Chopped Some Goliath!
August 26th, 2008 by Northern FarmerFor over a month now I had me a worry, a worry about how I was going to chop that Goliath corn I had planted. In mid July we had some very good rains and the stuff did what it was supposed to do. It grew, and it grew big. Then right after that growth spurt we had us a wind storm in the middle of the night. And that corn, fresh growed, really bent over and I thought the field would be a disaster. About a week later most of the corn had straightened itself back up somewhat and I was very thankful for that to say the least. Yesterday was the big day, I entered the field to make one round chopping for some daily feed for the cows and steers. And I had me a time, the slip clutch for the head on the chopper was just chattering away, what a mess. Even though the corn had somewhat straightened up, many plants were twisted near the ground so the corn was not in perfect rows down where the cutting knives are. But I had to make one round using two rows, no choice being on the outside of the field with a fence just to my right. Took forever to make that one round, clutching the tractor all the time, my left leg felt like it was ready to fall off.
Last evening and all this morning I was wondering how to remedy this disaster and today when I went out in the afternoon I tried what I had thought about here and there the last few weeks. That is, chop one row at a time. It worked perfectly and it only took twenty minutes to fill the silage box which is way faster than last year’s using two rows! Never had to clutch the 4320 once and it chopped smooth as silk! Oh Lord, am I one happy farmer! So what if it takes time, the loads load faster, much faster than the last few years and it looks like allot of corn gonna be coming into the silage pit from just that one field alone! Glory! The chopper picked up most of the corn that was laying down here and there much better than I had ever dreamed so now that worry is behind me. It can be done, and done well!
I know that this isn’t an earth shattering problem but its one of those things that can wear at a guy farming. The cost is so high to hire a custom outfit that it don’t pay to farm the way I figure it. Why give someone a half a years wages for one day’s work, (that’s how long it would take them to do the field)! Now everyone can kinda get an idea what my yearly wages are on the farm. Not much, but living good never the less! In fact I’m typing this evening with such a full stomach that its hard to get around, and all good food from here!
Not much of a post tonight, but I’m in a praising mood never the less! The simple fact that we can chop that stuff has me much more relaxed between the ears!
August 26th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Tom,
That’s amazing. The Goliath corn got so big that choping one row loads as fast as choping two rows of last years corn. Maybe Goliath is a good corn to grow for silage. I was reading about that corn on the internet. It looks like there are two Goliath corns going by similar names. One is Goliath corn and the other is Shumways Goliath ensilage corn. One is white and the other yellow. Which did you grow?
My Leaming corn is drying down now. The ears have tipped over and the husks are getting dry. I hope I can keep the critters out of it.
My Reids Yellow dent is starting to dry down also but I have had some problems with the squirrels eating it. My corn is not a big field like yours, just a little garden patch, only about 2000 plants total. Therefore when the critters get into it, to me it’s a big deal.
August 27th, 2008 at 5:35 am
Don,
I planted the Shumway’s ensilage corn, the white grained one. There’s hardly any cobs on the stuff, hasn’t even matured that far yet, but the volume is huge as far as green chop. This would be a good corn for grass fed operations because of the lack of starchy grain in it for the northern areas.
What an extreme from last year and the year before! It took me twenty minutes to get a load using one row, last year took me durn near and hour using two! And the last couple of hours here we finally had us a good rain, first good general rain in over a month or more. No dust today when chopping
I don’t know how much rain we got yet, but I know the ducks will be surprised when I let them out in a few minutes, they figured the whole world is dust, well, that’s all they’ve ever known in their short lifetime so far! I’m not worried about mud, it was to dry for any of the fields to be muddy even with a good rain, but now it’ll feel allot better seeing things green up again. I hope it raised up the creek so I can keep a batch of cow/calves on a pasture. Was ready to abandon that pasture this week, this might take it over the hump.