Straight Lines In Saskatchewan

rusty6 · Sep 24, 2018

You can tell they were running gps auto steer on the swathers when they cut this canola. Swaths straight as an arrow. In this photo from this afternoon you can see how the snow is melting gradually as the temp got into the 40s today. In the foreground you can see the snow lingering in the shelter of the trees.

casecollectorsc · Sep 24, 2018

Was there a time when all the land was farmed without the potholes?

gregww · Sep 24, 2018

I am not and never have been a farmer. I have done a little plowing, and discing, but this just blows my mind. Did they even need anyone on the tractor?

rusty6 · Sep 24, 2018

Not likely that all those sloughs were ever farmed. The likely dried right up in 1988, 1961 and 1937. Three of the driest years in our history. But they would have needed to be broken up and planted. My dad talked of breaking one big ravine and getting it planted late in the spring of 61, a very dry year. He said the crop was very heavy, but so late that it was green when frost hit and there was not much good grain in it.

rusty6 · Sep 24, 2018

(quoted from post at 20:11:23 09/24/18) I am not and never have been a farmer. I have done a little plowing, and discing, but this just blows my mind. Did they even need anyone on the tractor?

I have farmed for years and it still amazes me how the steering can make the constant minute corrections required to keep the swather running in a straight line in this land of ups and downs and sidehills with no misses or overlaps while the operator sits back and talks or texts on his phone. Mine is still the old fashioned hand steered method and I am ok with that.

paul · Sep 24, 2018

We have similar terrain down here in southern MN, but from the 1920s to 1960s the farmers got together with govt organization and created watershed ditch districts and put in dug ditches and drains that out make 80% whole fields.

In the mid 1980s they put the brakes on that, both federally and even more restrictive state rules. Now you can tile ground but could never get a new ditch system put in.

As always, meat photo from you.

Snow, oh man..... not ready to see that.

Paul

SVcummins · Sep 24, 2018

I never want to operate a tractor or combine or swather with gps now a sprayer I can see it being really handy but I do not like the idea Of sitting in a tractor bored stiff while the gps drives .

SVcummins · Sep 24, 2018

That?s the beauty of gps you still have to be in the
tractor or whatever machine and sit there twiddling
your thumbs while it drives then at the end you raise
the implement turn and do the same thing again

55 50 Ron · Sep 24, 2018

You sometimes mention Lipton and/or Dysart. Is your farm near one of those towns? I've looked at satelite views of that area and the sloughs are endless it seems. Similar to the ND area where I grew up in Towner County. Neat scenery from the drone camera.

rusty6 · Sep 25, 2018

(quoted from post at 21:53:10 09/24/18) You sometimes mention Lipton and/or Dysart. Is your farm near one of those towns? I've looked at satelite views of that area and the sloughs are endless it seems. Similar to the ND area where I grew up in Towner County. Neat scenery from the drone camera.

Yes Ron, thats my area. And we grow a lot of ducks and geese here

GreenEnvy · Sep 25, 2018

That is why you watch the implement to make sure its doing its job. I can't tell you how many rocks I have prevented going into the combine or swather by being able to watch the cutterbar and whats coming and not have to watch the end of the header constantly when steering. And in a crop that is expensive as canola to raise, GPS pays for itself in short order.

sms · Sep 25, 2018

That is what I remember from our transCanadian trip, every puddle had
ducks.

showcrop · Sep 25, 2018

There is a book I believe titled "the King of California" which tells about the taming of the rivers that flow from the mountains into the Central Valley. If you look at the Town of Tulare, then look just to the west you can easily see the area which used to be Tulare lake that is now huge irrigated farm land.

paul · Sep 25, 2018

That is some country there neat to look at.

SVcummins · Sep 25, 2018

I watch the implement and width of the head all day it?s not hard it?s called being an operator

INCase · Sep 25, 2018

i'd bet my wife's grandfather could have had all those rows that straight without gps. of course after farming 80 years he would have been pretty good at by then.

i was always amazed how absolutely perfectly straight his corn was and when he mowed hay it was also straight as a pin. easy to follow his mower lines when raking and keep the windrows nice and straight too... until i got distracted and then that spot stuck out like a sore thumb.

rusty6 · Sep 25, 2018

(quoted from post at 09:24:28 09/25/18) i'd bet my wife's grandfather could have had all those rows that straight without gps.

I used to think that too but no, there is no way the human hand and eye can match the pin point accuracy of auto steer GPS. I've been watching rows in the field since the early 70s and I've never seen rows of crop as straight before. And I'm talking down to 8 or 12 inch spacing of the rows. I don't use it on my farm but I see others that do and its impressive.

Straight Lines In Saskatchewan

rusty6

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gregww

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55 50 Ron

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