passing in the wind & cover crops

We are in the thick of planting which means I've moved into semi-single mom mode as my farmer works long hours to get the crop in the ground. We had rain showers move through the area over the last couple days which let all of us come up for air. I always appreciate when I can see my farmer for more than 5 minutes in passing or as I get my goodnight kiss when he sneaks into bed hours after me.
 
These "single-mom" moments are ones I would not pass up, and it makes me even more grateful for the life we live. It may be busy, it may be stressful, but boy are we blessed. During planting I try to bring warm meals out to the field. This allows for one of those 5 minute passings and the kids get to see their daddy hard at work. Last week we brought supper out and our daughter rode with my husband for one not short enough round while mom got to snap some pics. As a three year old going back and forth in the field with no visible progress means one short attention span. 

That particular night my husband was seeding down cover crop prior to planting sugar beets.  Planting the cover crop first allows us to do some final tillage work simultaneously, eliminating one additional pass across the field.  With sugar beets, soil compaction is always top of mind as heavy trucks will need to be driven through the fields at harvest. The fewer the passes the better.  One less pass at planting is a WIN! The cover crop has benefits for the soil as well. Where we live the wind likes to blow, so the cover crop helps keep the soil intact and prevents the sugar beets from getting blown out of the ground once they are up.

As we go across the fields we are mindful of each pass that is made. It is very important to us to keep topsoil intact to ensure that the acres are farmable for decades to come, hopefully centuries.

-Lisa