We have a farm to the South of us and this year they planted corn. There was the initial disking of the ground to prepare it for seed . Turn up the sound for this video!
A few days later it was seeded. But then this happened.
We worried that the seeds might not survive with this cold and snow. But my husband and I are not farmers. The corn did survive.
And it began to grow and grow.
Then in the autumn it matured and the squirrels had a marvelous time feasting on the corn cobs.
Then yesterday the huge combine harvester could be heard in the field. I put on a coat (it is cold here now) and went out with my phone to capture some of the action, The harvester cuts down the stalks, takes the cobs and removes the corn kernels, stores them, then spits out the stalks and corn cob husks. When the harvester has filled up with corn kernels it funnels them out onto a trailer pulled by a truck that follows alongside the harvester. At the start of the video you can see the yellow stream of corn coming out of the harvester. It is quite a sight to see this machine taking down the corn so do take a look! They were still out harvesting in the dark. When I went to bed at 10pm I could see the lights of the harvester in another field. Farmers work long hours!
Today the field was disked and next spring a new crop will be planted. My guess is that next year it will be soy beans. I hope the squirrels have stored away some kernels for the winter.
Yes indeed…farmers add so much to the life cycle of so many animals…including humans. Your posts are always so much fun.
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Thank you . I’m glad you enjoyed the post!
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Watching the combines at work is fascinating. Since a combine is quite costly, there are harvesting businesses. They only work at harvest time and have 4-5 combines. You see a lot of them working wheat fields and corn fields in the early autumn. Nomadic, but very romantic in terms of the gypsy lifestyle at harvest time. Very hard work too.
I remember a TV movie made about the autumn harvest with Dennis Weaver and Kurt Russell around 1970-71. It was the family business with Dennis as the patriarch and Kurt as the oldest son, with a father-son conflict overlaying the harvest. Kurt leaves because of dad’s ways. Dennis gets killed in a combine accident towards the end of the movie, Kurt comes back and takes over the family business and discovers he is his father’s son – runs it the same way with the same sayings.
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I have ever heard about the combine gypsies. The guys in my videos are locals. The property belongs to am older farmer and the guys doing the combine work are from another farm up the road. We also have nieghbours to the north of us who have huge silos and a fortune in machinery. They farm a few thousand acres but only about 200 actually elong to them. That film sounds interesting. Thanks for the comment David!
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It’s really good that the seeds survived the winter. You’ve captured the mechanized farming so well. I do hope the squirrels stored enough, it’s a cute squirrel picture.
In my country, only a fraction of the farmers use such mechanization mostly the big ranches and some organizations. Hopefully in time many small scale farmers will attain such efficiency.
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Those machines cost a huge amount of money so farmers carry quite a debt load. But it certainly makes farming very efficient. Thank you so much for your comment.
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It’s nice to capture the turn of the year in this way, its is somehow reassuring!
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Thanks for sharing this interesting farm work. Very different from when I grew up in the 1960s. Today’s machines are huge and they can clean a field quickly.
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Yes they are huge and amazing to see how they go through a field.
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Wow! Farmers do work long hard hours. Thanks for sharing and I can see easy since they are your neighbors! I feel badly they’ve been injured, and oh my, so sorry for the death. They definitely deserve high praise, tough work and am glad we have all the farmers we do in this world!! ❤️ The squirrel photo is adorable! 🐿️🤠
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Yes the squirrels are a lot of fun to watch.
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Fantastic to know these informations of modern day farming that too in another part of the world. Your photography skill showed the squirrel in a way to love.
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The squirrels are very endearing and entertaining. I’m glad you enjoyed seeing some of the farming from Ontario!
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Such lovely photos… very nice how there is the snow one and the sunny blue-sky ones too, your words bring the seasons together 🙂 As for the squirrels… as cute as ever!
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Today we have snow Nicole! but by the end of the week it will warm up and the snow will be gone. It is up and down at this time of year. I’m glad you liked the little squirrel. Thanks for commenting!
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Great post, it’s made me nostalgic for farm country. Farmers are an impressive breed.
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Thanks for this comment. They are seriously hard workers and also they can have really bad accidents in those big machines. This past year the farmer to the north of us injured his hand and had a lot of trouble with it all summer and fall. Also a young farmer was killed when his tractor tipped over and he was crushed. So my hat’s off to them all.
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Wonderful to see the cycle from seed to crop Anne and the photograph of the squirrel munching on the corn is adorable! xxx
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It is the cycle of life around us for sure Xenia! Today we have snow and the squirrels were up early and getting the seeds dropped by the birds at our feeder. The corn field is now filled with about 100 Canada geese who are pecking about for bits of corn.
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Wonderful montage, Anne!
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Thank you !
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My pleasure.
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I won’t tell my squirrels about this post… They would be soooo jealous! Hehehehehe
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Well this morning we have snow and they were up early looking for seeds that had fallen from the bird feeder!
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You’ve managed to catch the entire circle 😉
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Yes. It is right next to us so it is easy to observe. Thanks for commenting .
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