Sunday, July 26, 2009

Harvesting Oats & Baling Straw

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Our neighbor showed up around 1:00 p.m. to start combining the oats.

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We had some seriously gorgeous weather all day long!

July 26th 069 Of course, I had to get one last shot of the field adorned in its striped graphics.  This next photo was taken from inside the tractor I was driving, pulling the baler and basket.

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In the next photo, see the straw coming out of the left rear corner of the combine, making a swath for baling.July 26th 072

July 26th 061 (2) Nice, clean, golden straw……to keep cows and calves comfortable all year long!

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And, what about the actual oats that were harvested?  As I type this, the grain is being unloaded from the truck into the bin:

July 26th 098 The combine’s meter recorded 1400 bushels harvested from 15.9 acres.  My trusty calculator computes that out to 88.05 bushels per acre.  Husband says that’s the best oat yield we’ve ever had.  I have no idea how that happened……the weather must have been the major factor, for we don’t fertilize oats.  The name of this particular oat type is “Ogle”.

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The oats will be an ingredient in cow and calf feed throughout the year.

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I drove the baler for 5-1/2 hours this afternoon and evening.  There were a few glitches here and there, but overall it was a good day of baling, especially because the weather was absolutely perfect.  I’ve had it for the day, though---clothes are itchy, neck is stiff, eyes are burning---so I’m signing off to find the ibuprofen bottle and then hit the hay.  How thankful I am not to be sleeping on straw tonight!

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11 comments:

Midlife Roadtripper said...

I'm always amazed at what I learn from your most interesting life. It may sound stupid, but I always wondered how the combine separates oat, wheat, or whatever, from the straw. Even the difference between hay and straw. I did learn that a few years ago so I'm not a complete zero.

Rest well.

Leenie said...

Woohoo on the bountiful harvest! Good looking oats and straw. Hope you and your family get a few moments of well deserved rest. The cows are going to eat and sleep well this winter.

Flea said...

Wonderful pictures. Looks like you've earned a good night's sleep. :)

Gigi Ann said...

So glad I'm retired from farming. ;)

rhymeswithplague said...

Thanks for letting us ogle your Ogle. Great pictures and great narrative as always!

Laura ~Peach~ said...

beautiful stuff.... and i love the smells during harvest

Caution/Lisa said...

What is the next thing you will harvest? When will that be? We like the big machines!
From Caution's boys

Evansmom said...

I love your blog. I feel like I am there on your farm - but my allergies aren't acting up!

Pat - Arkansas said...

Back in the 1950's, my dad grew "seed oats" for a (then) new strain of oats for the AR Dept of Agri. I'm sure it was on a test basis to see how well they would do. Dad built a seed cleaner and bagger, and I had an interesting summer helping him clean and bag seed oats. I remember how horribly scratchy oat-dust can make one! Can't remember what we did with the straw; must have blotted it from my memory.

MAYBELLINE said...

Interesting. Thanks for the knowledge.

Ruth Hull Chatlien said...

Congrats on the good yield.

Love the "hit the hay" pun.