Iowa - the Beautiful

My nephew, a real Iowa Tractor Boy, has a Crab Apple Tree growing in his front yead. These pictures were taken on May 14, 2009.

Of course the bees flourish in this type environment. To see the bees better simply click on this image.

Former Iowa Tractor Boy Farming

Everyone knows that the publisher of this Blog grew up in Iowa but now resides in Georgia. The one acre lot that also contains his home is filled with trees and a small area along the street with real grass that needs mowing.

A few weeks ago the lawn looked rather sick so the decision was made to apply some 33-3-3 to improve the color of the grass. The grass has quickly overcome the weeds and with the recent rains has flourished. Here you see the Former Iowa Tractor Boy mowing during a break in the rains. The grass does look good and now requires mowing every 2 1/2 days. The "farm" equipment you see here is a 22inch, six blade McClane reel lawn mower. It does an excellent job in keeping the Bermuda grass looking good.

Turkey Hunting

Iowa Tractor Boys and Free Time

We have all heard the adage "All Work and No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy." Here is a picture of an Iowa Tractor Boy with a Turkey that he has just harvested.

Some of you may know this young man who is also a former Sailor in our United States Navy. While he served he was a Gunner's Mate. That stated, I would remind the readers here that he was an excellent shot even before he joined the U. S. Navy.

Old Time Farming Equipment

In a previous post I discussed the modern high tech methods that today's Iowa Tractor Boys employ to use chemicals to control weeds in a most effective manner.

Today's post will show you how the Iowa Farm scene looked in 1940. I was born in 1940 but I do recall when my Dad acquired his first tractor in 1944. He farmed 80 acres and retained his team of horses in addition to the new Allis Chalmers Tractor such as you see in the first page of this Blog.

This picture was acquired by a relative of mine who lives in Clayton County, Iowa. It shows the draft horse and some farm equipment from the 1940s and prior time frame. The Amish have a rather large settlement in Southwest Clayton County and they still farm using the old methods and equipment. Certainly interesting to see how things were done a mere 70 years ago.

When you view this picture and reflect back it is realized that one of the reasons that Farm Families during the first half of the last century had a large number of children. Children were a great source of labor as they grew up. Of course my Dad always stated that we were cheaper than a hired hand and that one pair of shoes usually lasted at least a year.

I enjoyed the opportunity to reflect back on the past as a Former Iowa Tractor Boy.

Technology At Work

Eliminating Weeds in the Corn Fields

Two Young Iowa Tractor Boys prepare to spray the Corn Fields with pre-emergence chemicals to prevent the weeks from growing.

This sprayer has a 60 feet boom and it is operated by GPS. It shows a map of the field and shows any patches that are missed as the Operator goes along, automatically stops the spray out of any one or more nozzles if spray has already been applied on that parcel. An Iowa Tractor Boy is running this with touch screen. The blue things on the end drop foam to indicate where he last was. You can see drops of foam. The farmer plugs in how much they want applied per acre and it keeps track. The Operator can also control it manually.




Here's the GPS screen in the tractor with the sprayer. The sun was shining which prevented the photojournalist from obtaining a clear picture. The green outlines the field that the Operator was spraying. The green outline was obtained by driving around the field to create the borders. The plus sign in the circle is the current location at when this picture was taken. It filled in green as the spray was applied. It is barely visable but you might be able to see some very thin white lines in the bottom green part. That is where we missed spraying. The operator may have been over too far. Or side winds blowing prevented the weed chemical from falling where it should have. The 15.0 at the top right is 15 gallons per acre. The other indicators provide additional data for the operator. In the fall, they move this screen to the combine and it tells the Iowa Tractor Boy Operator the number of bushels per acre at every spot.

All I know as a Former Iowa Tractor Boy is that today's modern equipment is very technical but I understand that it allows the Farmer to use less chemicals and to reduce their operating cost.