I want to start with a post I found online recently that is actually very accurate for our area and most of the midwest! The 11 seasons list is below and we are finally on third winter so spring is finally around the corner! We just have to get thru Mud Season to get to it!
In a review of the last 10 years on the farm during tax prep this winter I noticed a trend that I was happy to finally see developing in our revenue stream for the farm. We originally started farming to grow our own meat. We quickly realized we could cover the costs of raising our own beef and pork by raising and selling extra of both. So, when we started getting our own equipment to harvest and store feed for our animals there was always a plan in the back of my mind to eventually perform custom harvesting to pay for the necessary equipment needed to feed our animals. While we have been doing some custom work for many years now we are finally seeing a sharp increase in this portion of our farming business as well as our hay sales.
This brings to notice a limiting factor in the growth of this portion of the farm. Since we first started all of our farming activities have been performed using one main tractor. We added the Farmall several years back but it really is only used for carting wagons around and the occasional tedding, everything major fell on the one main tractor. Last year we had multiple times where we turned down custom work due to not being able to get to all of it at the same time as well as a considerable amount of product that wasn't harvested at the end of the season that cost us in a product that we could not sell.
That being discussed we decided it was time to add another tractor to the farm to see if the custom portion of the farm will continue to grow or if it is a short term burst of work. We were fortunate enough to team up with Sterling Farm Equipment and get a tremendous lease deal on an M7-151 that Ohio State University / OARDC campus had on a summer only lease with really low hours. We decided it was the size and the pricing we needed to roll the dice so we made the deal last month and the tractor was delivered a couple of weeks ago.
Below are several comparison pictures of our M110GX and the new M7-151 side by side!
This picture says it all as for the size difference!!! The power difference is just as noticeable and I cannot wait to see this baby running in the field mowing and baling! The M110 has hauled bales for me for several years now from my rental fields home and it has worked its butt off doing it. The new one works about half its power to haul the same load!
A close up look of the rear ends is another clear example of the difference in size and capabilities.
With the growth we have seen lately on the farm we are in the process of starting to rotate crops in the fields to build soil tilth and organic matter to boost production. This requires the addition of a seeder to the farm as well as a side custom seeding option. The seeder we demoed in the fall is great but the M110 just wasn't big enough to really run it and handle it correctly. If you take a close look at the rear of the M7 you will notice that the lift cylinders are big enough to put the entire M110 lift cylinders case and all inside of the M7's!
We also got the kids their Dairy Beef Feeder calves in January and they are growing very well. They have almost doubled in size since these pics when we first brought them home!
The pictures below were taken just after new years in one of the fields I seeded with the new seeder. It was seeded really late and really wet but we still got a good cover on it and I am excited to see how it produces this spring.
I am excited to get this growing season underway as we have made so many exciting changes this winter that will hopefully pay of well quickly! My brother has started helping/working on the farm as well so the opportunities are tremendous, we just have to jump on them as fast as they come!
In addition to all of those changes my wife recently took on a new career with SmithFoods Inc. and just finished up her second week! She is enjoying the new challenge and her new workplace. It is a longer drive, close to an hour, but worth the drive. This new opportunity is also giving us a chance to start putting things into motion to build our new home in the woods on top of the hill in the back of the above pictures! I can't wait to start that project!!!
More pictures and updates as spring settles in and calving season starts in April! The guys are finishing up the shed that we start constructing in November and should have the last of the metal insatalled later today. I will need to update everyone on that when completed!
Have a great day everyone and hopefully the next post will have me typing outside at the picnic table in a T-shirt!
Kenny
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