Not buying insurance can free up cash for other uses on your farm. But before you make any rash decisions, consider these four factors
A man walks into a coffee shop to buy a coffee to go and the clerk says “Would you like insurance for that? For only 15 cents we’ll replace it if you spill it.” Another man has a farm with thousands of acres of crop. The insurance agent says “Would you like hail insurance this […] Read moreDeciding not to buy insurance
Keep wooden granaries in working order
When I drive by one of those farms with long rows of hopper bins, I wonder what some of those farmers would say if they saw our old wooden bins. Over the last 10 years my son Ben has encouraged me to gather up some of the old plywood round bins to make our grain […] Read more
12 tips for field fire safety
Combine fires are serious business. Take these 12 tips to heart — they’re from a farmer who learned the hard way
I hope you’ve never had the misfortune to have a fire and that you never will. But chances are that you’ve met and battled this evil thing. My sons and I have been on the local fire department for a few years. We’ve been lucky not to have had to battle any fatal fires, but […] Read more7 ways to keep your new truck looking good longer
So you’ve got a new truck in the yard. Whether it’s new from the factory or just new to you, here are a few tips to keep looking and running like new for many years. Gravel protection If your truck sees a lot of gravel, like most farm vehicles, do your best to protect it […] Read more
Buying an older truck
I wasn’t looking for a new truck for the farm, but you know how things happen. Being in the salvage business, I was looking for some old trucks to part out, so I could sell the parts to needy farmers. I bought a couple of trucks and brought them home. Both were in the antique […] Read more
Give Your Truck A Facelift
After seeding this spring my truck looked a bit grubby and tired. Plus it had a few little maintenance issues that were troubling it. When I got in to drive it one look told me I had more work to do in cleaning it out. After a while, driving it wasn t much fun. Perhaps […] Read more
Nine Tips For Repairing Brakes
I bet most of the cars, trucks and equipment you drive have good brakes. But often one or two units on the farm are a bit questionable, whether it s the old truck you use just for hauling water or the fuel truck that only runs when you re working the fields. On our farm, […] Read more
Five Time Saving Tips For The Farm
On the farm and out in the field, it’s rare that we have exactly what we need on hand to complete a task or fix a fill-in-the- blank. We’ve managed to find ways and means around a few head-scratchers recently. Here’s a rundown of five time saving tips for the farm. CAN YOU SPARE ANY […] Read more
How To Make Storing Grain In A Quonset Easier
It’s a beautiful harvest day. The truck load of No. 1 wheat is being augered into our row of shiny new hopper bottom bins…Wake up! You’re dreaming again! Oh, yes, it was only a dream. Now back to reality and the real grain storage on Ancient Acres. When I started farming back in 1975, my […] Read more
13 Machinery Checks To Make This Spring
Machinery breaks down. I used to think that if you had new machinery you didn’t have any breakdowns — a theory propagated by the fact that I’d never owned any new machinery and I always saw the new stuff sailing down the field while I was patching up our old stuff. I was deeply disappointed […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
