Love it!!
All our kids love to play with the kittens.
Spanky is Jacob’s favorite :)
heehee. Too bad Jesse was working, or this would be our Christmas picture.
When Dad & I walk evenings, we’re regularly amazed by the height of these beans. They’re full pods the entire stem and will yield exceptionally well, assuming they finish as well as they started. We are blessed to live in the most fertile area of the country – it’s amazing to see first-hand the quality of the crops produced here which do a great service in feeding so many. Dad said parts of this field were treated seed and parts were not, as Uncle Randy only purchased as much treated seed as he was sure he could use because it can’t be returned to the dealer if he doesn’t use it. The remaining field was planted with untreated seed.
Treated seed? What is that???? Never heard of it!!! Guess I haven’t been reading up in my Farm Journal like I should, huh? So a quick google filled me in: from the NDSU website (www.ag.ndsu.edu) I learned this:
Most seed treatment products are fungicides or insecticides applied to seed before planting. Fungicides are used to control diseases of seeds and seedlings; insecticides are used to control insect pests. Some seed treatment products are sold as combinations of fungicide and insecticide.
Fungicidal seed treatments are used for three reasons: (1) to control soil-borne fungal disease organisms (pathogens) that cause seed rots, damping-off, seedling blights and root rot; (2) to control fungal pathogens that are surface-borne on the seed, such as those that cause covered smuts of barley and oats, bunt of wheat, black point of cereal grains, and seed-borne safflower rust; and (3) to control internally seed-borne fungal pathogens such as the loose smut fungi of cereals.
Fascinating stuff, in my book. I remember when these beans came up and were deluged with a 4-inch rain – some sections of the field flourished, while some looked pretty sickly (and still aren’t as robust) and obviously won’t yield nearly as well since they were compromised from the start. But these beans – obviously treated, as they weathered the early rains quite well.
So is it the soil or the seed that results in good yields? Well in my limited understanding, it’s both. The treated seed ensures better germination and early development, and the rich soil takes over once the plant is established. I’m no agronomist, but that’s pretty easy to understand. Dad remembers this field having exceptional bean yields years ago, but now yields are consistently higher than earlier years with the advantage of treated seed which can overcome the adverse environmental conditions of a cold wet spring (which we seem to have a lot of!).
Hurrah for technology :)
Sign courtesy of Timothy (yeah, if I had sold these seeds I’d advertise it too!). :)
RoundUp ready – means not a weed to be seen!!
Spotless field…and beautiful sunset too. Picture perfect :)
Across the road – to the pasture -
Down the hill – boys ran Red Rover through the girls’ hands -
To the creek -
Which was very low -
Moving on-
Checking out the corn -
Down the lane -
To check on the cows and calves -
Got it!
Her name? 83 :)
Beautiful scene – five cows, four calves (second from left, #85, hadn’t calved yet). SO CUTE!!!!!
Did I mention it was a BEAUTIFUL evening?!!!!!
Monkey see, monkey do – guess who’s one and guess who’s two???
That’s it!!
No comments:
Post a Comment