By Gary Pahl
As we head into winter we want to make sure everything is cleaned up and ready for spring. There is nothing more frustrating than pulling out a piece of equipment thinking it is ready to go and having to start making repairs on it. More importantly a fall clean up on a tractor or implement not only preserves the price of the equipment but also eliminates the possibility of any mice nesting in the wires. We like to put fabric softener in our tractors (bounce) to help keep the mice out and it seems to work very well. As we get everything cleaned up a nice wax job is added and then a good grease job in all the bearings. This pushes out any moisture from the washing and provides a nice protective coat while it is not in use during the winter months, thus making sure everything will turn freely come spring time.
Once everything is put away we start going over our field notes to figure out what went right and what went wrong. We put together a plan to help improve efficiencies where we need improvement and expand on the programs that went well this past year. Our seed list is the second thing we re-evaluate. Some varieties get axed and others are kept with the thought of adding on additional acreage. As we prepare for the coming year we can’t begin to thank all the people that it takes to produce a crop of vegetables. This past year our farm produced approximately 600 semi loads of food for people in this country and Canada. I tip my cap to the 120 people that worked in the heat, rain, and sleet with ornery bosses – this could not be done without all of you.
Bounce? Interesting. Do you just put a bunch of the dryer sheets around the wires? Or do you spray it on the wires? I have never heard of that before…very interesting.