This is where I was a few minutes
ago. Merging hay while Son #4 chopped. I am writing this with tractor dirt on my feet
and pieces of hay in my hair.
I want to show you how we plant
corn. Like the title says, This Ain't Your Daddy's Corn Planter.
I will do my best to be as correct
as I can. Normally, I have Farmer proof when I'm getting all farmy to make sure
it's correct, but he's out in the fields and probably won't be in before the
midnight hour.
This first picture is the corn
planter. It is a 12 row planter - meaning we plant twelve rows at a time. The
yellow boxes are for the seed and the large tank in the middle holds the fertilizer.
I tried to get a picture with all
the screens and controls but couldn't get it all to fit into the frame. This is
on the right hand side of the steering wheel. Son #2 has to pay attention to
these and more and regulate, correlate and just plain ate it all!
This picture is taken a little bit
off to the side of the previous picture. These controls are all alongside my
son's right arm.
This is my son's I pad that is
connected to other monitors in the tractor. The information for these screens
comes from a GPS system. On this screen is a field that has been planted. The
different colors show the different pressures that were used to plant that
particular spot (this is a very simple explanation of a complex issue.)
This next picture shows all kind of
stuff and I can't remember what exactly, but I think it has to do with the corn
planter and how much corn and spacing and etc.
This monitor is for the tractor not
the planter and it shows information concerning the way the tractor works.
The tractor and corn planter was
parked and this monitor showed information about the corn planter and field. I
think the red rectangles represent the seed boxes. They are red because there
has not been corn planted there. If corn had already been planted the boxes
would have been another color to show that corn was already in the ground. This
is all GPS driven. When corn is planted it is marked and the information is
sent back from satellites to all these monitors - how much, how deep and etc.
These levers and the screen have to
do with the tractor and the hydraulic lifts and
who knows what - all tractor.
These gauges are connected to air
that regulates part of the corn planter. There are wheels that pack down or
cover the corn once it's been cut into the ground and the hydraulics lift or
press down the wheels to cover the corn properly.
This is the view out the back window
of the tractor. The black box has something to do with the air hydraulics and
the yellow tank holds fertilizer.
The cool fire truck is what we use
to haul water to the fields.
The hose is adding water to the
fertilizer tank.
This is the stack of books Son #2
has to consult and know in order to run this high tech machine.
So as you can see, it's a different
world for Farmers today. And most of us don't realize this is all a vital step
in milk production. When you drink that glass of milk remember all this
technology that planted the corn that fed the cows that gave the milk.
P.S. This is by no means 100%
technically correct. By the time Farmer gets around to reading this and
correcting anything that needs it, there will be snow on the ground and no one
will care anymore.
