All posts by Lane D. Stockbrugger

Freeze up around the corner

A mild Fall has meant everyone in NW Saskatchewan finished harvest. Behind schedule with all the rain, we’re still happy with the 2015 crop year and anxiously look to 2016 with optimism.

I don’t know many industries that after a long grueling haul to the finish line look forward to the next season quite the way farmers do. Its what we do, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

I’ve never wanted a drone before

image imageUntil a buddy showed me the 1080p resolution amazing quality footage he took early one morning in his farm. This bad boy was about $1400 out of the box and it’s a breeze to run.
Who needs an airplane to come take arial photos of your farm? Buy a drone. Never again will you have to curse yourself years later as you walk by it every day wondering why that day you decided to leave the 1/2 ton parked at a stupid angle semetrically to the rest of the yard. (Yes there is a time and place to sweat the small stuff and this is it).
Want to check the back corner of the field or the herd to just see how they are doing without spooking them? Buy a drone. I’m a bit shocked at my own interest in these things all of a sudden.

Ok, back to the task at hand…. Peas are dry and rain is a comin!

5″ of rain won’t keep us down. Well it will the peas but…

lance shadow Aug 2015

Last weekends rains dropped over 5″ of rain on the farm and we weren’t looking for that sort of moisture this late in the season. Its tough to even say that out loud when so many others need the moisture. Between the rain and wind the great stand of peas has substanitally fallen. The cnary seed is now tangled from its strong pre-gale force storm stand and the canola has a definate lean to it.

creek running

We’re facing more rain this week, but I’ll take the rain when you compare it to the hail parts of Alberta received last night. Lets just get through this crop year. Harvest should be earlier than usual if the heat returns. Bring it on.

Where did June go?

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A canola field thats filling in nicely, taken a few days ago.

Peas are starting to bloom, canola is about to bolt and birds around the globe are starting to lick their beaks in anticipation for the canary seed.

All happened so quickly it seems. And a few timely rains are helping the crop along nicely. I feel bad even saying that as neighbours 50 miles away (south) haven’t seen a drop and their crops are approaching dire status. Market bumps are also referencing these dry spots and reseeding areas.

spray side view

Lance’s happy place in June. Well, its mine too, but he gets more seat time thats for sure. And with the crops growing as they are, we’re looking at more windshield time in the near future.

Get your popcorn, cotton candy, rocks

imageConstruction company asked if they could have a rock pile. Every farm kid in the land knows that if someone comes asking for rocks, you give them every last one! They may have overloaded the first load, or as Harvey the contractor said as his track hoe prodded him out of his sunken state “yeah he maybe had a little bit too big of a jag on for the first load”.  Luckily I was filling liquid fertilizer onto the drill so no rubber necking required. It was 150′ away.

Spraying, harrowing, sweet talking sales folks and staying ahead of the drill

Days are blending together. I was finally going straight back and forth in the harrows last night so was able to update AgExpert FM Pro with my spray records of the past few days. Broke the 1100 acres sprayed, oh, plus the 190 with the sweet New Holland 275 Front amount Boom sprayer from FarmWorld in Humboldt. Great unit but we’re very happy with our Deere sprayer. He will give us a quote to think about. With exchange, the settled landed price in   Canada for a 2015 sprayer like this new 2014 is about $100k difference. Absolutely nuts which explains in part the slow down in new equipment sales.

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