Farming----- New and Old

[Ed Kennell 38,113]

Watched my two neighbors farming today.         The corporate farmer had half the soy beans cut when an end bearing froze in the head.  So, load the head and back to the shop for new bearings.

Wait for the end to see my other neighbor.         No bearing failures in his 5 HP pulling team.

 

 

Edited October 25 by Ed Kennell

[mrc 812]

only passed thru PA a couple times.  never lived close to the amish.  there way of life seems better to me. self sustaining.   as a PA guy what are your thoughts?  

 

regards

mike

[rjg854 11,356]

Kinda reminds me of our roofer (old school) hammer and nails.  He could have 4 sq. of shingles down before other guys would even be set-up.  No equipment to set-up or tear down, or maintain, no gas required or stuff to haul around.

 

Got to admire the work ethic of the old school types.

And the modern workers have an investment in equipment to pay for before seeing any profit.

[Ed Kennell 38,113]

29 minutes ago, mrc said:

 as a PA guy what are your thoughts?  

As in all groups, there are good and bad.     Some of their rules seem contradictory but it works for them.  They make use of every minute of daylight and during the harvest season many times they are working well into the night with headlamps.

In general, I envy their independent life style.    My Amish neighbor bought the farm next to me at an auction about 6 years ago from the Grandson of the Man that I bought my plot from over 50 years ago.   The other bidders at the auction were real estate developers.    If they had won, I would have moved.     

We have a great relationship.   I continue to mow around the farm and do some critter control as I have for 50 years.   He allows me to continue to hunt as I have in the past.

I can pick my own produce as needed and pay him when I see him.    In my case, It's a win.

 

[Beap52 809]

My brother manages mom's farm in north Missouri.  He contracts planting and harvesting.  I guess with the technology available, you buy your seed by the kernel or bean because the computer on the planter prevents double planting rows.  Although, only 123 acres of the farm are tillable, the work gets done in hours instead of days when dad used a two row planter.  

 

Some of our local Amish clans are slowly being drawn into modern conveniences.  An Amish grocery store a few miles from home is air conditioned and has compressed air motors running the ceiling fans.  They have three reefer trailers air conditioned for storage.  A fellow who drives the Amish around said that last summer when it was so hot, the Amish family moved their beds into the empty cooled reefer.  When asked why they don't air condition their bedrooms the reply was "That's not permitted."  The driver for the Amish took a van load of them to Kansas CIty to visit the Union Station and then to the airport to watch the airplanes take off and land.  I know the driver, who attends our Sunday School Class, asks for prayers for Amish children when he has to take a child to Children's Mercy in Kansas City.  

 

In this day, it's impossible even for folks like the Amish, to not to be assimilated into our technology driven world--maybe that's not a bad thing.

 

This afternoon, I was talking with a fellow and we talked about hand nailing shingles as mention in another posting.  I never did use an air nailer when roofing and early on we carried each and every bundle of shingles up on the roof.  My wife loves to tell a story about me when we visited my one and only trip to a casino in Laughlin, Nevada.  If you took 5 dollars in gas receipts, the casino would give your 5 dollars in casino money.  I spent three of my dollars and cashed the other two in because I was still ahead.  When Pam asked me why, I told her "All I can think about is how hard of work it is carrying shingles on my shoulder up the ladder and I'm not willing to spend my earnings here."

[adsm08 2,046]

There's an Amish guy across the street from my uncle's house. His sect allows electrical power in the house, but you can't be hooked to the grid, so this guy runs a gas generator 24/7 to power his house. Drives my uncle and his family up the wall.

 

A couple other neighbors have filed noise complaints with the township, but generators are explicitly exempted from their local noise ordinances.

[lynnmor 7,303]

3 hours ago, mrc said:

only passed thru PA a couple times.  never lived close to the amish.  there way of life seems better to me. self sustaining.   as a PA guy what are your thoughts?  

 

regards

mike

I like deodorant. 

[Ed Kennell 38,113]

3 hours ago, Beap52 said:

In this day, it's impossible even for folks like the Amish, to not to be assimilated into our technology driven world--maybe that's not a bad thing.

So true.

When the Amish bought this 36 acres for $470,000, the first thing they did was hire a professional water locating company. They did a siesmoelectric study of the farm to find the best location to drill two wells.  These wells are used to irrigate around 25 acres.  The other 10 acres are used for pasture.

There are no pumps on the wells.  They installed a propane powered engine that drives an air compressor that pressurizes the wells pushing the water into a tank where liquid fertilizer is mixed and then pushed thru the plastic soaker lines. 

 The sweet corn planter plants the seed, lays the soaker line and the plastic all in one operation.   When the corn starts to push, the plastic is slit allowing the plants to grow thru the slit.

 The plants for the other crops (cabbage, cantaloupes, pumpkins, broccoli,  cauliflower) are grown from seed during the winter in the greenhouse.  They are then hand planted thru the plastic.

Some of the equipment has a gasoline engine that powers the hydraulics.  They also use a propane powered lift truck to load the large produce crates on a semi for transport to the produce auction.    No tractors are allowed, the horses pull all the equipment.

BTW, they were still discing in the dark at 7PM this evening.

[ML3 1,193]

I live only minutes from the 4th largest Amish settlement in the states. Have some Amish friends. Overall.....they are human just like us Yankees. I try to do business with them every chance I can. In fact I sold my C105 w/snowblower to a local Amish guy. He showed up with a hired driver & trailer. I started tractor & told him to try it out. He told me to drive it right on trailer & paid me my asking price. Initially I didn't know he was Amish. I would have gladly delivered it for free. 

 

I work in a neighborhood that has rapidly changed for the worst. Daily car jacking, armed robberies, etc. Getting to & from work safely along with making thru work day without your vehicle broken into is a miracle. Don't have those worries in Amish community. I think even the crooks know better! 

 

Bill, my Amish friend owns a roofing company.  He uses power tools & has a cell phone. The elders of the community will decide how many "modern conveniences" will be acceptable. Power tools, phones, etc are almost needed to stay competitive with other contractors.  He can roof a house in 1 day using power tools or take 2-3 days doing it all by hand. Phone????? Think about it. He need to order materials (sometimes while on the job) & how is someone like me gonna contact him if I needed some work done. 

 

Some of the local stores have Amish employees. (Walmart,  ACE hardware,  grocery store, Tractor Supply, etc) Definitely they are way more helpful & friendly.  

[peter lena 8,603]

 @Ed Kennell  have to more than agree on the work ethic  , family friend farm , not far from us , regularly has amish work teams come up for serious construction  work ,  basically set up their base in a large  open tent , let you know what they need , not much ! very serious  and courteous , always plan on  **** tent  supply areas , marvell at the insight / experience ,  great learning ,  experience  , pete

[Ed Kennell 38,113]

                         

13 hours ago, Ed Kennell said:

BTW, they were still discing in the dark at 7PM this evening.

And back in harness and discing at 8AM this morning.

[SylvanLakeWH 25,525]

 

Wouldn't OSHA have a field day with that set up... 

[Ed Kennell 38,113]

40 minutes ago, SylvanLakeWH said:

 

Wouldn't OSHA have a field day with that set up... 

This is actually his OSHA approved rig where he stands on the stable disc.    When he is pulling his spring harrow, he stands on the trees  between the horses and the harrow.        As the tension on the harrow, changes, he bobs up and down.     When I question him, he answers " it's good therapy for my sore back".