Big Changes for 2012

Again, I'm sorry I didn't get around to posing updates like I said I would. There is so much going on, I almost forgot that I even had a blog for the farm. There has been so many changes for the farm this year, that I don't even know where to start. I guess the best place to start would be with how we have grow. Last year we were farming just 100 acres for corn and soybeans. This year with with help a few leases and my first purchase for ground we are farming right under 500 acres. It is very exciting being able to grow that much. With the new acres, came looking at new ideas for the farm. We decided that this would be the year for some big changes on the far.

I would say that the biggest change on the farm, is what we grow. This year is the first year that we will only be a corn producer. In the last 2 years that I farmed I had always grown at least 50% soybeans. I have always had good luck growing soybeans, and have always had good yields from them. That's great and all, but I had a hard time making them show a better profit then corn. I grew an awesome bean crop last year, my corn was not all that great. I marked my beans probably in the top 10% last year, by corn was probably not in the top 40%. With all that said and done, my corn netted much higher then my beans. I'm not saying this is true for every year, but for 2012 we will only be growing corn.

With the extra acres, came the need for bigger equipment. I have been lucky to find some great deals on a few big dollar pieces of equipment that were exactly what I as looking for. For this spring I now have a 12 row John Deere 1770 corn planter. I will be pulling with with my new to me John Deere 4630 tractor, that I bought off a really good friend. I had been looking for a tractor since December, and finally last week I said enough is enough and was able to purchase this tractor just in time for spring. I have also added a John Deere 9600 combine, that I will have a 8 row Caterpillar corn head on. It won't exactly look right, but I think it will be a really nice setup. I was able to get the Caterpillar corn head much cheaper then a same age Deere corn head. We will see how it does this year, but I think it will do great. I have also purchased my first striptill bar. I have been striptilling 100% of my ground since 2011. To me it made the most economical since to bring my cost down by doing the stirptilling myself. I have to change a few things on it, but it should be a fun summer project.

For right now we have been really pushing to get the planter ready for spring. We are changing the 1770 planter from a finger pickup, to Vsets. I was a little overwhelmed on how difficult this project would be at the beginning. Luckily with the help of a few friends it has been a ton of fun. I plan to have the planter and tractor ready to go by April 1st. Lots of guys around us are planting corn, I can't get all that excited. With seed corn in as tight of a supply as it is, I don't plan to plant until I know its time.

Thanks for reading, I will try my best to post some pics of the new equipment on here some time. I will make sure I get some pics of the planter transformation posted once the project is complete.

Peter Jarzen