Graver Farms practices the following farming processes.
Preparing the soil
After fall harvest we take soil samples to determine the amount of fertilizer & lime needed to give the ground the optimum level of production. Lime & potash are spread over the soil as needed as a result of the soil analysis. Over winter months we maintain & repair our equipment for spring planting. We also attend educational seminars to keep us up on the latest technology. We analyze our crop yields from reports from our GPS units on the combine from previous years & compare with the soil samples. The results assist us in deciding where we are going to do variable rate planting. Variable rate planting is the practice of planting varying crop populations based upon yield potential. As we are planting where the soil is more fertile the planter will place more seeds & fertilizer in those areas and as a result we produce a higher yeild.
No-Till Planting
In the spring we practice no-till planting. No -till planting is planting in undisturbed ground from the previous harvest season. The benefits of no-till planting is it keeps the organic matter levels up and it reduces erosion. Our goal is to rotate our crops every other year between corn & soybeans. The planting tractor is operated with GPS and auto steer. The planter has automatic row shut off. When the planter gets close to another row, the planter automatically shuts off so the seeds are not wasted.
Harvesting the Crops
In the fall soybeans & corn are harvested with a combine. The combine takes 12 rows of corn at a time and separates the corn off the cob. The shelled corn is transferred from the combine into trucks that are hauled to the farm for drying. The combine takes 35 foot width of soybeans per pass and separates them out of the pods. The soybeans are then transferred from the combine into trucks that are hauled to the farm for drying. The corn stalks & soybean plants are shredded out the back of the combine onto the ground so they decompose into organic matter.
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