Ah November. Crisp days and cool nights. Stunning sunsets and gorgeous fall foliage. A time to put our feet up and relax by the fire after a busy farming season. Or so you would think! Here at the farm it is actually a race against Old Man Winter.
We start by taking care of all kinds of jobs that have been put aside during the harvest. There is general clean up around the farm, equipment maintenance, equipment repair, and winterization of equipment. But the most important task at hand is field preparation for the spring. The more work we can do in the late fall, the better prepared we are to plant the new crop in the spring.
We use our dump truck to haul manure from a local chicken farm. We are a part of their nutrient management program. In a win-win situation, we get organic matter to enrich our fields while they dispose of unwanted animal waste.
The manure is stockpiled at the back of the farm. Spreading the manure is a time consuming job and of course somewhat stinky! Drive to the manure pile, use the loader tractor to fill the manure spreader, drive back to the field to spread the manure. Repeat the process many, many times. The disc harrow follows closely behind the manure spreader. It works the manure into the land for composting over the winter.
The last piece of equipment to work the land is the soil saver cultivator. It reaches deep into the soil to shatter the compaction created by heavy equipment. It generates channels to improve water drainage while leaving organic matter on the soil surface to prevent wind erosion.
Finally the field is prepared for the new crop next year. And off we go to the next field! To watch videos of some of the equipment at work, click on “Manure Spreader” and “Disc Harrow.”
We start by taking care of all kinds of jobs that have been put aside during the harvest. There is general clean up around the farm, equipment maintenance, equipment repair, and winterization of equipment. But the most important task at hand is field preparation for the spring. The more work we can do in the late fall, the better prepared we are to plant the new crop in the spring.
We use our dump truck to haul manure from a local chicken farm. We are a part of their nutrient management program. In a win-win situation, we get organic matter to enrich our fields while they dispose of unwanted animal waste.
The manure is stockpiled at the back of the farm. Spreading the manure is a time consuming job and of course somewhat stinky! Drive to the manure pile, use the loader tractor to fill the manure spreader, drive back to the field to spread the manure. Repeat the process many, many times. The disc harrow follows closely behind the manure spreader. It works the manure into the land for composting over the winter.
The last piece of equipment to work the land is the soil saver cultivator. It reaches deep into the soil to shatter the compaction created by heavy equipment. It generates channels to improve water drainage while leaving organic matter on the soil surface to prevent wind erosion.
Finally the field is prepared for the new crop next year. And off we go to the next field! To watch videos of some of the equipment at work, click on “Manure Spreader” and “Disc Harrow.”
