Reminiscing

I survived the week after disclosing a little more about the secret farmer's code. Farmer either did not read the blog or is trying to sweeten me up as he bought donuts (see what I did right there?) for us this week! They were delicious!

I got a couple of comments saying that they just did not get or understand the Farmer's Code. Those of you that have read our blog for a while know that I can sometimes get carried away with my story telling, stretch the truth one might say. Well, I am a fisherman so that goes without saying. 

Truth be told while many farmers may not share their yields or other information. Here at Finken Farms they share pretty much everything. As a seed dealer, they want everyone to succeed, so they share as much information as possible. I overheard several phone conversations this week where Chris or Dylan were talking harvest results with other farmers. Talking specific varieties, yields, residue, protein levels and other detailed information. And by golly, they were telling the truth!

Speaking of which, there is so much more that goes into raising these crops than the average person will ever know. It used to be, you planted the seed and pray to God it rains and will comes up. Well, that actually has not changed. What has, is what to expect from the crop. Protein, weight, moisture all plays a key role in the value of a specific crop. 

View from my office

When they take a crop to the elevator it is not only weighed to see how much they bring, but also analyzed to see how much actual protein the specific grain has. The more the protein, the more the value. Why does protein matter? Protein is what keeps us going. 14% is the standard protein for wheat. Although it varies from year to year, this year you get docked $0.50 a bushel for 13% protein but you will get a $0.50 premium for 15% protein. This is based on sliding scale up and down 11% is worth a lot less where 16% is worth a lot more. 

Most breads are made from wheat with an average of 14% protein so that the nutrition label on the bread is consistent. This is the ideal number for the markets. There are hundreds, if not thousands of varieties of wheat out there. Some designed for high protein, some for low protein. Some farmers will grow high yield, low protein wheat hoping to make money by volume while others will grow higher protein (which is typically lower yielding) and make money on the protein premium. The best-case scenario is high yield and high protein which the ticket below shows.

It is also analyzed to determine the moisture content. If a seed is too wet, you are "docked" because the elevator does not want to pay for the extra weight of the water, and it affects how long the grain can be stored without spoiling. 

Who would ever imagine the work and analyzation that goes into just this one little seed. 

NDSU has a whole division that does nothing but analyze and try to improve seed quality. The height, the number of seeds on a stem, the protein, the disease resistance, the residue left after harvesting. These are just the few that I know about. There are other elements that go into the analysis as well, but it is a far cry from the farming of yesteryear. 

Could you imagine what our grandfathers and great-grandfathers would think if they walked around todays planting and harvesting equipment?!?!

But this is not what I wanted this week's blog to be about. Sitting for the tractor for hours on end, you have a lot of time to yourself. Time to reflect, think about the world, and life in general. When I had heard that Jimmy Buffett died, I got an unexpected pit in my stomach. I was not a Jimmy Buffett groupie, but I did enjoy his music. His music reminded me of summer fun. Sun, sand, beaches, being at the lake, no stresses and just loving life. There are two periods in my life that I would love to relive or two periods in my life that I would not mind being stuck in. The first is anytime in the 1988-1990 era when the kids were young. We were somewhat newly married, broke but very happy. Forrest would have been 1-3 years old and relied totally on us for everything, we were his world. Jessica would have been 7-10, our little baby girl, playing with dolls, going to dance and gymnastic lesson, with no stresses of adulthood. The other period is well before that and is the one that came to mind when I heard about Jimmy's death. It was when I was 14-17 spending summers with my dad on the lake in Shell Lake Wisconsin. Not a care in the world, just enjoying the summer with a speed boat, sailboat, motorcycle and the Shell Lake Municipal Beach. Then came August of my 17th year when I knew my days at the lake were numbered and adulthood had caught me, saying goodbye to friends that I knew I would probably never see again. That carefree lifestyle is what his songs were all about. It is almost fitting that he died in late summer/early autumn where the last vestiges of summer and his life were coming to an end. 

But it was another song I had heard this week that summed up the stresses of adulthood in one simple verse. I'd heard the song 100+ times but when I really thought about this verse it totally made sense that this should be every parent's goal in life. 

The song is A.A. by Walker Hayes. It is really the second verse that resonated with me. Here, listen to the song first, if you have not heard it. I think you will love it. Walker Hayes song AA

Here are the lyrics for the second verse and how it relates to my life:

And I'm just tryna keep my daughters off the pole, And my sons out of jail  ( I was successful on one of these two things, I'll leave you wonder which one)

Tryna get to church so I don't go to Hell (The forests and fields are my church)

I'm just tryna keep my wife from figuring out, That I married up and she married way, way down, (If she has not figured this out by now, maybe she is not as smart as I give her credit for)

In Alabama where they love Nick Saban, Tryna write a song the local country station will play (This line has no relevance in my life whatsoever)

Hey, I'm just tryna stay out of AA (So far, so good. One day at a time)

Walker has a couple of great songs, his most popular being Fancy Like.

I am happy to report that I had no spills or accidents this week. We finished harvesting the wheat on Sunday. What a pain that was. The last field was a breeder seed field which is the highest pedigree of seed for resale. 

It also means that you need to clean all your equipment before you enter the field to prevent cross contamination from any seed that is stuck in the combine, tractor, cart or semi from another field. Several hours of very, very dirty work blowing out every crack and crevice on the machinery. 

Dylan and Chris checking their fantasy football teams while I work.

The picture on the right is one I took for Barb, but I thought I would share it here as well. I was a dirty, dirty boy.

          Dylan cleaning out the combine hopper                                      Me, after cleaning

Farmer Bob, fixing a couple broken sickle sections.

 After that field, we moved onto Canola. Moving the combines takes up the entire road. The hope is not to run into any traffic. They pull into the ditch for both oncoming and traffic going the same direction as these things top out at about 25mph. 

Fuzzy picture through a dirty windshield

The next canola field was 400 acres, and it took us 3 days to complete. Well, 4 if you count the rain day.

Typical canola field ready for harvest

Now, your answer to the quiz from last weeks post. .....A few of you guessed on what this is. Harry was the first one to correctly guess, it is a seed sampler used to collect seed. They collect samples from anything they are going to resell so they can maintain them should they ever need it in the future. 

Better than sticking your hand down near the auger!

Since I did not post any dog pictures last week, I thought I better do it this week. Here are the dogs of the farm.... Nova, Remington and Nellie. For gun enthusiasts you will notice that each of these dogs are named after shotguns as these dogs are specifically duck and pheasant hunting dogs. Throw in the occasional racoon and porcupine. Nova (3) and Nellie (1) belong to Dylan. Remington, 12 years old, belongs to Chris. 

Remington is just a hunting machine and is the rules the farm (just ask the UPS man), while Nova and Nellie are basically just pups and want to play all the time. In the picture below you will find Nova on the left. That is Nellie in the kennel and Remington on the outside. This is where Remington has been for the past week as Nellie is in heat. Well, except twice when we found Remington INSIDE the kennel! How long he had been in there each time is unknown, but we are guessing hours. One time we know he pried himself through the door that was bungeed closed. The other time be may have wedged himself under the kennel, but we are pretty sure in a few weeks there will be more dogs on the farm. More than likely named Ruger, Winchester, Ithaca and Weatherby. 

In other big farm news, Calvin started school this week! I don't know who was more excited Holly, who will now have some alone time, DeAnne, who got to drive him, or Calvin, who got to ride the bus with his two brothers. I am going to go with Holly who probably enjoyed the few hours of peace and quiet. Anyone want to guess how many kids will be in Calvin's graduating class if nothing changes over the next 12 years? 5, Calvin and 4 others. Now, that is country living!

Gavin, Chase, DeAnne and Calvin

And before I forget again, do you remember our friend Jeannie who visited us a few months ago and was practicing to swim the 2.1-mile trek from Bayfield Wisconsin to Madeline Island? Well, she did it! That is quite a feat, there is no way I could have ever done it. 

Jeannie, center, back

I will leave you with this picture. We found this after opening the hood on a tractor that had been sitting all summer. I do not know who was more surprised, us or the bat!

I have nothing to report from Barb this week. If she is having fun back home, she is not sharing it with me. So, I'll just be up here working away, trying to stay out of A.A. ever thankful that our daughter's dance and gymnastic lessons were never put to use!