New Rice Grower Blog- Curveballs

Curveballs. They're great in baseball but nerve wracking in rice farming!  I had a big one thrown at me the other day.  This spring had been pleasant enough apart from all the north wind.  The ground dried out early and our "leisurely" pace is a pleasant respite from the frenetic pace of the last two years, at least until the other day.

Here is my rice roller in action- happily applying both base and starter fertilizers in one final pass across the fields before flood up and seeding.

The quadtrac seen above is an older tractor that is well suited to for this purpose, or was well suited rather.  Within hours of this photo being taken a piston in its engine seized.  What do I do now?  I did not have another tractor to take its place so on the phone I went.  Do I rent a replacement for two weeks while I fix this old tractor?  Should I fix the quadtrac? Will I get the money invested in an old tractor back? Do I buy a new one? Not in this market! What's available in the used tractor market that will work?  What does the banker think? 

To answer all those questions and get back to rolling in the field took almost three days.  Answering the questions and negotiating a deal for a used replacement tractor took a day and a half.  Transferring all the GPS equipment and software was another day and a bit but we are up and going finally. Curveball managed!

Here is a photo of the old quadtrac with oil on the hood from the blown engine after being towed out of the field and its replacement getting started in the background. 

Keep plowing ahead.

---

Sean Doherty is a 3rd generation rice farmer living out his dream, being a rice farmer in Dunnigan.

He farms in Yolo, Colusa, and Sutter Counties with his wife Melissa, and three kids, Hannah, Gus, and Mary. He enjoys being in the fields, watching the seasons, and sharing it with his family.

Read more about Sean in Rice Farming magazine