What's Going On In Our Fields Right Now?

You can see the soybeans are planted directly
over the old corn stalks.

Yahoo…..we are finishing up soybean planting!  For the past week or so we have had rain every couple of days that brought planting to a standstill, but now we are back at it!  Soybean planting goes a little faster than corn planting since we “no- till” soybeans. “No- tilling” just means that the soybeans are planted in a field that wasn’t plowed.  The soybeans are planted in fields that were corn fields last year.  The old corn stalks act sort of like a natural fertilizer for the soybean crop planted this year; which is better for the ground.  Why not utilize the genius of Mother Nature?

As I already mentioned soybean planting does seem to go faster than corn planting!  Initially someone goes into the field to kill any weeds growing up.  Then the air seeder (which plants soybeans or wheat) goes into the field, pulled by tractor and plants soybeans. Rows of soybeans can be planted in a variety of widths apart, depending on what the producer desires.  The soybeans grow all summer, dry up in the fall and are harvested soon after.

Claire excited to bring Brad his lunch in the field!