A farmer's version of spring cleaning

      My husband has been dreaming about putting up a new grain bin since we met. For the last week or more there have been brochures spread out across our living room floor with all the current available options. He has been diligently researching and talking to salesmen in order to get a good quality bin that will be here on the farm for years to come at the best price. Even though he has yet to make his final decision, he has started clearing the space for it.

 

 

       Today when I came home from school this is what I saw.  The grain bin you see in the background was upright just a couple hours ago.  You might be wondering why he is taking down a perfectly good bin to build a new one. You can't see it in the picture, but the top ring of this bin is being held together with a cable. A couple years ago while filling it during harvest, he heard a popping noise. So he threw a cable around it to temporarily prevent it from splitting open and spilling all the beans.

       2012 was a very poor harvest with all corn having to be taken to the elevator at harvest due to concerns of mold. The remaining soybean harvest fit into the two grain bins resting next to this one. Instead of trying to push our luck for another year, we decided now was the time to replace it. 

 

      There were two smaller bins next to this one that he took down over the weekend to sell for scrap metal.  They were so small to today's standards they haven't been used for several years.  This larger one a neighbor wanted to use at his farm to store grain in.  This farmer is a small farmer who has a couple cows, sheep, horses, etc.  He plans on taking the bad rings out because he won't need that much storage. 

      You could ask me how many bushels of grain it stores, but I don't know.  Instead here is a picture to give you an idea of it's true size. My husband is putting the last strap around it to help hold it to the trailer. If he were to do it again, he would build a cradle to the trailer to hold it more securely in place.  Now the next challenge is to get it to the neighbor's farm 10 or so miles on the other side of town, which means getting it safely under all the power lines.  As the sun sets, I think that is going to be a challenge for another day. 

 

      Last but not least, here is our dog, Cooter, who is searching for all the rats that have been living in the trapped rotten soybeans at in bottom of the bin.  Hopefully he gets them all because rats are one thing I despise.