Farming in the shade

Shipped off the last of the soybeans today. The last pallet of 2010's soybeans are worth more sold than tripped over.

Did you know? Michigan soybeans have an economic impact of over $1 billion. Nearly 7,000 jobs in Michigan result from the soybean industry. Nearly two million acres of soybeans are planted annually in Michigan.

Soybean oil is the mostly widely used vegetable oil. It is found in margarines, salad dressings, canned foods, sauces, bakery goods, and processed fried foods.

Soy crayons have been created to replace toxic petroleum-wax crayons, soy crayons are safer to use, brighter in color, and less expensive to produce. One acre (43,560 square feet) of soybeans can produce 82,368 crayons. ETA: Here's a short article on the processing of soybeans into wax.  Thanks, mulchandmore, for asking! I didn't know, either. And here's more information on soy silk (not to be confused with soy milk).

We didn't think we'd ever see this day! First there was the great flood in June. Then the extended lack of rain from mid-July through mid-September. Then the realization that most of the soybean plants had died prematurely.  Then another round of extremely wet weather.  If you think the stock market is the only thing with ups and downs, you haven't planted fields and prayed for a harvest. Welcome to farming. We were assured that our soybeans would still be worth harvesting, despite their small size. We may have to deal with a small deduction or two on the price they pay for our beans, but that is better than the big ZERO. So today, we began.  Long-time readers will remember that we are transitioning from conventional farming (using synthetic fertilizers and sprays) to organic. It's a three year process, and pretty labor intensive. Instead of spraying to kill the weeds, we spent a lot of time on the tractor, cultivating the weeds from between the rows. But of course the...