harvest Archives - Minnesota Farm Living

How Do Farm Wives Survive Fall Harvest?

October 6, 2016 By Wanda Patsche

Fall Harvest Season – A Tale of Two Farm Wives

Linsey’s Story

Fall is already here! Pumpkin patches and apple orchards are full of families with kids in wagons and couples in cute flannel shirts and riding boots taking photos in front of hay and pumpkins. Fall is also always full of rustic, warm weddings and celebrations.

Not for us.

Farm Wives

Fall takes on a different meaning when you farm, especially as a new farmer’s wife. Fall use to be my favorite season because of all those things. Now I think it is one of my least desired seasons.

What does fall mean to me and why has it fallen into the least desirable season in my life? Continue Reading

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10 Things About Harvest Most Non-Ag People Don’t Know

November 10, 2014 By Wanda Patsche

As we are in the midst of harvesting, I thought I would write a few, fun random thoughts about harvest. Some things about harvest most non-ag people don’t know.

1. Lunches are eaten in the field. Thank goodness for autoSteer in tractors and combines. Autosteer is a mechanism that automatically steers the combine/tractor. I can literally eat, with both hands, while the combine/tractor continues to operate. And, believe me, I have eaten many meals this way! Multi-tasking at it’s finest. And if you have lunch delivered to you, it’s eaten right in the field. So you might be sitting on a pickup tailgate or somewhere semi-soft on the ground. Farmers really do love harvest meals – just a nice little pick-me-up and one less meal to prepare. Trust me, it’s the little things.

2. The smells, sights and sounds of harvest. Nothing compares than smelling corn as it is harvested, watching the corn augered into the grain cart or truck, running through the corn dryer or hearing the sounds of corn dropping into the corn bin. Yes, it’s the simple things we cherish. And it mirrors life–it’s the simple things that really are the big things in life.

10 things non farm people don't know about harvest — Corn dumping

Another “sight of harvest” is evidence where we are feeding the wildlife–more specifically deer. Here is a picture of what our cornfield looked like as we harvested corn. There was some kind of party going on here!

3. Housework during harvest? It’s nearly nonexistent – you adapt to looking past the dust and clutter. Laundry during harvest? Just enough clean clothes to wear and sometimes we recycle clothes if they aren’t too dirty. And it may mean wearing mismatched socks because that’s all you have left. Grocery shopping? Minimal. Harvest season means early mornings and late nights. It’s just the reality of life in the fall. You will hear me say numerous times, “we’ll make it work.” We just adapt.

4. Free combine/tractor rides. Grandkids especially like this! Many combines/tractors have buddy seats which can accommodate safe rides. And they love it and you can’t beat the smiles!

10 things non-ag people don't know about harvest — Mr. E in the combine

5. Field “dates” with your spouse. I don’t think I spend as much time during the day with my husband as I do at harvest. Ummm some days that is good . . . other days not so . . .

6. Dropped ears of corn on the ground. If you are the combine operator harvesting corn, it absolutely drives you crazy when the biggest ear of corn in the whole field hits the corn head or slides off the corn head and drops to the ground. I literally have dreams where I am holding onto the corn head trying to catch those wayward ears of corn. A little weird? Yep. Weird things happen when you spend hours and hours in a combine. And the bright side? It’s winter food for the wildlife.

7. Toilet Paper, pillow, trail mix and insulated lunch bags are necessities in my combine cab. Why a pillow? No, not for me . . . although at times I sure could use it. If I have a grandchild ride with me, it never fails the sound of the combine and the monotonous view and sound of constant corn/soybeans flowing into the head of the combine lulls them to sleep. Never fails. No matter how hard they try.

8. You become “snarkier” as the harvest season progresses. You can’t help it. Your sense of humor ends up being sarcastic remarks and you need an attitude adjustment. And when you can admit it to yourself, you really know you need it.

9. The whole family is involved. Harvesting is truly a family affair in the fall. From brother-in-laws to son-in-laws, to daughters and sons, to mother-in-laws. We can’t do all the work without them. And we appreciate all of them. Immensely.

10. And when you are done with your own harvest and pending weather forecasts are unfavorable, you help neighbors and friends to finish. It’s just who farmers are and what we do. And you don’t wait to be asked. You just do it.

And I wouldn’t trade this life for anything.

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10 Most Popular Posts of 2013

January 1, 2014 By Wanda Patsche

Happy New Years! And am I excited for 2014! But before I start a new clean slate for the year, I thought it would be fun to reflect on my most popular posts for 2013, counting down from #10 to #1. Enjoy the recap!

10. “When it Just Doesn’t Make Sense“ – A post about child loss in the wake of the Newtown massacre. Many families have lost children, including my own family. A reflection on child loss.

9. “Harvest13” – My only video blog post to make my top 10 list. I take you inside the combine I use during the fall harvest season. Celebrating Women in Ag.

8. “So God Made a Farmer – What it Really Means?“ – During the Superbowl many people were taken aback when a Paul Harvey voiceover commercial with poetically read “So God Made a Farmer”. Ram trucks celebrating ag and farmers.

7. “Undercver Videos” on a “Factory Farm” – So what does a factory farm really look like? Sorry, I didn’t take hours and hours of video footage to find a few minutes of highly edited video. Don’t be surprised if you find it a little boring because sometimes it is.

6. “What the Food Industry Wants You to Know Dr. Oz” – A rebuttal on some untruths on a show Dr. Oz did on GMO’s.

5. “We Want to Talk – A Message to Food Retail Companies” – When companies make major decisions in regards to their supply chain, it is important to get both sides of the story. Just sayin’. It’s a good business practice to talk to farmers when your business is selling food.

4. “Are Today’s Farmers Good Land Stewards?” – The media has a tendency to present a one-sided view on this question. Find out what farmers really do to protect the environment.

3. “Top 5 Myths About GMO Foods – A Mom’s Perspective” – The title is self-explanatory.

2. “Standing Up to Panera Bread – Farmers are Not Lazy!” – A recap on Panera Bread’s EZChicken marketing campaign.

Drum roll . . . . . . And my most popular post for 2013 was a very recent blog post I wrote about the Rolling Stone article – “Animal Cruelty is the Price we Pay for Cheap Meat.”

1. “Animal Cruelty is NOT the Price we Pay for Cheap Meat” – A rebuttal on the RollingStone article.

Thanks to all who have read and shared my posts. More to come in 2014!

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Where Do Our Crops Go?

September 26, 2012 By Wanda Patsche

In southern Minnesota, most farmers grow two types of crops – corn and soybeans. A few farmers do grow alfalfa, sweet corn and peas. With all the crops grown, where does go?

Why we Grow what we Grow

Market access is THE most important factor in determining what crops we grow. Crops with no markets make absolutely no sense to grow. And, in Minnesota, we have an abundance of markets for soybeans and corn.

In addition to the available markets, we raise pigs whose major diet component is corn and soybean meal, which is the main reason why we grow corn and soybeans. We are also able to utilize the hog manure and incorporate it back into the soil as a natural nutrient replacement. It is a great way to use a byproduct (previously thought of as a waste product). Not only do we feel manure is superior to commercial fertilizers, but the cost of manure is less also. We test both our soils and manure so we apply the right amount of nutrients. We don’t want to waste it by applying too much nor do we want to apply less than we need because this is next year’s plant food. As you can tell, manure is a highly prized commodity and an asset. I literally put the value of manure applied to our cropland on my balance sheet.

Where do Our Crops Go?

We have multiple markets available. I can literally see two ethanol plants and one soybean processing plant from the front porch of my house. All three are within 10 miles of our house. We are fortunate with not only the markets available but also how close they are to where we live.

Soybeans

Let’s start with soybeans. We plant about a quarter of our acres to soybeans. After they are harvested they are either stored in a grain bin or sold to Cenex Harvest States – a soybean processing plant. The plant is about five miles away and we put them in a truck and deliver them to the plant. CHS processes the soybeans into soybean meal which is used for livestock feed. Soybean oil is also extracted from the soybean to make food and industrial products such as soy oil and plastics. The decision to store or sell at harvest is price dependent.

Corn

We plant the remainder of our acres to corn. When we harvest the corn we usually need to remove the excess moisture from the corn. We accomplish this task by using a corn dryer. If the stored corn has too much moisture the corn will rot and spoil during storage. Rotten and spoiled corn has no value.

Feed

Approximately one-third of the corn we harvest is used for pig feed. We have an on-farm feed processor manufactured by Weigh-Tronix. Our farm is a little unique in that we make our own hog feed. Many other hog farms have their feed made by a local coop. We like the idea of feeding our own corn because we know where the corn came from, and, oh, I used to work at Weigh-Tronix and I received an employee discount on it. Yes, that makes a difference!

Corn = Ethanol

The other two-thirds of our corn crop is sold to Valero. Valero is an ethanol plant that is located about 6 miles from our farm. Valero produces ethanol and grain distillers. Grain distillers (or DDGs) is what is left over after the ethanol is extracted from the corn. Grains distillers are used in livestock feed. We sell to Valero because we really like the idea of a renewable fuel source and think it is important for our environment. And, typically, we receive a little extra revenue. If we are not able to sell to Valero we will sell to our local coop – Watonwan Farm Service.