We finished harrowing pastures last night, W80 and her calf are happily together, and the calves continue to arrive. Spring is our busiest time of the year and you don’t dare let up for even a minute. Today we started putting fertilizer on the hay fields.
The machine below is called a floater. This is because of the huge low pressure flotation tires that are designed to minimize compaction on the soft spring land. Compaction hurts the land and reduces yields. The hopper of the floater is being loaded with a blend of dry nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. The precise amounts of these soil nutrients along with lime were determined from grid mapped soil tests that I took last fall. Thanks to GPS technology I am able to put exactly the right amount of nutrients in exactly the right place.
The guys on the floater are going over the coordinates, once they load the data into the floaters onboard computer the satellite will take over.
Loading data into the computer.
I think some people have the perception that farmers are wasteful with our fertilization practices. I imagine this perception comes from a few bad apples in our industry and a general lack of understanding of what’s happening on the farm. The reality is that fertilizers expensive and I want it to go 100% to the plant it is supposed to nourish, not in our streams, ground water, or anywhere else it’s not supposed to be. GPS technology, science, and hard work allow us to do this and protect and preserve our natural resources. More importantly this land has been a part of my family before Iowa was a state. I would never do anything to hurt it, my objective is to leave it better than I found it so that it continues to be our states most valuable resource, for generations to come.
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