Fresh Fields

September – A slightly quieter month in Osada. We’re largely between crops that I can harvest. There are lots of Potato and Sugar Beet jobs in September, but the only crop I can cut is Soya Beans. But there’s a lot to do on my own farm, so I won’t be twiddling my thumbs😅

I started the day helping out in Field 41 once more – cultivating the land ready for the next crop…

…After just doing the harvest there in the previous month, it was good to get a second look so soon. I really think this will be a good field to purchase in the future despite a couple of minor issues with adjacent trees that impact on working around the edges.

Back on my own farm and I sowed my Winter Barley in fields 1…

and 2. After which I rolled both to compact the soil around the seeds…

…preventing soil erosion and slightly improving the yield. The rain arrived as I worked but that’s not an issue when rolling. Checking the contracts list I found a job to harvest Soya Beans in field 69. That’s the second largest field in the area and would be quite a challenge. I decided to take the job because it’s close to the delivery point which reduces travel time. All I had to do was wait for the rain to stop😅

After the rain had passed, I got started. I divided the field into areas. In this shot you can see me working the first area…

…The area beyond the line of trees and the wind turbine is also part of the field – giving an idea of the scale of the task in hand! Fortunately Soya Beans don’t fill the harvester’s tank as quickly as Wheat, for example, and I was able to cut quite a lot of crop for each tank full. Even so, I didn’t finish the harvest until the start of the next week! That’s the last of the beans being loaded in the trailer…

I rested and then made a late start doing some work on fields 12 and 14. I ran the cultivator over 12 once more to smooth the surface following last month’s stone removal…

…I now realise that I probably didn’t need to do that – we live and learn! Then I cultivated 14…

Late in the week, with rain forecast, I decided to take a break. At the start of the 3rd week I took another Soya harvest in a smaller field before deciding to mow the grass by the yard…

…It’s quite a process with that old cutter! It left me with a lot of time to think as I tedded the grass…

…There has to be a better way especially when I take contract jobs on larger fields. The Baler produced 31 bales from this cut…

…earning me close to €2k. At this rate I’ll be in a position to buy Field 40 or 41 by Christmas! But with only a mowing contract available for the last week of the month, I decided to look again at the mowing options. Browsing the catalogue I found this SiP 300 Disc Cutter…

…Now, that’s a price I can afford and if I sell the clippers and take the mowing contract over on field 53, I might even still increase my bank balance! I decided to make the purchase and took the mowing job…

…I have made Hay in field 53 before, so I knew how long the job should take. Last time we finished around 22:00 after delivering the bales to the biomass plant. This time with the new cutter and a dedicated bale trailer, we were finished and home for tea before 19:00. And my bank balance was improved by around another €2k – Saving time and making money!😎👍

This latest purchase is a part of the farm’s gradual evolution. Some older machines have been replaced by newer equipment better able to do the job and in a couple of cases I have bought modern equipment – this SiP and the Fliegl trailer. Older items that can still do a good job will soldier on like the Baler, Tedder and Windrower. Just like on many real-world farms, I won’t be doing change for change’s sake. The main target now is to get the money together for the next field purchase as the expansion continues. October is next and I’m expecting my Barley crop to sprout along with weeds. I’m also hoping for some harvesting contracts for Corn and Sunflowers that will help me on my way to the next field. Then we’ll be into late Autumn and Winter with our stored grains to sell. At present the future is rosy on Osada😊👍