This is a "low water" creek crossing...of course pickup trucks cannot cross until the water is much lower. This allows us to reduce the amount of highway miles that our farm machinery must travel. The creek has a mud/sand bottom and even these big tractors can get stuck here.
This day, the water was even deeper! This crossing saves us a lot of time, so it is worth some added risk to our machinery...
After planting, every field is given a shallow ditching with this rotary ditcher that cuts drains with spinning blades that throw the soil to one side...hopefully the operator has chosen downwind!
Several years ago three grandsons , two dogs and one black cat were helping me dig dirt...very good help!
Gavin is pushing dirt with a D6H we had for several years before we sold it. Excavators are fun to operate...dozers...not so much.
Cleaning up an old farmstead.
These high voltage (365,000 volts) Ameren towers are a pain to have to farm around. We have 19 towers to contend with. Here I drove between the legs to try and plant as close as I can. This shows why the tractor driver has to be prepared to shut off the auto-steer!
These Turkey Vultures are gathering ahead of their imminent migration south and to warmer weather...coincidentally...this is
about the same time we have hundreds of Bald Eagles arriving here!
Bald Eagles love road kill venison! Maybe this is why we have several dozen pairs who are year-long residents. We enjoy watching them raise youngsters.