Well I think we are officially done with trying new toys on the farm. After our spending spree of 2013/14 we have put a spending freeze on capital purchases, so not sure why we have so many new pieces on the farm. I suspect the sales are a bit slow at the dealers so they are trying to get things out to the farms in hopes someone falls in love and adds it to their fleet. 

I’m seeding the field across the road from home (dubbed George’s because it was Uncle George’s originally) and it was a field we ran a high speed disc machine over in the fall to try it. The field is in great shape with no wet spots on it. I was thinking that was the key but when I get to the line and look at Randy’s  (the neighbor) ‎I see his looks dry as well and it wasn’t touched except with a harrow in the fall. So much for that theory. Interesting to see how it germinated compared to an unworked field right beside it (dubbed norman’s, you guessed it).We are, we’ll I am at least, all about trying different things to see if they pay. Maybe the accountant in me or my thirst for knowledge, but I need to prove to myself something is worth while before adopting it. For instance we are now treating all our canola with a product called Jumpstart, a phosphate enhancer. We tried it in trials for 4 years before getting conclusive results that indicated there was a net $ return by doing it.Hence why all the demo’s.  

We are getting into our groove it seems. I’m spending endless hours in the cab seeding and Lane running crazy between sprayer, harrows and trucks. Josh is helping out a lot as well treating seed and filling trucks and all the odd jobs around the yard that keep us rolling. We are pushed over the 1/3 mark and knocking on the 1/2 way mark. Our peas are likely just about out of the ground (which is not great with snow and freezing in the forcast). We have soft white wheat in and 4 quarters(160ac each) of barley. Josh came out this afternoon and in true Nascar pit stop fashion we switched over to canola and so far have 80 ac in as I write this. Lane had all the fertilizer blended and ready for me to load so that is how we got up and running so fast. Seeding conditions really couldn’t be better on this field for the canola. We have a dry surface with moisture just underneath making it an excellent seed bed to lay the seed into.  The forecast is for snow overnight and with this 90mph wind (that only southern Alberta is supposed to get) sure could blow something in. It is out of the Northeast so has cooled it off outside. In true Lance style I only put in 5 bags of seed in the protection of the yard and with the use of the the front end loader so now have to get my lovely wife to brave the wind and cold and come pick me up so I can hand bomb another 8 bags in to keep me running for the night. Someday I will learn or just get an air tank with those fancy new “bag lifts”, but still won’t protect me from the wind. Might go a little late tonight if they are forecasting snow so I can sleep in tomorrow, but my luck i’ll just have to get up and keep going, which would be okay too!  

Today was a perfect example of how the weather can change very quickly. I was up at 4:30 this morning with not a cloud in the sky and the sun shining beautifully. I was excited to be working on our home quarter, land that was broke by our ancestors well over a century ago. I find it the most enjoyable for a number of reasons, like usually finding an old bridal ring from years gone by hooked to a seeding shank, but mainly because the boys can be there to help and come for quick visits and it’s easy for Marie getting meals and extra coffees to us. Here is Logan delivering my coffee and some breakfast but did not go home until he road beside to make sure everything was working properly and checked the seeding depth. He’s crazy about seeding, so will likely be looking to take over my job soon enough.

We are seeding canary seed today. Got loaded up and set by 7:30 and then Lane headed to get sprayer ready so he could spray the field we will be moving to tomorrow, Moores Home (a farm we bought 4 years ago and the name sticks). He radioed me and said he was hoping to get his tank sprayed before it rained. I was behind the bush by our yard and not really looking to the sky rather making sure everything was working as it should. When I came out from behind the bush I could see what he was talking about. Within 1/2 hour it was spitting on the window and for a while came down pretty good. ‎Fortunately it was not enough to stop me but made a mess of my windows and the fertilizer I was trying to‎ auger. Lane got 1 tank on in not so ideal conditions so fingers crossed it will work.Â

Working this home land seemed somewhat more special this year. Our Uncle Kenny (dad’s brother) has recently retired and has been helping us out and it is so great having him around. He has so much life experience with fixing things and ideas that he is very valuable to have around. Makes me think a lot about what it would be like if Dad was still alive. The part that makes it special this year is Uncle Kenny asked if he could get a bucket of black dirt loaded on his truck the other day. I said sure and of course asked why, thinking it was for his garden. He said that Dad’s and his Mom’s Graves have sunk a lot and he wants to fill them up and plant some grass. It warms my heart (and brings a tear to my eye) when I think that the dirt I’m working is now, in a small part, with Dad and his Mom in their final resting spots. Thanks very much to Uncle Kenny for doing that and being more than just someone helping us out.   

Miss you Dad, this fields for you, (sorry it’s the itchy canaryseed!)‎

Got started seeding again today. It has been just over a week since we finished the peas. Today is Soft white wheat used for ethanol primarily. Seeding up by Englefeld on one of Harold’s fields. Me and a young Moose just minding our own business. As you can see i did have neighbors this morning, nice to have someone to watch even if they are little different shade of red. They were done their qtr in no time and pulled out leaving me with the moose.

Noticed this huge whirlwind as well this morning, something I remember as a child but don’t see them any more with all the direct seeding and no dust to blow. It didn’t last long but it was big for awhile.

Lane has started spraying so things really kick into high gear for him, not that’s he’s been bored but now juggles harrowing, spraying, rock picking and keeping the seed and fertilizer to me. What we thought was going to be an early spring is turning out to be the new normal, which is mid may. We are slightly ahead of last year but not by much. Time to kick it into high gear!!!

Yesterday was getting back into the field for us. I left early in the morning to pick up a land roller to roll the peas (pushing all the small rocks in to the ground and leveling the field, our combine headers appreciate this task). The night before I asked Landon if he would roll for me while I picked the larger rocks on the field. He was up at 5am and in our room wondering if it was time to go. I remember doing exactly the same thing when I was his age when my dad told me that the next day I would cultivate behind him spraying avadex on our fields, oh how history repeats itself. The only difference is I was in a 100hp tractor (with A/C) and steering a 20ft cultivator down the field, while Landon was in a 200hp Front wheel assist with auto-steer pulling a 45ft roller. He was on a 1 mile long field and he said it got a little boring on those long runs but he was so proud of himself when he finished the whole 160 acres. I have to admit, I was pretty proud too, he handled it like a pro. Struggled a little at first getting lined up after turning but by the end had it figured out.

I picked rocks on both quarters while he rolled(taking extra care because I had extra time with Landon running the roller now instead of me doing both fields) and then stayed on the field and watched him finish up. He was sure to radio me when he saw a rock I missed so that I could head over and pick it up. He had a long face when I told him he couldn’t roll the 2nd field, but it is littered with power poles and SaskTel pedestals, so just too many hazards.

We used our CIH 7140 on the roller, which is our general do it all tractor, but was the first to have auto-steer in it back when we used it for spraying. We still have the same auto-steer system (Ag Leader Easy Steer) and it works great after nearly a decade. I still remember the first time we let go of the steering wheel and couldn’t believe it was going to keep our tractor going straight down the field. Now it is just a given that you hit resume and away it goes. Landon, Logan, Gabby and Liam won’t know any different and I wonder what technology they will have when they are running the units in the future. I got a text from my Uncle Doug yesterday and it was of his auto-steer that he just installed on his seeding tractor. He experienced that same feeling yesterday and I am sure he was equally as amazed as we were the first time we used it. I am very glad he decided to go with it as I am sure he will enjoy it and make his seeding that much less stressful.

Happy Mother’s Day to all those mothers reading today, hope you get to spend sometime with your kids today, or at least talk with them. Nothing more special than our bond with our incredible mother. Love you Mom!

May 4, 2015 was the start to #plant15 (for you twitter bugs) on LDS Farms this year. Our family had a bet on when we would start, I had picked May 3 and Logan my youngest son took the 4th. Well May 3 we filled up the drill and headed to the field late in the afternoon to “just get a start” and get it all set for the next day, only to drive into a rain 4 miles north of our yard where we were going seeding.

It wasn’t a big rain just too wet to do anything in the field that day. So I guess someone had it in mind that we needed to go to Fuddruckers and Ruckers in Saskatoon after seeding, see that was Logan’s prize for being the winner of the bet. Seeding the first field went very smooth with no real water problems and seeding into good moisture. The biggest trouble we had was getting the semi close enough to fill. The fields are still very soft for big trucks so had to stay close to the approach to the field. I went till 10:30 that night so that I could fill up in the morning and move to another field with Lane’s help. I finished the peas around noon.

As I was seeding those fields I was remembering past years that we seeded them. It is funny, as this year when it is still pretty wet in a lot of areas and some of our fields, these two were dry and seeded perfectly. I remember not that long ago when the first field I started on this year was the last field because when Lane got there with the sprayer he was spinning all the time. It was extremely wet and it wasn’t at the start of our seeding that year either. Strange, but I enjoyed the 1 mile long field with no turning for sloughs this year.

Cleaned out the peas and headed for home. We now had the daunting task of changing all the openers on the drill. They are the points that open the ground and gently place the seed in the furrow. The openers we had on had seeded over 23,000 acres so it was time. With the help of Josh (our after school and weekend helper) we did it in about 3 hours while thunder rolled in the distance, or maybe that was Lane in his new toy that he was playing with, but I will let him tell you about that.  We now have the drill ready for wheat which will be the next crop we go to, but with a 1/3 of an inch of rain, we have a rain delay so Lane and I are headed to town to take our mother out for breakfast, you see it is her birthday and rarely do we get this opportunity.  Gotta run…

After a wet weekend, we couldn’t have ordered a nicer week this week weather-wise.  Temps in the mid 20’s and brisk SW winds worked to dry the ground very well this week. However a trek across the field at home to take some debris to the rock pile proved that we still need some drying to occur, but it will come.

Today off to gather some seed that was purchased from fellow farmers.  But in true accountant like style I am doing it as a back haul while taking a load of oats in that we grew last year to our local elevator – gotta make every trip count.  Our decision to grow 8 different crop/varieties has got me questioning it now.  It is going to mean a lot of clean outs this spring and a lot more juggling of supplies to the field.  Our cropping strategy though is to try and find a crop that not many others will grow and therefor might be more valuable and in higher demand.  We are still growing the traditional hard red wheat, 2 row malt barley, peas and canola but this year we have added soft white wheat (used for ethanol and some milling), 6 row barley (used for a Japanese tea market), some non GMO canola (I know I said it but their is a premium to grow it so we thought we try a bit) and of course,  good old itchy canary seed (it’s for the birds).

Our hope is to start doing some field prepping this week end, maybe harrow a field we are growing peas on and pick some rocks/stumps from a couple line fences we cleared over the last couple years.  With any luck we will be starting to seed sometime early to next week.  Our family has a bet on when we will start.  My guess is May 3, but Logan’s is not far behind at May 4.  Landon took the gamble and said it was going to be wet for a while and took the 15th.  I sure hope he is wrong, but with the weather and mother nature, you just never know!