2023 Crop Progress

Got finished at home at supper time and an hour later got some rain, not much so far, just enough to hold the dust down. 300 acres to go but have to move about 15 miles, not a great route, busy highway and they are paving it and doing some construction. Will move early tomorrow to avoid the dummies heading to the lake.

last year this land had 10-15 feet of flood water on it!  Nice to be able seed it and see oats growing.  After a flood this land resembles winkler or altona land . Very silty and loamy .  

Hands down MUCH BETTER crop! Five miles west of the river the land turns heavy heavy clay and is salty. Quite a change in soil quality and also drainage. My land near sprague is rated h on the crop insurance map. I did own some I and J also but have since sold it. I dont always agree with crop insurance land descriptions. I think you can improve the land to the point it deserves a classification change but seems difficult to convince the corporation it is justified.
Has any one had their land reclassified by crop insurance. My land near sprague was classified back in the days of hay land or forest land. Quite a lot has been done to it and is now soybean production land.

by the way the pic ture on the right is the tractor tire tracks and nh3 wagon. Who said you must have tracks on your tractor to do a good job! In my area I think only 3-4 farms are using tires! rest are all tracks. I have not seen a difference in all my years. I think its more important to have the right inflation pressure and proper weighted tractor.

I dont think we need another thread on the track.... tire debate!

Finally got sun, shone most of yesterday and have dry dirt showing. It's been a long stretch with no sun. Sprayed a tank in the evening, finish spraying today then should get seeds in the ground. More rain in 4 day forecast. Hard to picture somewhere else being too dry right now when out on the land here.

Details matter Oatking, and that goes for tires also. Interesting that data shows deep compaction is similar between tires and tracks. Tracks would certainly be nicer than running say 800 duals in regards to machine width. Tires seem to do ok when set up properly, especially with the IF/VF technology these days. With that in mind I got the chloride taken out of the Steiger this spring. About 5000lbs of extra weight I don't need and put on the tractor in the worst way possible for soil compaction. Running 8 to 8 1/2 psi right now and should probably be around 7 psi but that is next step. Lots of stubble damage on front duals so close to needing new tires, will be some sort of new technology tire I put on. Getting my compaction issues sorted out here, little at a time.

One thing I have noticed with zero tilling the past few years is the stubble damage to my implement tires. My goodness , when I seeded black spring fields tires looked new for years! I still think the moisture savings will payoff but seeing the stubble wear is a new thing for me. I would imagine all you guys out in the western prairies would have some advice on good stubble wear tires!
I have heard the good for one year , term for good year tires! Now I see why!

Yep 8.5-9 psi is what i run on my 9520r jd 800s . Two years ago I was brave and tried 6psi. Not a single track left behind in softer soils. I think that is risky on the side wall and or spinning the bead on the rim. Too expensive to experiment too many years like that so upped the pressure.
Actually , probably more important to less tracks is the switch to zero till. I notice my land is firmer now and its easier to get a consistent seed bed as opposed to the conventional tillage when the soil is softer and uneven.

Canola is doing well with no flea beetles this year. Some guys say the relentless hot dry winds are keeping them buggars away!

Is it the low pressure at road speed that shorten side wall life. A tire pressure system would in theory pay for itself

Half done mustard, can finish tomorrow if things go well but a good day today and then doesn't matter if it rains and get delayed on last piece. Last year started seeding mustard June 5th, then it got hailed all to crap and still in bin before frost and snow.

Top layer is drying, been seeding land I scratched edge in with cultivator so nice going now. Couple neighbours still has wheat stubble to seed beside me and that looks like it will be a wet mess. I remember doing that from last year, pulling 40ft cultivator through a wet mess isn't too stressful but a drill with loaded cart is different story. I suspect in a month it will be far too dry - will see.

Great year for growing cat tails, they are everywhere in the sloughs, much more so than other years. That is the start of making wetlands that dont go away.

Steiger has Goodyear Optitrac on now and 20 years old. Sidewalls are mint as are rear tires overall. Front tires worn pretty good from stubble. Tires would last another 20 years if not for the stubble wear. Should have rotated them a few years ago now it's too late I think.

I have yet to read the nature of low tire pressure and speed. I am pretty sure it has to do with heat, but does that break down the sidewall rubber maybe. Every tire has a psi and weight rating based on speed. So roading a tire at low psi is a factor. Farthest I travel is 3 miles so I likely am safe to run the psi recommended for 6 mph. Tire pressure recommended is very different for 6 mph vs 25 mph.