Forage Production

Recently, I experienced an unusual situation with a ’98 Dodge Cummins farm and ranch pickup. My son and I were hauling materials to a fence project when a loud howling noise came from the engine compartment.

In 1954, my grandfather bought a new International pickup truck to be used on the family farm. It was a unique green color and had all of the traditional features expected in a working farm truck.

In ordinary times, dairy farms would only apply manures to alfalfa fields before they were seeded to build fertility and then rely on commercial fertilizers, when needed, for annual top-dressing.

Tires are engineered differently for tractors, harvesters, implements, trucks and cars, but each tire has one thing in common: They cannot work properly without the correct inflation pressure. Yes, tires are engineered to develop traction in dry and wet soils, provide a smooth ride and stop your vehicle, but their most important function is to the contain the inflation pressure, which carries the load.

“Alexa, order me a pizza and find me a custom harvester.” Alexa, the voice-controlled virtual assistant created by Amazon, has skills. It’s entertaining, can play Jeopardy with you and can definitely order a pizza, but it likely won’t find you a custom harvester (not yet, anyway).

If you buy a $90,000 30-foot-wide no-till drill, 95 percent of your neighboring farmers will call you crazy – a few cards shy of a full deck, a few bricks short of a full load, half a bubble off plumb.