On 05/26/2017 1:33 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
writes:

If had the time, it would be interesting to try to actually delve into
the data itself, but it's planting season and then harvest and then and
and then and and...

Hey, at least you're not walking the rows of soybeans with a cornknife
cutting lamb's quarters and ragweed. Oh my aching back.

My grandfather refused to use herbicides, and when the beans got
tall enough, the cultivator on the Farmall B was no longer useful,
so the grandkids earned a bit of spending money.

He also was using a binder and threshing machine until the late 70's,
hot, sweaty, dusty work - particularly baling up the pile of straw.

Well, we're pretty small operation by today's standards for out here but
not _that_ backward, no... What was above-average-sized when growing
up is now on the smaller end for those without off-farm income.

We were/are all dryland so no beans; our row crops were milo and various
feed crops for silage. We did still use the old string-tie binder for
at least some feed well into the '70s as well, bringing them to a
stationary chopper for use as dry matter during winter to mix with ensilage.

Were doing the row crop work with Farmall M's then--4 row lister, knife
sled and we then used a set of small upturned sweeps to bust back the
ridge as generally the last cultivation pass. Only rarely had the
cultivator out if got too weedy again after the sled pass and still too
early to throw back.

Problem with beans back then was there was no Roundup ready trait so any
broadleaf herbicide to kill the weeds would also get the beans. That at
least was advantage for milo/feed crops; they were grass-related and
2-4,D-tolerant. Altho nobody sprayed much back then like do today.

When we moved to TN was an area still raising a lot of tobacco -- they
let school out early in spring to let kids help with planting which was
done by hand and then again in fall for picking. Was plenty of hoe and
other handwork for 'em all in between as well. Really knew had had it
easy as a kid when watching them...

That was late '70s early '80s still...almost no tobacco left by time we
came back in '99.

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