My View
This is what I’m going to be seeing for the next “who knows how long”.
Wish List:
1. Mother Nature is feeling cooperative.
2. The old and tired machinery keeps on running.
3. The old and tired farmers keep on running.
I should post it every day as a reminder of how exciting farming can be.
September 30th, 2004 at 9:42 am
Let’s hope you beet the odds.
September 30th, 2004 at 9:42 am
Let’s hope you beet the odds.
September 30th, 2004 at 9:50 am
Thanks, Chuck!
September 30th, 2004 at 10:51 am
for us stupid new englanders…just what is it that you are doing there?
how long will it take?
if i visit, can i drive one of those things?
September 30th, 2004 at 3:13 pm
It’s a whole lot nicer than my view. One could live a lifetime in Jersey and not see so much open space. I suspect, however, that I would last about two hours doing that kind of work.
Sure looks nice though.
Jim
Parkway Rest Stop
http://parkwayreststop.com
September 30th, 2004 at 9:03 pm
What a splendid view!
So, is Mother Nature being nice to you? I hope so!
October 1st, 2004 at 5:59 am
That means that the lovely eau de beets will soon be wafting over Billings.
I can hardly wait…
(Sarcasm? Me?)
–Craig
October 1st, 2004 at 11:02 am
Hey Weese! That’s the scene from my seat in the tractor running the defoliator. Directly in front of me is the top saver. This “tops” the beets and sends the tops on a conveyor belt. They are then run off the belt on the right side to create a windrow of tops. In a perfect world, we wouldn’t need the defoliator behind it - but we’re not living there. We run a topsaver because we feed our cattle the tops. This saves us quite a bit of feed - usually. Most beetgrowers in our area do not save tops. They just run a defoliator and a digger.
The defoliator does just that - beats the heck out of whatever weeds are still standing. I control the height of the knives which crown - or shave the tops of the beets a bit more. This makes it easier for the beet digger - that blue ferris wheel looking thing - to get them out of the ground.
The digger runs behind me - we’re catching up to him in this photo. He’s loading beets on a truck here. The trucks run back and forth from the fields to the beet dump. Our beet dump/piler is a few miles away. This is where the beets are weighed, tested and piled. Later, larger trucks run loads of beets to the sugar refineries.
Sure, you could try your hand at a tractor!
October 1st, 2004 at 11:08 am
Jim - you’d last more than a couple of hours. We wouldn’t give you a choice! It is pretty, but sometimes it’s too hot, or too cold, or too wet - or too something. I am always amazed at the expanse of land and sky in my adopted home.
Aimee - we always work with Mother Nature. It’s just that sometimes she decides we need to take a break. It’s just never when we want to!
Craig - I always heard that that’s the smell of money. It is a different smell.
October 1st, 2004 at 4:18 pm
If you dont like the smell Craig why dont you move to Bozeman. 40 year old split level Ranch Style houses are $410,000.00 and there is no smell from the sugar factory.
October 1st, 2004 at 5:58 pm
I especially got a kick out of the “old and tired farmers keep on running” on your wish list. Your explanation to Weese was fascinating. This is probably a stupid question, but . . . what happens to the harvest if it snows? Is all that is left lost?
October 1st, 2004 at 7:05 pm
I wish you luck on the campaign. Not to try to jinx you but we need rain again in my area. Just trailed the cows out and was it ever dusty.
From:
Sarpy Sam