While Jen and James Meyer had not started planting as of May 4, they have been busy at the farm. They finshed calving, brought their hay home, and made sure this spring’s planting equipment and their sprayer would be ready to go.
“It has been hectic, but we finally were able to get a whole bunch of our hay home,” Jen said. The hay was located in a field where the approach had been filled with water from snow melt. “It took a little bit of moving around and moving some snow, but we were able to get in. The problem is we usually bring our semi in there. We couldn’t do that this year, so we had to stack in smaller spots.”
The Meyers drove the semi to the area and parked it next to the hay field. James loaded the stack mover and then hauled it to the semi. The Meyers were glad to see the semi loaded with bales.
Nice weather, with an 80-degree day thrown in, has helped them get some projects accomplished ahead of planting. While the forecast called for rain, James was out in the fields with their sprayer, trying to adjust the controls, calibrate it, and get the kinks out.
“We bought a sprayer, a Case IH Patriot 3320 sprayer, and James wants to figure out all the kinks. This sprayer can go much faster than our old sprayer,” Jen said.
Right now, the sprayer has broadcast tips for liquid fertilizer, and the Meyers plan to put down liquid fertilizer ahead of planting.
“Just with the way that our operation works, it’s so much easier for me to go in front of the planter and put down liquid fertilizer, because you’d have to get either a different compartment for your semi-trailer for the fertilizer or get a whole other trailer just with fertilizer – and you’re constantly moving,” she said. “In addition, liquid fertilizer just drops from the sprayer tips. It doesn’t take long to put down fertilizer.”
They also want to buy some finer tips so they can also use the sprayer for herbicides – and other chemicals – if needed.
“With any chemical, you need some finer tips, because you want a nice mist,” she said.
With rain in the forecast, the Meyers were watching the weather to determine when they could begin seeding.
Source: agupdate.com
Photo Credit: GettyImages-fotokostic
Categories: North Dakota, Crops