The partnership of Anderson and Johnson farms began in the spring of 2009. We formed the partnership to farm the 200 acre Drown place in Parkers Prairie MN and be legit when Uncle Sam came knocking on the door.
Jim and Dee approached me a few years back as I was saving a '60 Sedan De Ville sinking into the earth of Otter Tail County. I laughed at the idea, but revisited it when Dave suggested we farm it together. Since Dave is a real farmer with years of experience, this might work out well. We survived 2009 intact and decided to try again in 2010.
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| A sign? |
Spring Planting 2010
Although we intended to rotate to wheat from soybeans, the price of wheat compared to the inputs forced us to plant beans for a second year. It was the right choice and the beans flourished with the abundant spring and summer rains. However the fires in Russia drove the wheat prices up and up and up. Farming is full of surprises.
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| Beans with innoculant |
We loaded up the Ford with Pioneer beans from Red River Marketing and began the 40 mile trek to PP. Dave drove his IH 856 tractor towing the grain drill on the transport while I drove the IH 4366 with the chisel plow close behind. Last year we no till planted the fields and didn't fair so well with the aggressive weeds - lamb's quarter and pig weed being the worst offenders. Ann picked us up at PP and brought us back to their place for the remaining machinery. I took my truck and bought groceries in Alec.
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| Digging with the 4366 |
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| Unloading grain drill from transport |
Eventually all was planted and we started the migration back to Dave's farm. I strapped my Honda ATC 200X on the chisel plow and headed out. I arrived at Dave's while Ann and the kids were planting their garden. I hopped on the 200X and headed back to Parkers via 30 miles of mostly dirt roads. Ann and the kids thought I was nuts. Well, maybe I am but the trip back on the ATC was a blast!! I will do it again during the harvest.
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| Essential Farm Machinery |
Once all the machinery was back at Dave's I headed home. We prayed for rain and our prayers were answered. Thanks God!!
Summer Expansion!
This farming operation could not have happened if it weren't for Dave's expertise and machinery - combines, tractors, diggers, grain drills and vast farming knowledge. Thanks Buddy!!
We decided to keep our eyes open for low cost machinery to increase our slim profit margin. While on the motorcycle trip in June, we spotted this sweet little Spra-Coupe in Reynolds ND at the Olson Farm. Daniel gave us a good deal on the used coupe - thanks Daniel! Now we need to haul it home and prep it for the 2011 season. This little coupe will save us a bundle on application fees.
Dave keeps his machinery in great mechanical condition. However, it is machinery and therefore subject to the hand of Murphy. Dave found a "junk" IH 503 full of useful parts for maintenance and upgrade. We had a blast tearing into our 503. Looks like a flock of crows got to it.
It is now September 21st and soon the harvest. Stay tuned.
October 14, 2010.....back in the office
I now sit at my desk (during lunch) and continue this story. We finished the harvest last night - Wednesday October 13th!!!! Let me start from the beginning.
Monday October 4th
On Monday, we finished the harvest of beans from Dave's rented land. We enjoyed dry fall weather and success with the IH 403 and IH 503. Dave, Rad and Ann worked the combines while I kept on trucking the grain into the Elbow Lake Elevator. Once Dave's fields were completed, we headed to Parkers Prairie. Dave drove the #503 while I took the Ford grain truck and my dad drove the new IH grain truck. Thanks Dad!!!!
Not long after we arrived at Jim and Dee's, Dave called from 8 miles out - stranded as the IH 503 lost it's water pump. I jumped in the CRV, picked up Dave and we headed down Gravel Pit Road to scavenge the water pump from our parts combine. We stopped in Melby for a $2.00 bottle of pop. I think the folks in Melby saw us coming. However there is a cool, 60's vintage Ford Falcon wagon sitting in a yard there. Sure would be fun to throw Dave's old 460 Ford into the Falcon.
Summer Expansion!
This farming operation could not have happened if it weren't for Dave's expertise and machinery - combines, tractors, diggers, grain drills and vast farming knowledge. Thanks Buddy!!
We decided to keep our eyes open for low cost machinery to increase our slim profit margin. While on the motorcycle trip in June, we spotted this sweet little Spra-Coupe in Reynolds ND at the Olson Farm. Daniel gave us a good deal on the used coupe - thanks Daniel! Now we need to haul it home and prep it for the 2011 season. This little coupe will save us a bundle on application fees.
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| Anderson and Johnson Farm's first machinery purchase |
Dave keeps his machinery in great mechanical condition. However, it is machinery and therefore subject to the hand of Murphy. Dave found a "junk" IH 503 full of useful parts for maintenance and upgrade. We had a blast tearing into our 503. Looks like a flock of crows got to it.
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| 503 parts combine in the mist. Pongo on guard |
It is now September 21st and soon the harvest. Stay tuned.
Harvest
October 14, 2010.....back in the office
I now sit at my desk (during lunch) and continue this story. We finished the harvest last night - Wednesday October 13th!!!! Let me start from the beginning.
Monday October 4th
On Monday, we finished the harvest of beans from Dave's rented land. We enjoyed dry fall weather and success with the IH 403 and IH 503. Dave, Rad and Ann worked the combines while I kept on trucking the grain into the Elbow Lake Elevator. Once Dave's fields were completed, we headed to Parkers Prairie. Dave drove the #503 while I took the Ford grain truck and my dad drove the new IH grain truck. Thanks Dad!!!!
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| The original Gear Daddy! Ma and Dad Johnson came up to visit the boys and enjoy a day or two on the farm. As we drove the grain trucks, mom followed in the perfectly clean Honday CRV through Grant County and into Otter Tail County along the hilly curvy hwy 135 past Inspiration Peak. The CRV didn't stay clean for long. Any way, we arrived at Jim and Dee's, parked the grain trucks and talked to Dee about their exciting barn overhaul project. They are rebuilding an 1888 barn with a new concrete floor, new roof and new siding. Most of the original structure will be reused and remain visible from the inside. The 100+ year old dovetail joints are impressive. |
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| 1888 craftsmanship |
Not long after we arrived at Jim and Dee's, Dave called from 8 miles out - stranded as the IH 503 lost it's water pump. I jumped in the CRV, picked up Dave and we headed down Gravel Pit Road to scavenge the water pump from our parts combine. We stopped in Melby for a $2.00 bottle of pop. I think the folks in Melby saw us coming. However there is a cool, 60's vintage Ford Falcon wagon sitting in a yard there. Sure would be fun to throw Dave's old 460 Ford into the Falcon.
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| Leaky water pump By the time time we arrived at the Anderson farm, the CRV was full of dirt and a few pop bottles. Thanks again mom and dad for the loaner. We pulled off the H2O pump and I installed it on Tuesday morning while Dave met Titan Machinery to unload our new used IH 1460! Wow, Anderson and Johnson Farms is a 20% shareholder in a combine! +6 and a turbo to the cylinder index. The other 80% is owned by a large farming operation in Ashby MN.
Tuesday October 5th. Once the 1460 was unloaded (thanks for the delivery Titan) and setup, we ran two combines each with 20 ft headers and filled the grain trucks like madmen. The weather remained perfect and we continued to make tracks. Gappa Oil made deliveries of gasoline and diesel fuel and kept us moving along. Ann arrived to take over the 503 and I resumed grain hauling into the Parkers Prairie elevator using both the Ford and the International grain trucks. All was going well until I returned to see the 503 laying low in the middle of the 80 acre field. Smack dab in the middle! The cab looked a little crunched and the 503 was listing to the left. Soon I found out that the left side duals had fallen off due to sheared lug studs. Ann was a little shaken up but OK. We thank God this didn't happen as Dave headed northbound through Parkers on Hwy 29!
Above photo without the lug studs, photo below with the lug studs. Sure happy they decided to stay on through town. Many farmers since then have told us of similar experiences with wheels on their combines.
Wednesday October 6th Dave continued to run the IH 1460 while Rad and I worked to raise the 503 out of the dirt and get the duals out from under the ladder. Digging and blocking and jacking with a 20 ton bottle jack was the only way. Slowly the 503 inched it's way up.
I ran into town to see if Prairie Implement had a heavy duty portable jack to lift the 503. Darcy from Prairie Implement came with his Massey Ferguson tractor and a PTO driven hoist. The hoist was no where near enough to lift the 503 from the ground, but Darcy provided much encouragement and patience as we raised the 503 enough for the Massey to pull the duals free from beneath the 503. Thanks again Darcy!!!! Soon darkness came and it was time for me to return to work in the cities.
Thursday October 7th Dave and Rad spent the day digging a trench alongside the 503 using a Bobcat from Dave's buddy. Over night the 503 had slid a few inches. Not enough to fall off the wood blocks, but enough to cause a scare. After another 12 hours of work,a new planetary gear drive was installed on the left side with a full complement of lug studs. The duals were reinstalled and the 503 was driven out of its grave!!! Thanks to Dave, Rad and the Bobcat.
Friday October 8th. Dave and Rad continued to harvest the north 26 acres and move to the west 40 acres. The elevator in Parkers Prairie was full to capacity and they weren't taking any non contracted or cash beans - you got to be kidding me, this is harvest season !!! Another monkey wrench thrown into the works !!!
Saturday October 9th. Dave went back to the farm to combine enough to fill the Ford and International grain trucks. When full, he put Ford into a barn and covered the IH with its roll tarp. Not much else he could do without a place to store or unload the grain. We continued to search for ways of selling the grain or storing it nearby. Seems that all the storage in the Parkers Prairie area was full. We found a few grain bins close by, but the owner was using the bins to store bikes. What is a bushel of old bikes worth? Sunday October 10th. We hoped to arrange for use of a semi truck and trailer from a guy at Dave's church but it didn't work out. Maybe because we communicated by texting each other during Sunday School to determine if the truck was available. Hmmmm...... Monday October 11th. Not much happening. No storage, no large trucks and no help from the elevator in Parkers. We continued to pray. Tuesday October 12th. God continued to answer our prayers - using Jerry again!! Jerry is the same guy who loaned us his White tractor back in 2009. Now he was loaning us his semi truck and grain trailer!!! Thanks Jerry!!!!!!
Dave and Rad headed over to Parkers driving Jerry's Volvo. Once at Parkers, they ran both the combines and quickly filled the International and the semi trailer. Then off to the Elbow Lake elevator. This elevator has plenty of capacity and gladly took our beans - at a very good price too!!! The inner dual blew on the IH grain truck and Rad successfully limped it over to Dave's farm. Thanks for the heads up driving Rad! Wednesday October 13th I headed up to Parkers in hopes of dumping the beans still in the Ford grain truck at the sold out Parkers elevator. I prayed, then called the elevator. After much begging and pleading, they allowed us to dump the Ford...........and only the Ford. I received this information while sitting in the Target parking lot in Rogers MN. With this good news, I set the cruise control at 75 mph and pointed the Escort to Parkers Prairie MN. Even at 75 this little car with 200,000 miles gets 30+ mpg. Not too bad. Finally I arrived at the farm, ran over to the Ford, turned the key and got............nothing! The key had been left on and the battery was dead! Jim as always was a huge help. He took his deep cell battery out of his Lund and got the truck running. However it ran extremely rough, so off to NAPA for points and a condenser!
Wow, were the folks in Parkers going to change their mind about our delivery of 400 bushels in the Ford? I was starting to get a bit nervous. Anyway, back at the farm, Jim installed the points/condenser and using his knowledge and Snap-On timing kit, set the point gap, the dwell and the timing. Thanks Jim!!!!!!! Then Jim and I jumped into the Ford and headed to Parkers. After acquiring the gross weight and receiving the weigh ticket, we headed to the large receiver in the cement pad where you dump the grain. No one there!! More stress. I left the truck on the pad and headed into the office - praying! The folks inside were as nice as always. Arvid walked me to the truck telling me about his recent elk hunt to Montana. Shot one at 400 yds using a Winchester 300 WSSM. We discussed ballistics a bit and I told Arvid I'd rather have a .300 Win Mag or a .300 Weatherby. We successfully dumped the grain and got our ticket filled with a net of about 388 bushels at $11.59 a bushel. Enough to buy a few .300 Mags..........of course I didn't buy one.
We left the elevator happy as can be, stopped at Rick's Standard and filled the grain truck with fuel and bought all their pizzas. We met Dave and Rad at the farm, wolfed down the pizzas and started to harvest. We needed to fill the semi and the Ford. Again God provided just enough space in the two trucks to finish the harvest! That night we dropped the full grain trucks at Dave and Ann's and I returned home.
On Thursday Dave brought the loads into Elbow Lake. We kept about 350 bushels in Dave's grain bin and sold them for March '11 delivery.
Summary of 2010 2010 was a good year for us. The weather was perfect with timely rains during the season and none during the harvest. Although we prepped the combines early in the year, we experienced mechanical problems as you'd expect with any mechanical device 40 years old (in fact we wished our bodies still worked as good as these combines). However the parts 503 really worked about great and saved us a pile of money.
Next year we intend to spray the fields ourselves and save that hefty application fee. The man we hire from Henning MN does an excellent job, but if we can save a few thousand dollars by spraying the fields ourselves, then let's give it a go. We didn't expect to be stuck with 60+ acres of beans and nowhere to sell them. Although we eventually sold all the beans, we must be aware that future crop storage may be required. Do we buy some used grain bins? Rent space somewhere? Not sure. Thanks God for the good harvest, great landlords, great business partner, family support and for keeping us safe. At this time we expect to plant wheat in 2011.
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