|
Mississippi Delta | Rice is a lot harder to handle than wheat. It is SUPER abrasive, will wear anything it touches in no time. I try and harvest mine at about 17 percent moisture,and it is a lot tougher to dry than corn for example. Milling yields are a lot better the when you can get it out before it gets too dry. It is grown in a flood, so a lot of times if you don't get it drained at the right time, you have a mess at harvest. We also don't have a whole lot of different chemical chemistry to control weeds. Then if you get a hurricane at harvest, you get to pick it all up off the ground, in the mud! After Katrina, we picked almost the entire crop up. Went through 15+ rotor belts and a couple of rotor gearboxes on three 2388's during that harvest. Got to where I could change one out in less than 15 min. Here in MS, we can't harvest a second crop (ratoon crop) like the guys in LA and TX do. Not sure if I could handle TWO harvests, one about does me in. Did I say anything about hurricanes? To get a ratoon crop, after the first harvest, they just put a little fertilizer back on the fields, pump it back up and it puts out another head. I am too far north for that. Did I mention hurricanes? For my area, and my type of soils, rice is a pretty dependable crop. More so for me than soybeans, corn, or cotton. | |
|
Finished 08 harvest today {pics}
