2026, crops, Farming Update

Perseverance

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This weeks Farming Update from Ben

Oh so much this week. 

I’m not so grumpy this week, either. 

Oats has been harvested and the swather is running. 

The End

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(Making the story longer…)

I had my own personal odyssey adventure this week. Wasn’t nearly as dramatic as the movie, and didn’t involve quite so many sirens, or shipwrecks, or islands, and no lotus leaves, but several destinations and multiple issues were involved. There was even some bloodshed. Of course I’m talking about the swather.

Everybody says it’s just a plain slant six engine and, you know, just pick a car that had a slant six in it. Well, I tried ‘67 Plymouth Valiant and none of their pieces fit. We tried some ‘74 vehicles to no avail. And then one day I’m walking out of Menards and I see this old car, (it turned out to be a 1958 Pontiac), I see this old car pulling in and it sounded really cool, it sounded better than it looked. And I get in my vehicle and then I think to myself that guy knows what a slant six is and I see him walking into the store. I called out to him and we stood in the parking lot and talked for 10 minutes. His name was Tony. And he suggested I try parts for a Dodge D100 pickup, otherwise try the NAPA store in Zumbrota, a little more rural town, probably a lot more familiar with a swather than anybody in Rochester. I tried the D100 but that didn’t work either. 
On Monday I drove to Zumbrota. A dog greeted me in the store, a blue healer like Bailey but without the Pomeranian mixed in, and he just kind of looked me over and  didn’t get too involved. He checked out everybody that came in but minded his own business. Occasionally barked at random things, with the same shrill piercing bark that Bailey has.

When I got to the counter, I said I was looking for ignition parts for a John Deere 800 swather and another guy says “Yep they’re in the book over there.”  Well, there’s a start. At least they knew what I was talking about. And the guy goes to the book and has trouble finding it and the other guy says it’s under “windrower” and he comes over and flips a few pages to the right place.

He doesn’t have the rotor or the distributor cap, but he finds the ignition points and condenser, and then I get new spark plugs and new spark plug wires and he tells me the NAPA store in Cannon Falls has the distributor and the rotor. I’m this far away from home, what’s another 20 minutes. He gives me the part numbers and in Cannon Falls the guy goes in the backroom and says yeah they’re little dusty but we got them. I told him what I was working on. “Oh yeah, the sidehill hemi.” I haven’t heard that term before but he says yeah, that’s what they call the slant six, ‘the sidehill hemi’ and apparently because this is the industrial version it has a cast-iron crankshaft which is a big deal. I mean if you know you know. I don’t know, but those of you in the know, you know. 

By the time I got home on Monday the boys were here and we spent the rest of the day working in the pole barn. Tuesday I had the boys rebuild the door and I had them each pound in some nails just for the experience of it. Surprisingly, number one did really well and much better than I expected. Number two had a little trouble but he managed. I keep telling them someday when they own a home this will matter.

On Wednesday we finished the boards in the pole barn and got the door put back on. I have to get some latches yet but I can cross that project off my list. And I am just tickled about it all. 

New boards on the bottom


They started combining oats on Monday.
Got about a third of it done, filled up the grain cart, and then couldn’t get their truck started. Rounded up another truck, and then it rained overnight. The co-op said everybody’s oats has been pretty good this year. So was it the fact I planted it on soybean fields, was it the weather, was it planted early, fertilizer, fungicide? I don’t know, the only thing different I did was the crop rotation: Oats on soybeans, rather than oats on corn. But if everybody’s was good then who knows.

They finished the oats on Thursday. Whew! Ended up about 65 bushels / acre and good test weight. Price is down. 

Combining
A full truck

I mowed weeds, took the mower off, tried to power wash it, but now the powerwasher won’t run. Jeepers… if it’s not one thing, it’s your mother. 

I put the loader back on, moved some stuff, took the loader back off, hooked the baler up, had P2 cut grass, P1 pulled out wagons for straw and checked tires. I cleaned out the pole barn to be ready for straw. Welded the frame of the rake back together, double raked some of the straw fields (meaning I put two rows into one) A heavier windrow makes a better bale, and not so many trips around the field. I’m only planning 2 or 3 loads in the barn (300-450 bales) and will have large round bales made of the rest. A neighbor said he would take those. 

Raking with the old 630 tractor

So, yeah, It’s been a busy week. 

And those swather parts: It was Friday before we got to it. I had P1, the car guy do some of it. I told him he can become the expert on these old parts for his age group. And the swather started right off! Drove it to the shed so we can replace spark plugs and spark plug wires. It was 3:30 on Friday and I said we’re calling this a win and we’re stopping there. 

HAVE YOU SEEN THE ODYSSEY MOVIE? READ THE BOOK?

HOW ABOUT THE ILLIAD?

27 thoughts on “Perseverance”

  1. I’ll wait to see the movie at home. The theater experience is just too loud. The old movies about Greek mythology are very satisfying.
    I know The Odyssey has upset Trumpists because certain casting (black) doesn’t match the book.
    How stupid is that getting bent out of shape over the “reality” of mythology?!
    I enjoyed Achilles (Brad Pitt).

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    1. Yeah, the historical pictures in the original book are so accurate. They really had their nerve, going all woke DEI on a classic like that🤦

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    2. We saw the IMAX version and it was insanely loud. Kelly had brought ear plugs. I don’t usually mind the volume, but this was too loud.
      And I’m trying to decide, would it matter if I saw it on a TV vs the IMAX? As long as the formatting is right, meaning you see a “widescreen” version, the TV would be OK too.

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  2. Yeah, let’s worry about how historically accurate a myth is. Good grief. I won’t go see the movie for a couple of reasons. I have read both books and didn’t really enjoy them for the most part. The capriciousness of the gods always kind of bugged me. But the main reason I won’t go see the movie is that it just looks way too violent for me and like you Wes, it’s so loud in the theaters these days. Last movie I saw in the movie theater was The Sheep Detectives. Right up my alley. Even if it wasn’t historically accurate!

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    2. Same here on Sheep Detectives. My daughter and I saw it together. I told her that if the movie held to the volume of the previews, that I would wait in the lobby. Thankfully, the volume was tolerable.

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    3. There are battles, but you don’t see blood like a Tarentino movie.
      I read a review that says this Odysseys has guilt. They violated Zeus’ law with the gift of the horse, And the sacking of Troy kind of pushed him over the edge.

      I was bummed they left out a few things from the book. Choices had to be made I guess.

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      1. Yes, I’ve seen those stories that people didn’t like how guilty Odysseus felt. He didn’t seem to feel much guilt in the book but again, it’s fiction anand it’s certainly not the first time that Hollywood chose to focus on one thing over another. And when you think about it, I think it’s OK to feel guilty about war.

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  3. I’m hoping to stream it over Christmas when the s&h is here. He’s seen it and really liked it, but I raised him on Homer and we’re Matt Damen fans, so really looking forward to it (and seriously, I’m not worried about spoilers).

    Thanks for deciding me on muesli for breakfast, Ben!

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  4. I’ve read The Odyssey, but not The Iliad. I wasn’t totally impressed with The Odyssey, but I did enjoy understanding more about the gods’ relationships.

    It’s playing at the movie theater in town. I’m not sure I really want to go. I’m always ambivalent about going to movies.

    I’m glad your week was better than last week, Ben!

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    1. I have both books. The Iliad is a tough read. I’m not sure I ever finished it.
      But the Odyssey! Love it. We have a kids version that daughter and I used to read. I plan to get the book out again. She won’t be able to sit for 3 hours to watch it all at once.

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  5. Rise and Shine, Baboons,

    I read one or both in High School in a literature class heavy on the classics, but I do not remember a lot except for the Sirens. The snakes as hair really stayed with me.
    “O, Brother, Where Art Thou” is also based on the Odyssey, a movie I really loved. Husband says he wants to go to the theater to see this, but I don’t think his attention span can last three hours, and the issue of volume combined with hearing aids will not work well. So we will wait for it at home when he can take breaks and manage the volume.

    Ben, your shed and pole barn are looking like practical buildings meant for use. It is fun to see you using them after all the work you put into them.

    The deer in the soybean pictures in the header looks like both the deer and the soybeans are thriving. Recently I saw a fawn suckling the doe on the side of the road. Both of them looked healthy, but that fawn must have been really hungry. The doe just looked exasperated with the fawn.

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  6. I think we read the Iliad in 2nd year Latin, over the course of the school year. I remember very little, and don’t plan at this point to see The Odyssey, from what I hear of the violence level (and now the sound!).

    Nice that you managed to get the swather completed! What was the part about the bloodshed? (asked she who didn’t want to watch a movie with violence)

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  8. Way, way OT… I made your Peach Crumble yesterday, Renee. So simple and so good. I had not used the food processor for a flour, sugar, butter mix like that before, but I will from now on! I used to have a wonderful Robot Coupe FP, but after 20-some years, I couldn’t find a relpacement bowl when I needed it and now have a cheap, loud, but functional processor that will hvae to do. Thank you! ~OC

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  11. I saw the movie I think the second week it was out I wasn’t aware that there was an IMAX version, but it wouldn’t have mattered because the nearest screen is in Chicago and I’m hoping that it will still be there when I go visit Chicago in October I will see if I can book a ticket that far in advance cause I understand that there’s a huge waiting line even for the 3 AM show I really enjoyed it most of the movies out today have storylines that leave a bit to be desired and such a high percentage of computer generated special effects that kinda takes the fun out of going this was a marvelous movie and I think the TV will diminish it if you get a chance to see it at the theater, I recommend doing that as for reading the Elliott or the Audacy I have touched both books and have waited into them, but as I have discovered that, even though ADHD was not a thing when I was a kid, the effects were still the same. I had a hard time with thousand page books today it doesn’t matter that just turns into a 15 hour E audiobook my kids, and now my grandkids are dealing with the genetic treats. I am passing on for them to pass on. I don’t think I’ll get the Elliot and the Odyssey off my bucket list even if I put them on which I won’t.

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  12. hey ben ive been thinking about your deer for a while now. i have a 3 part idea for you. solar collector, raspberry pie from computer parts store( ive got one if you dont )and mulit locational whirly gigs with motion detector lights.
    solar get batteries to make stuff run, raspberry pie makes stuff run with a trigger which motion detector will make happen. you dont need lights in daytime but whirly gigs will make motion to spook the deer. and at night light may spook em but whirly gigs will keep it going
    $200 ballpark plus solar to battery connection

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