It seems like every year when we start planting corn or harvesting soybeans, we need a day or two to get all the bugs out of our machines. It’s never easy as just hopping in the cab of the tractor and away we go. There are always glitches. Yesterday was one if those days. The GPS didn’t work right, the clutches on the planter weren’t working, the drive shaft on the planter had 2 bolts shear, the DEF fluid tank on the other tractor had an issue, my water well had to get shocked and all of our animals had to have trucked in water on a very hot and dry day. 

There is no preparation one can do to prevent all of these things from happening. We do our due diligence with annual maintenance, running through monitor/GPS systems and software, and regular lubing, but it’s difficult to predict all that can go wrong. I suppose one day I’ll just become conditioned to having a get-the-bugs-out day and simply expect it, but I always hope for a year where things just all run smoothly.

The photo below is our monitoring system and guidance system. When it works, it’s fabulous! When it doesn’t, man, it makes a mess.