like hell the next gen should be victimized by the system that never changes. I think "farmers"(no longer what the word meant), that make any money in 20 years will be darn few and huge, diversified businesses. So borrow a few more million, swallow all your "neighbor competitors", who ever has a dream of beating the billionaires at the game they write the rules for. Good luck living in an empty land. I'll watch in retirement.

[farmaholic]

Well said fjlip. Be careful, he's packing heat.... AND practices.

[Braveheart]

When it's wet it's just wet. We have neighbours that till. This spring their machinery had to swim for it. We worked corner to corner

We have been really wet too. But our fields do wick moisture away from the surface faster and don't pond.

The important thing is if it's too wet stay away. It costs too much to muck it in. Usually lower yield then too. Both add to the cost per bushel.

Patience.

[Braveheart]

Haha. What I need more than practice are new eyes.

Quigley's gun? No, I want his eyes.

[Braveheart]

It is what you make it. Farmers have been buying the neighbours since the sod was turned. That won't change.

If this business was easy, everyone would do it. Try something else. Own a restaurant, trucking co., parts store, whatever. Labour issues, unreliable suppliers, product shortage, excessive regulations, you name it. Business of any kind is tough.

If you ask most people, they'd probably say they'd like to have a farm.

Say what?