Filed under: June 2021 | Tags: draft foal, Farm Efficiency, John Deere, Suffolk Punch horses
June 11, 2021
I have been helping a friend do some field work. He farms many acres. The tractor and plows in the photo above have been my office for the last several days. The tractor is 350 horsepower. The plows are seven bottoms. This is much different than plowing with real horses!
This thing is big! He owns two such units. We can plow over ten acres an hour. The articulating beasts roll over the ground just above an idle, turning over the soil very efficiently. It takes a large area just to turn around. The reason he switched back to moldboard plowing is to help control weeds in his organic farming operation. The plow buries weed seeds to allow the growing crop to get ahead of them. The job of cultivation begins after that, avoiding costly sprays and the chemicals that come with them.
I plow for the same reason. I just farm on a much smaller scale. I do use some limited spray on fields where weeds are a problem, but only some years and only when needed. Its fun to drive this giant tractor and see what all that horsepower can do. I will say though, that my heart enjoys the real horsepower better. The methods and caring for crops are the same…only the size of the operation is different.
Our newest baby, Amazing Grace, stands resting in her stall. She is learning all sorts of things, during short daily lessons. She is taking them in stride. She trusts me. She knows that no harm will come to her. She also knows that after her lessons are done, she will spend the rest of the day roaming the cool barn, napping and nursing whenever she likes. This living breathing horsepower fills my soul and keeps me grounded.
I will drive the giant monster and help my friend. I will do the best job that I can do. In the seat of the tractor, as I operate a machine large enough to plow all of my farm fields before lunch, I will long for holding the lines in my fingers and the quiet in my ears.
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RicelandMeadows 
Progress comes with a price not always measured in dollars and cents, that’s for certain. I drove truck over the road and now my “steering wheel time” is on an old Massey Ferguson 65. Raking hay, rototilling the garden(after Digger and Dozer plow it) and brushhogging at our farm. I do my best Praying on a tractor. I envy the farming style that makes noise with harness jingles and cud chewing.
Comment by Rick Ward June 11, 2021 @ 9:23 amMuch wisdom here Rick… I too like the sounds of the farm and horses..hearing both is a blessing!
Comment by ricelandmeadows June 11, 2021 @ 7:35 pm