Hello, iama farmer currently sitting in a tractor planting corn, ask me almost anything!

ever get "plow head"? head while plowing?

I will neither confirm nor deny.

This seems like an incredibly terrible decision.. Also, does she, in fact, find your tractor sexually stimulating?

The girlfriend hates the tractor because of her sever asthma.

Former farmer here who chucked it in for computer science. What has kept you farming?

Well I actually graduated from college with a finance degree last year and a few health issues with people involving the farm led to me farming.

Edit: to whomever gifted me Reddit gold for this, thank you very much.

Thats a pretty good excuse to be fair, gotta help out in times of need. May I wish good health to those peoples

Yes things are starting to look better.

Do you think that, when everyone is back on their feet, you'll give up farming and return to a more 9-5 job?

That is a question I find asking myself a lot with no answer.

Would you grow hemp if it became fully legal as a cash crop?

As good as the ditch weed grows I'd sure give it a try.

How likely is it to get gonorrhea from a tractor?

I...I... I don't even know how to respond to this.

How are tractors born?

Well when a daddy tractor and a mommy tractor love each other very much they make a baby tractor.

Hi !

How long do you stay on a tractor a day? Do you sing or listen to music while being on the tractor ?

Today I have been in here 9.5 hours so far and while planting I don't like the radio on so I can hear if something isn't right.

How do you stay sane?

Like u/JakeRadden said Reddit.

What is the make/model of tractor?

Does your farm grow anything other then corn?

Currently in a Case IH magnum 275 and we grow milo, wheat, soy beans, raise cattle and hay.

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South central Nebraska and yes I do enjoy it.

Whereabouts? I'm in Kearney, born in Lexington.

About an hour south.

Nice; have you gotten a later start planting cause of the weather?

Yes we had been done with everything for two weeks this time last year.

It seems like since I was a kid the seasons are later than they used to be. Like winter was in December when I was young; it snowed reliably and was over by February at the latest. Nowadays winter is January to whenever. Snow in April? What the hell?

Yes talk about throwing a monkey wrench into things.

I'm in the panhandle, but we have the same setup going on. How many days of water are you getting this year?

WE have to use our 2 inches between July 1 and August 15.

sex machine

Looks familiar.

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It mostly goes to cattle. Yes finally broke down an got GPS this year. It still does require quite a bit of interaction, mostly helps keep the rows straight.

Do you ever plant at night with your GPS?

Yes. It is very handy for that.

How many and what other tractors do you have?

We have: Case IH - 275, 260, 235, 135 8940, 7230, and 2290 Combine 5088. John Deere - 4470, 4450, 2- 4760 a payloader and a mid size tractor with a loader which the number escapes me. The same goes for a New Holland Loader. Farmall 5 -656 and a 657 Diesel not sure on the number. And that's what I can think of off the top of my head.

Case IH all day. Bleed Red.

Why are Case IH tractors red? So the repairman can find them in the field.

Nothing Kills a Deere like a Magnum!

How much of your job is automated by the machinery?

During planting the only automated part is the steering.

I know nothing about farm machinery. Can you explain how the steering is automated?

Well there is a GPS unit mounted onto the top of the tractor, and it is wired and plumed into the tractor, their is hydraulics set up in the steering column of the tractor that is tied into the GPS monitor. We pay 1500 a year for a GPS subscription that gives us accuracy within 4 inches. You go through the monitor and set up the equipment that you are going to use it with and set up your calibrations, then you drive in the field and set your A-B line which is the direction you want to go then it sets up swathes your back and forth, and will keep you on track while you go.

Interesting! I never knew before that such a thing existed.

So what exactly are you doing while the equipment is driving itself? And, before the advent of automated steering, would you need two people on the equipment (one to drive, one to do whatever else you're doing) or could one person do both things at once?

I am looking back to make sure the seed beds are correct, that everything is going smoothly and no hic ups along the way. Checking seed populations and a few other things. Before the GPS one person still did it all but before it was done with an 8 row planter as opposed to a 12 and you had to go slower.

What do you do if there's something in the way? Do you still have manual control when you need it?

You still have manual control if needed. You can also set up obstacles and it will go around like big rocks and such, large items like ditches and such manual control is used.

Google self driving car.

Kidding, I bet its just GPS based and has a preprogrammed route that it follows. Since it doesn't need to worry about traffic laws or hitting anything, its a pretty simple automation task.

I once asked a cop if I programed a path home from the bar and i sat in the buddy seat would it be possible to get a DUI, and he said only if I needed to touch the steering wheel would I be able to get one.

Wish the ground over here in Iowa would dry up so I could spend all day in a tractor! No questions, just support from an Iowa farm girl!

Well you could send a rain my way. We are limited to 2 inches of canal irrigation and 10.5 from well. So any rain would help. Our last good rain was July 24 of last year.

1) What's your typical breakfast?

2) How long have you been a farmer?

3) How does your typical day go?

4) What phone are you using?

I typically don't eat breakfast except on Sundays.

Since I was twelve I have been helping farm. Currently 24, I actually did not plan on becoming a farmer.

Is there such a thing as a typical day in farming? It's more like seasons with odd jobs to take care of in between, for today got up at 5 am got my planter loaded with seed and ready to start when gets a little warmer. Then got my fathers spray tractor ready, delivered some seed, then planting since 9 am.

delivered some seed huh

Ya neighbor was short a few bags so helped him out.

Ya gotta have breakfast. That shit sorts you out for the rest of the day. Just smash some fruit or something.

I know it's bad but I typically have junk food around.

See any good movies lately?

Actually I saw Iron Man 3 when I was out of town for my brother's college graduation.

Did you like it? I thought it was okay. It was just the same jokes as the last movies reused.

I liked it better than the second one, I don't care for Don Cheedle as Rhodes.

Edit: changed and to as

My fiancé is a farmer too! Soybeans, corn, hogs, and cattle. Just wanted to shout out and let you know I respect the business. How many acres do you farm?

We farm around 8000 acres.

8000 acres! That's a huge plot of land! I just went on Google Maps and measured out about 12.5 square miles and I can't imagine that whole area being one huge farm.

its not all in one spot its in two different states, and four different counties.

How do you decide how to make your route, is it always the exact same or do you try different ways.

You usually go the way where water will flow the best watering the most crops

You should post a picture from the tractor

I did post one from earlier in the week.

Fuck I wish I had done this AMA. We got 700 acres of corn into the ground before it SNOWED here in central Iowa. Ground is just now getting dry enough to get back in the field... we're going kinda stir crazy waiting.

So questions I guess: any notill practices? Or is Nebraska flat enough that you don't.

You said you had a red tractor, is the planter also red? How many rows? 30" rows? Center fill?

We have 1800 acres of Corn/Soybeans and run entirely JD green stuff. Just bought RTK for the planter tractor to try strip tillage.

Ya all we got were light skiffs, maybe in other parts of NE its flat. This stuff I'm farming is very hilly, with lots of washouts. We like no till because it keeps the moisture in the ground. The planter is red as well it is a 1230 stacker bar, so it does have 30 inch rows. we have row unit boxes, we have to have a 3 point hitch and non pull type to get into some fields.

Best of luck to you this year.

How good is your income? How do you like to spend it?

What's your favourite thing to do besides plowin'? ;)

What's your favourite food?

Income varies per year, you can make money as well as lose it, unfortunately last year was a bust, but when I do have some money a new truck is good, or add to my gun collection.

I do like harvest, or boating on the lake.

Favorite is steak, and the good thing with raising cows, is there is plenty to go around.

Have you thought about growing Hops and Barley and starting a trade in beer making? Lots of money there.

And I can tell you're a manly man because of steak... I do love a nice big tender steak.

Do you have a beard?

I did have a glorious one until I had to shave it off because the girlfriend went on strike.

No where close to take barley or hops. All you profit would go into trucking.

Have you ever played Farming Simulator 2013, can you give me some tips?

As a farmer myself, I can say I hate that game... My friends play it constantly. The last thing you want to do at the end of a 10 hour day of planting crops..is plant crops...

I haven't played it since July.

Farmer from CANADA here. Your running 8000 acres, how much are you putting in corn and how many ton the acre are you averaging? We run a dairy farm with about 200 acres of land, a lot smaller than your farm.

Not sure what you mean ton an acre, but for seed population we try for 30,000 kernels an acre on irrigated and 18-20,000 seeds an acre dryland. We are putting 3500 in as corn.

Have you considered variable rate seed populations based on soil texture, CEC, and organic matter? We use it here in Washington on grain corn and sweet corn and it has boosted our yields and quality.

We aren't that fancy, but we do adjust the population if its clay ground or sandy.

What size tires does it have? (I'm a tire guy)

We have a few different sizes. Ill have dimensions for you tomorrow.

Have you been cornholed, cornholed someone or played cornhole?

No.

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They all leach different nutrients, that is why we do a lot of crop rotation.

How bad was the drought on your operation last year and what is your outlook on it this year?

It was pretty bad, talk about taking it in the shorts. This year is even worse, because our water usage terms have changed, for instance on canal irrigation last year we could use 8 inches of water and this year you only get 2, and for well irrigation it use to be you got 45 inches of water in 5 years to divide how you wanted, so you could take more on a dry year and less on a wet, but now you only get 10.5 inches of water a year, but can only take carry over on a wet year.

How economically stable/rewarding has farming been for you? Did you need a lot of startup capital (eg. for buying tactors, land) ?

Economically it is ok, last year was a bust, and yes a lot of start up capital is needed for this, Land id over 10,000 an acre at the moment, tractors 200,000 and up combines 500,000+ its all expensive.

Do need a special liscense to drive a tractor? Are there age requirements? What's the top speed?

No special license is requires. It is preferred if you have a drivers license, as far as I know there are no are requirements, I started driving one when I was 12. The planting tractor has a top speed of 25, and our john deere loader goes 20, and our new 260 goes 30, all speeds in MPH.

Do you lead a simple life? Do you enjoy farming? Would you ever consider hiring a person just "passing through" as a farm hand?

Its fairly simple, yes. We kinda hired a passing through person once, and never again, I have seen lazy but this guy took it to a whole new lever, as in able to screw up a wet dream.

Do you have auto steer?

Yes, just this year!

How good are the Huskers gonna be?

Lets hope better than last year.

What kind of corn do you plant? Does it get eaten by humans or animals?

What are your thoughts on federal farm subsidies?

We have several different verities. Mycogen, NK, Fontenelle, Dekalb, Big cob, a few others.

How much do you receive annually in subsidies?

Ill let you know when I get one. Only money the government gave me was for tearing out some fence.

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I am 24, and if you have family that started a farm that is the best way to go, if that is a no then lots of money is required.

how many bushels per acre?

planting or yield?

How many tractors do you all run at once during planting season? I assume you can't do all those acres with only one case?

How long a window do you have, and how many if those 8000 acres get planted?

How many tractors do you have, and how big? And, did you put the GPS on an older one or buy new to get it?

Good luck!

We run 2 for 39 days for corn, only one has GPS, and 3500 acres will be corn. As for the # of tractors we have I mentioned it somewhere else here. We put it on one that we had that was GPS ready.

are you american? are you using monsanto seeds and/or roundup?

Yes I am American, we ten to stick with Dow and use glyphosate.

the t.v. show 'green acres', thumbs up or thumbs down?

personally, i think it's hilarious.

Little before my time, but I found what I had seen rather boring.

What's the best, and worst parts of your lifestyle. What do you wish you could have but can't, and what do you wish you could do without ? Ill admit I've got an interest in the lifestyle and would appreciate the input!

Best is the freedom, We have farms spread out in two different states and 4 counties. So there is vast differences in the scenery. I like open areas. Worst is the hours during the busy parts 14 hour days are not uncommon, so family time is nil at those times. Wish I could have more free time. I could do without all the expensive stuff, that stuff adds up fast.

I'm a Canadian and I want to work on a farm. Any farming jobs available in your area?

Not off the top of my head.

How does somebody go about looking for work on a farm?

Ads in papers, most people are local that work on them.

i farm 2500 acres in ohio. some of your claims are suspicious

Like?

Is it GMO corn?

Most field corn is genetically modified.